Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast @volnc-esc-en
Journal articles - Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast
All articles: 1817
Scientific article
The goal of the present paper is to develop a special methodology for analyzing and forecasting mass social interactions; the methodology can be used in various studies of how social positions and opinions of the population are formed. The paper proposes a technique of mathematical modeling of mass social interactions in the context of a comprehensive interplay of social contacts, under the impact of information channels and the external environment. The model is based on substantial ideas about cause-effect relationships between the size of social groups and their changes as a result of mutual transitions, the ideas about how the views of other participants and various media influence socio-psychological attitudes, and about possible external impact on the effectiveness of propaganda. In contrast to commonly used differential equations focusing on the analysis of the stationary state, we propose to analyze the group size dynamics with the use of simple modifications of Markov chains when participants do not move from one group to another uniformly, but are distributed through several time periods, and the probabilities of such a transition depend on the current state...
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Scientific article
The study is relevant, because there is a necessity to improve approaches to and tools for monitoring the development of municipal entities in Russia, taking into account the current situation concerning statistics in the context of municipalities and the tasks to be addressed at the municipal level of management in modern conditions. The aim of the work is to provide a scientific and methodological substantiation for an approach to the formation and implementation of a comparative monitoring of socio-economic development of municipalities at the intraregional and interregional levels. To achieve the goal, we use scientific methods such as economic and statistical analysis, generalization, and expert survey (questionnaire survey of Vologda Oblast municipalities’ heads). Scientific novelty of our research consists in the development of a unified approach to organizing municipal monitoring in Russia’s constituent entities. The approach should take into account the current situation concerning municipal statistics and help to compare local territories of different regions. We describe a methodological approach to organizing the monitoring of Vologda Oblast municipalities; the results of the monitoring are reflected in the annual information and analytical bulletin “Socio-Economic Development of Municipal Districts”, issued by Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 2014. Based on the calculations of the integral indicator of the level of development of municipalities in the Vologda and Leningrad oblasts and the Komi Republic according to our own methodology, we reveal that statistical information presented in the Rosstat database containing indicators for Russia’s municipalities does not allow us to form an objective interregional typology of municipalities by development level. In this regard, we substantiate the ways to improve municipal monitoring and the expediency of using the indicators presented in statistics collections “Socio-Economic Development of Municipalities” published annually by territorial offices of Rosstat in constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The findings of our research can be used by federal, regional public authorities, local self-government bodies, scientific and educational organizations in analyzing the development of municipalities, as well as serve as a basis for further research on the subject under consideration.
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Scientific article
The global financial crisis that broke out in 2008 highlighted the problem of low levels of financial literacy among the population of different countries, and the response to this was the creation of national financial education systems where international economic organizations played the guiding and coordinating role. Russia also launched a joint project of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the world Bank in 2011, and then adopted a Strategy to improve financial literacy of the population. However, despite the efforts and money spent, the level of the Russians' financial literacy and their trust in financial institutions remains low. The article presents conceptual approaches to creating the preconditions for effective financial education of Russian residents and describes the structural and functional model within which this can be implemented. The information base of the research is the data from Russian and international studies on financial literacy of the population and works devoted to their comparative analysis; the guidelines and analytical materials of international organizations; the results of an expert survey conducted by the authors with the participation of 136 experts from 30 regions of Russia. It is shown that effective financial education is impossible without an effective income policy, when the population has free money, and the need to dispose this money generates a practical interest in improving financial literacy. The second fundamental condition is the implementation of the “trust policy”, i.e. ensuring the operation of the state mechanism that does not allow the depreciation of citizens' savings and reliably protects their rights when interacting with financial institutions. Stability and predictability of economic development, refusal to impose excessive consumption standards on the population, physical accessibility of credit and financial institutions in small towns and villages, develop ment of information and communication infrastructure, and increasing the Russians' digital culture are important. The main components of financial education proper are described; the approaches to defining target groups for financial literacy training and selecting appropriate educational programs are proposed.
