Assessment of the impact of human capital on economic growth

This paper presents updated figures on the dynamics of human capital in the Russian economy. Time series of human capital are obtained for major types of economic activity that cover up to 85–90% of the total human capital in the Russian economy for 1992–2012. An analysis of the impact of accumulated human capital on economic dynamics is performed by means of the production function model. An original approach to assessing the production function based on the method of principal components is introduced.     

Analysis of dynamics of public and private expenditures on health care and education in contemporary Russia

This paper provides an estimate of the dynamics in expenditures on health care and education made from all sources in Russia in the 1995–2012 and viewed as investments in human capital. These data from Russia are compared with those from other countries. The problems of efficiency in the functioning of these systems and different affordability of these services are considered.     

How to decrease the national poverty rate and encourage consumer demand in Russia

The main reasons for the high poverty rate and income differentiation among Russia??s population are analyzed, and indispensable governmental measures of income policy are substantiated that will help resolve this problem and encourage domestic consumer demand.     

Micro-Lending in Bulgaria – Who Will Fill the Gap and How?

MOCT-MOST: Economic Policy in Transitional Economies -     

The determinants of market-wide issue cycles for initial public offerings

This paper identifies the determinants of market-wide issue cycles for initial public offerings (IPOs) using an autoregressive conditional count model. We consider whether IPO volume is related to business conditions, investor sentiment, and time variation in adverse selection costs caused by asymmetric information between managers and investors. We provide evidence indicating that time variation in business conditions and investor sentiment are important determinants of monthly issue activity. By contrast, time variation in adverse selection costs does not significantly affect IPO volume.     

EXPERIENCES AND PROBLEMS OF THE CIS COUNTRIES IN TRANSITION FROM THE MPS TO THE SNA

This paper reviews the transition of national accounts in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries from the Material Product System (MPS) to the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA) and discusses the major problems that still need to be solved in order to improve the quality of their national accounts. It argues that the MPS practice tended to exaggerate growth not because of different concepts, but because of methodological problems such as inadequate deflation due to poor price data and incomplete coverage of the non-observed economy as well as overpricing of new or modified products and institutional flaws that motivated data fabrication by enterprises. However, the heritages of the problems under the MPS, together with the emerging new types of institutional units, new sources of income and market-driven new services, have made the transition difficult.     

Interrelationship between social and economic policies in the sphere of household income and consumption and macroeconomic dynamics

This article presents a conceptual scheme of the impact made on the economic development by the social and economic policies in the field of household income and consumption. A set of tools is presented for taking into account the multiplicative effects of social and economic policies. The interrelationships are studied between the dynamics in wages and prices and the parameters of the macroeconomic technology with an allowance for the principles of economic equilibrium.