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Conceptual framework for the development of a regional integration economic block (EAEU case)
Scientific article
Taking into account the trend toward the formation of a multipolar world, as well as the accumulated problems of regional economic integration, the authors attempted to update the conceptual framework for the development of a regional integration economic block (RIEB). The object of the study is the regional integration economic block of EAEU, the subject of the study is the economic interaction of the block countries in the context of the emerging multipolar world order. A hypothesis has been put forward that, within the framework of distributed leadership, the RIEB countries can act as leaders in certain industries (industry-specific internationalized reproduction processes) and thereby avoid dominance in the block by one country. In theoretical terms, the article reveals the essence of the fundamental principle of a multipolar world order, namely "equal fair cooperation". According to this, the author's approach is proposed, based on distributed leadership, an internationalized reproduction process and cooperation. The article also reveals the concept of "technological cooperation". In terms of methodology, an index of integration interaction is proposed to assess the potential for integration interaction between countries taking into account their weights determined by experts. The results obtained show that, on the one hand, the calculated value of the index 0.88 indicates the insufficient integration interaction, the need to strengthen cooperation ties and increase the economic power of the block. On the other hand, it also indicates the possibility of strengthening the role of all RIEB member countries in the context of specific individual industries (distributed leadership). It allows us to speak about the beginning of the transition from the “center-periphery” model based on a world-system approach to a polycentric structure within the EAEU, the development of which requires the creation of targeted incentive funds within specific industry value chains.
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Conceptualizing the notion of “socially significant diseases” in strategic planning
Scientific article
The paper investigates how the legally formalized categories such as “socially significant diseases” and “diseases that pose a threat to others” are applied in public administration, primarily in strategic planning. First, we focus on the presence and description of the most common formats for the use of the term “socially significant diseases” in strategic documents adopted for implementation in modern Russia at the federal level and at the level of constituent entities of the Russian Federation; second, we consider limitations related to the use of the discussed category of indicators in the practice of monitoring observations. The aim of the research is to identify the possibilities and limitations concerning the use of the list of nosological units under consideration in strategic planning at the national level and the level of RF constituent entities. The information base for the analysis includes data from the RF Ministry of Health and the Federal State Statistics Service, as well as strategic documents on the socioeconomic development of the country and its constituent entities. The article analyzes the dynamics and structural and quantitative characteristics of population morbidity for a number of important socially significant diseases (malignant neoplasms, tuberculosis, HIV infection) in the period from 2000 to 2021. Based on these data, a conclusion is made about the difficulties of interpretation when dealing with the enlarged categories such as “socially significant diseases” and “diseases that pose a threat to others” when formulating strategic development goals for the country and its regions. We put forward a number of recommendations to address such problems. The novelty of the study lies in a critical understanding of the possibilities and limitations related to the use of the terms “socially significant diseases” and “diseases that pose a threat to others” in program documents due to the fact that their list is significantly heterogenous and includes fundamentally different nosological units. Practical significance of the work consists in clarifying the practices of using the discussed category of indicators as the indicators of regional development.
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Scientific article
The article considers the results of the questionnaire survey carried out in 2011-2013 by the Department of Production Management at the Vologda State Dairy Farming Academy named after N.V. Vereshchagin. The survey was supported by the Vologda Oblast Department of Agriculture, FoodStocks and Trade in the framework of ongoing research into the issues of transition of agricultural economy to innovation development. The authors present and systematize the opinions of the heads of the region's agricultural enterprises concerning the challenges and opportunities of innovation-investment activity of agricultural organizations.
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Scientific article
The article estimates the sustainability of agriculture in the remote areas of the Northern region in the pre-reform and transformation periods. It shows the influence of market reforms on agricultural production dynamics and reveals the factors and conditions hampering sustainable agricultural development in the remote areas. To ensure the sustainable development of the sector, a set of organizational and economic measures is proposed, which includes agricultural legislation updating, the increase of the state support of agricultural producers, retaining qualified personnel in the sector, the formation of multifunctional agriculture in rural areas, the creation of modern systems of planning, forecasting and scientific and information support.
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Scientific article
It would be difficult to overestimate the role of protected areas in the conservation of the Arctic nature. Due to their fragility and vulnerability to anthropogenic impacts, Arctic natural complexes need special and stricter protection. The importance of preserving the nature of the Arctic is also due to the fact that maintaining the environment in an undisturbed natural state is one of the main ways to preserve the traditional culture and lifestyle of the indigenous peoples of the North. However, the processes of creation and functioning of protected areas are often accompanied by conflicts; this reduces the efficiency of the entire network of protected areas. The article uses our own algorithm to identify and classify conflicts in protected areas within the regions of the European part of the Russian Arctic. In total, we revealed 138 conflicts in 21.6% of protected areas; 70.3% of the conflicts are in the most acute stage of open confrontation. As a result of the research, we have developed a universal mechanism for resolving conflict situations in protected areas. The mechanism is of a closed nature and includes the following implementation stages: setting a goal; analyzing conflicts that arise during the creation and functioning of protected areas; identifying stakeholders and their interests; identifying the subject and stage of the conflict; arranging the work of a platform for coordinating the interests of stakeholders; taking into account the priority of sustainable development in the territory; setting specific tasks and choosing conflict resolution tools; monitoring conflict situations in protected areas. We believe that the implementation of the proposed mechanism will ensure a balance of interests of the local population, economic entities, authorities and other interested parties, and will also contribute to sustainable socioi environmental and economic development in protected areas and in adjacent territories as well.
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Scientific article
The increased attention paid by the state and the public to the Russian Arctic in recent years has led to a new round of its economic development. Nevertheless, major features of the Arctic nature are its vulnerability and the difficulty of recovery after anthropogenic impacts. This fact, as well as the exceptional climatic, ecological and cultural significance of the nature of the Russian Arctic, predetermines the need for its careful protection and for preservation of its fragile ecological balance. The defining role in these processes belongs to protected natural areas (PNS). Our paper emphasizes that one of the main barriers to the development of the network of protected natural areas both in Russia as a whole and in its Arctic territories consists in numerous conflict situations and disputes related to the organization and existence of protected areas. In the framework of the study, we develop a universal algorithm for analyzing the conflicts related to the establishment and functioning of protected areas. The proposed algorithm was tested on the example of the Arkhangelsk Oblast - the largest region in the European part of the Russian Arctic. Using content analysis, systematization, expert survey and general scientific research methods, we identify 58 conflict situations in 35 currently functioning protected areas and in two protected areas that are planned to be created in the region; we classify the situations according to the parties, subject and phase of the conflict. On the basis of this work, we formulate a set of specific recommendations to address, prevent and reduce the number of conflicts in the protected areas of the Arkhangelsk Oblast.
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Scientific article
The concept of natural capital goes beyond nature as a source of raw materials for production and includes consideration of the environment and ecosystems condition in maintaining human wellbeing. For sustainable resource use, it is first necessary to determine the stability of ecosystems to a variety of anthropogenic and technogenic loads. The natural capital of forests includes not only forest (primarily wood) resources, but also the full range of ecosystem services, associated with a healthy habitat. The aim of the study is to assess the condition of ecosystems in the active forestry zone of the Komi Republic due to the long-term use. The novelty of the study lies in identifying the degree of ecosystem stability in this area of the region. We use general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, computer-cartographic form tools, based on the use of ArcView program. Assessment of natural capital components made it possible to differentiate forestry according to the positions “biodiversity conservation”, “water regulation”, “water protection”, “carbon sequestration”; to identify the nature of restrictions and recommend the operation mode, taking into account the necessary environmental protection measures and reduction of anthropogenic load. The relative stability of the ecosystem over the period 2000-2020 was revealed. Threats are expressed in a slight reduction of biodiversity, weakening of groundwater flow accumulation and surface runoff accumulation functions due to intensive logging of low-age forest species. The predominant part is classified as an area of favorable ecological condition, where different operation modes are proposed. However, in a number of forestries there is a situation, when the ecosystem is under strong pressure, which caused a decrease in the stability of the three positions of ecosystem services and characterizes an unfavorable condition of the ecosystem. In this case, a particularly strict operation mode of forest ecosystems with maximum reduction of logging is recommended. Prospective studies are related to the cost estimation of ecosystem services to analyze the possibility of compensating funds for nature restoration in relation to large loggers in the region.
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Consolidation of a regional community in a glocal social reality: socio-cultural barriers
Scientific article
The article is devoted to the problem of socio-cultural barriers to the consolidation of a regional community in the context of rising glocalization trends and an increasing role of regions in social development. In our opinion, consolidation in an unstable social reality can only occur as a regulated nonlinear process, oriented toward establishing strong interpersonal and intergroup communication, mutual trust and loyalty. The purpose of the research is to analyze socio-cultural barriers to regional community consolidation, associated with the specifics of value-normative complexes and attitudes of its constituent actors. We assess people’s dispositions concerning the problem of socio-cultural constants renovation on the basis of a sociological research we conducted in the Belgorod Oblast in 2021. It included a mass questionnaire survey (n = 500), an expert interview (n = 30), three focus groups. It is noted that social consolidation can be based on various grounds, but the most solid among them is sociocultural consensus expressed in integration based on common values, social norms, behavior patterns and attitudes - socio-cultural constants that represent a kind of reference points for consolidation process. We analyze components of the value-normative consensus and conclude that its potential as an attractor of the consolidation process can be realized mainly at the microsocial level (primarily family and family-related environment), which significantly restricts the integration opportunities of the regional community. According to the results of sociological diagnostics we reveal the following barriers to the social consolidation of a regional community: fragility of the value-normative consensus, lack of full-fledged regional identity, insufficient focus of authorities and civil society institutions on creating favorable organizational and technological conditions for social conjunction. We emphasize that the implementation of any consolidation strategy at the regional level must necessarily take into account these barriers and provide for measures aimed at their minimization.
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Construction complex of the region: current state and innovative potential
Scientific article
Construction industry has traditionally established itself as a leading choice; it is designed to reproduce fixed assets, carry on renovation, modernization, technical re-equipment of material goods production and solving social issues on the modern technical basis. Despite the profound crisis of the industry associated with the transition to a market economic model such as a high degree of fixed capital assets depreciation, the low investment activity of construction companies, a high materials output ratio, etc., the growth potential of construction industry is sufficient. It is possible to solve these problems by promoting innovation activity of construction companies, aimed at reducing the cost of finished products, shortening of construction time and enterprises' competitive recovery.
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Consumer in the innovation economy: sociocultural aspects of formation and functioning
Scientific article
The functioning of the innovation economy presents the society with a number of social and cultural issues. One of them concerns the formation of an innovative personality, which is regarded by the majority of researchers as a personality open to experiments, innovation and change, a personality that has creative skills and is able not only to create but also to commercialize new scientific and technological developments, that is, a personality capable of producing innovation in the first place. Meanwhile, of equal importance for the functioning of the innovation economy is a personality that is ready to use innovative goods and services; that is why many countries carry out the research into the innovativeness of producers and consumers. The research findings help identify a group of innovator consumers, which is a key group for producers. Analyzing the innovator consumers' behavior in the market provides an opportunity to define their inherent personal qualities and to formulate their standard of consumption, the main characteristics of which are the absolutization of the value of the new, positive attitude to risk, dominance of the emotional component in consumption to the detriment of the rational component...
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Consumer society and social development: modeling statistical relationships
Scientific article
The article attempts to empirically assess the links between the consumerization process and various indicators of social development. We consider these indicators, as well as the process of consumerization itself, at the macrosocial level, as characteristics of societies. The latter are equated with nation-states, whose sovereignty turns each of them into a kind of long-term social experiment. Based on such “experiments”, we attempted to determine how the degree of expansion of the consumer society in the same countries is related to the indicators of social development. To achieve this goal, we analyze ways to measure the consumerization of societies and their social development, and then conduct a correlation analysis of the available data. It allows testing two competing hypotheses: the negative or positive impact of the consumer society on aspects such as freedom, education, equality, security and happiness. This analysis of statistical relationships suggests that a higher level of consumerization is associated with a higher level of social development, at least on some indicators, such as the level of freedom, gender equality, and subjective well-being. The correlation with these indicators persists even after adjusting for per capita GDP. The presence of statistically significant stable links with social development and the absence of any links with social degradation allows drawing a preliminary conclusion about the refutation of the basic hypothesis of the consumerism criticism and the confirmation of its proponents’ correctness. However, our analysis confirms the connection between consumer society and social development, based on data in a sense formatted by consumer society itself. Therefore, for the final verification of competing hypotheses, it is necessary to develop new, critically oriented quantitative indicators of social development.
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Contemporary rural studies in Russia and China: Scientific overview
Scientific article
The paper explores key directions in the study of rural areas in Russia and China, highlighting both thematic intersections and differentiations, as well as identifying research gaps and promising avenues for future inquiry. A comprehensive content analysis was conducted using the eLibrary (RSCI) and Google Scholar databases. Keywords and thematic queries were selected to reflect current scholarly interests in the socio-economic development of rural regions in both countries. The analysis demonstrates a growing academic interest in socio-economic transformations of rural spaces, the implications of urbanization, and the dynamics of rural-to-urban migration. Considerable attention is also given to changes in traditional ways of life, the transformation of community relations, and alterations in social structure. Notably, Chinese research tends to frame rural areas as complementary to urban spaces, whereas the Russian scholarly tradition predominantly examines them as autonomous and distinct environments. Among the identified gaps are the limited attention to individual dimensions of rural development and to the formation of prestige associated with rural living. Insufficient coverage is given to processes such as migration flows, the return migration of former urban residents to rural regions, and strategies for cultivating a positive image of rural life. Overall, the findings underscore the multidimensional and interdisciplinary character of contemporary rural studies in Russia and China, as well as a heightened scholarly interest in issues of sustainable rural development.
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Convergence regions in European Union: features and the evaluation
Scientific article
The process of alignment of socio-economic development of countries and regions in the European Union (EU) - is an important aspect of European integration, which is ambiguous. Common Market Act, which is aimed at improving the economic efficiency of the entire EU, became the subject of many discussions of European researchers, which claimed that its viability on the political and socio-economic levels depends on the ability to fairly distribute the resulting gains between countries and regions in the EU. As the result of these discussions there was a significant increase in funds allocated for the development of the regions of the EU Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund and consolidation goals to equalize levels of development of the regions in the first section of the Single European Act. How effective are these efforts shows the presented analysis and assessment of regional convergence (by GDP per capita at purchasing power parity) during the economic boom of the EU (1995-2004) and in the period 2004-2011, when 12 countries in Central and Eastern Europe joined the EU at the same time.
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Corporate Demographic Business Practices: Attitudes of Russian Students as Future Employees
Scientific article
The demographic challenges facing the country, especially given their impact on the problem of personnel shortage in the labor market, are creating a demand for the active involvement of business in the implementation of priority national tasks aimed at supporting families and strengthening family values. An institution of corporate citizenship in the demographic sphere is being formed. Enterprises include in the range of social responsibility tasks to support employees fulfilling parental responsibilities and their families. Corporate demographic policy becomes a factor in successful competition for personnel, contributes to the formation of a reputation as a responsible employer. It is relevant and practically significant to study how important corporate demographic practices are for the employees themselves. In terms of forecasting the development of the situation, the opinion of future employees - Russian students - is of particular interest. The article presents an analysis of the ideas of students of Russian universities about corporate demographic practices, about the importance of these practices when choosing an employer. A special perspective and novelty of the study is to identify the relationship between the attitude of students to corporate demographic practices and the expression of their attitudes towards family and parenthood. The author’s methodology for collecting and analyzing qualitative sociological data has been developed and tested. The empirical base consisted of materials from 169 essays by senior students of universities in three federal districts of the Russian Federation - Northwestern, Siberian and Ural. The study revealed a low level of awareness among students about the corporate demographic policy of Russian business. At the same time, the demand for corporate demographic practices depends on the attitudes and value orientations of future employees. Students with high levels of family-oriented attitudes demonstrate higher levels of awareness of corporate demographic practices and give higher ratings to the importance of such practices when choosing an employer. The study confirms the importance of targeted work to develop Russian students’ commitment to family values and ideas about the possibility of effectively combining professional and parental trajectories. A conclusion is made about the potential influence of corporate family support practices on the reproductive behavior of future employees, which in turn contributes to the achievement of strategic national goals to overcome demographic challenges.
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Corporate citizenship: An overview of scientific publications
Scientific article
The negative demographic dynamic observed in Russia, despite the government's efforts to handle it, requires the development and implementation of new, more effective tools that can change the situation. One of these tools is to promote business participation in addressing the country's demographic problems based on the development of ideas and principles of corporate citizenship. The aim of the study is to review and analyze the scientific and research discourse on corporate citizenship with an emphasis on the demographic segment of this discourse. The research methodology includes scientific review of publications on corporate citizenship based on quantitative (scientometric analysis) and qualitative (content-semantic analysis of documents) methods. We reveal that the scientific and research discourse on corporate citizenship, while maintaining a stable scientific significance for a number of years, has been shrinking over recent years. At the same time, it is more widespread in foreign studies. Corporate citizenship is an insufficiently developed concept, it lacks a clear definition, understanding of its essence and determinants. In the demographic sphere, corporate citizenship is not conceptualized. In the course of the analysis, we identify trends in the development of the discourse, and compile a scientometric portrait of Russian publications on this topic. The inability to gain full access to the international citation databases Web of Science and Scopus due to the sanctions imposes certain restrictions on our research regarding the scientific review of the foreign segment of the discourse. From a scientific and theoretical perspective, the significance of the work lies in filling in the lack of scientific reviews in the field of corporate citizenship, raising the issue of conceptualizing this phenomenon and intensifying its research. Practical significance is determined by the possibility of using the findings by other authors dealing with issues of corporate citizenship and related topics. The systematization and conceptualization of this subject area will contribute to a more active promotion of the ideas and principles of corporate citizenship in Russian enterprises, as well as a more active involvement of Russian business in solving Russia's national strategic tasks.
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Scientific article
The demographic agenda and transformations of the modern labor market require the concept of corporate social responsibility to be revised, including in the direction of supporting employees who have families. The aim of the study is to develop and test a comprehensive methodology for evaluating existing measures of corporate demographic policy in Russian organizations. Neo-institutional theoretical approach and the theory of employee loyalty served as a methodological basis for the inclusion of the institution of business in the implementation of demographic policy. The empirical study is based on our own methodology for comprehensive assessment ofcorporate demographic policy measures based on three indicators: employee awareness of the existence of measures, usefulness of measures for recipients, and demographic effectiveness. The information base includes materials from a survey of 1,000 respondents living in the Siberian and Ural federal districts. The research produced the following results: 1) the system of measures aimed at supporting Russian workers and their families is not yet extensive, comprehensive and sustainable; 2) we identified measures leading in information promotion, assessment of usefulness and potential impact on reproductive behavior; we also identified measures that are not common in Russian organizations, but have the potential to influence reproductive decision-making; 3) we determined the foundations of a corporate social policy strategy aimed at supporting the state demographic agenda and working out relevant corporate governance practices, focused on taking into account employees’ needs. The findings of the study form an idea of the in-demand vector of strategic planning related to the concept of corporate social responsibility, which, given the transformation of the modern labor market, is aimed simultaneously at supporting the state demographic agenda and strengthening corporate governance.
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Corporate social responsibility: assessment methods and the regional dimension
Scientific article
In order to implement all the delegated powers amid lack of economic and financial opportunities, it is necessary for the authorities to search for additional sources of development. One of the key economic actors is represented by business structures which possess a significant amount of financial, investment, labor and other resources. In this regard, it is relevant to develop mutually beneficial cooperation of authorities and business entities. An efficient form of such cooperation, as evidenced by world experience, is social responsibility. However, this practice is not widespread in Russia; Russian research do not pay enough attention to specific tools contributing to enhancing the role of businesses in addressing social and economic issues of territories. The present paper identifies current approaches to the understanding of social responsibility of business and presents the author's interpretation of this economic category. Based on the developed methodological tools, the author makes an appraisal of social responsibility of major chemical enterprises of the Northwestern Federal district...
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