Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast @volnc-esc-en
Статьи журнала - Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast
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The logic of development of civil society studies at VolRC RAS
Статья научная
The article presents the formation and development of a research field dedicated to the study of civil society at Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (VolRC RAS; previously known as VSCC CEMI RAS, ISEDT RAS). The Center's research tradition, originating in 1993 with the launch of a public opinion monitoring, has allowed for the creation of a unique long-term empirical database. Building upon this foundation in the 2010s, under the leadership of Doctor of Sciences (Economics), RAS Corresponding Member, Professor V.A. Ilyin, a systematic study of civil society from a regional perspective was initiated. The formation of this research field is revealed through three key research vectors. First, the analysis of civil society through the lens of social capital. The research team developed and tested an original indicator model for its quantitative measurement, enabling the study of the dynamics, structure, and characteristics of the bearers of this resource. The social capital of a regional community is considered a condition for civil society development. Second, monitoring and assessment of one of the key institutions of civil society – the non-profit sector – is conducted, and its role in the socio-economic development of the region is investigated. Methodologies for assessing its contribution to the gross regional product and balanced regional development have been developed; models of economic behavior of organizations and key barriers to their functioning have been identified. Third, the phenomenon of civic participation is conceptualized, external and internal barriers to its realization are identified, and mechanisms for overcoming them are proposed, including in the context of digitalization. Overall, the research approach of VolRC RAS staff to the study of civil society can be characterized as an applied, empirically rich, and regionally-oriented school. The principal value of the team's scholarly work lies in translating abstract philosophical and political science concepts into the language of concrete social indicators and practices applicable to Russian realities, especially at the regional level. The accumulated body of data and the developed methodological tools for assessing elements of civil society create a basis for evidence-based analysis and the formulation of practical recommendations for public authorities.
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The logic of withstanding between civilizational poles
Статья научная
The article proposes a conceptual scheme of historical development as a sequence of breaking points that are associated with the change of sense, ideological structure and determine the dominant attitudes of the subjects of historical activity. The time intervals between successive breaking points are epochs of relative stability of the system of ideological attitudes. The modern epoch began with a historical breaking point that came at the end of the 19th - early 20th century, replacing the epoch of classical capitalism of the 15 th - 19th century. The dominant sense structure of the modern epoch is determined by the civilizational confrontation between Western countries and a group of leading non-Western countries. In the 20th century, the main ideological contradiction of this multidimensional confrontation was the struggle of socialism and capitalism. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, the confrontation between Western and non-Western countries transformed into a struggle between supporters of a unipolar world and supporters of a multipolar world. From time to time, the civilizational confrontation experiences periods of extreme aggravation (for example, the First and Second world wars), which is then followed by “detente”. The most important factor in historical dynamics is the processes that occur in the Western power elite and that are associated with the need to maintain the dominant ideology of superiority in this part of the world. The article describes the features of economic and political processes that can lead to the emergence and acceleration of exacerbations in international relations. They include the tendency of the West losing its leadership and an uncompromising struggle with contenders for new leadership; large-scale and, in many ways, successful attempts to manipulate public consciousness through the media and the education system; emergence of powers behind the throne in Western countries; revival of neo-Nazi organizations.
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The methodical basis of estimation of flax cluster elements’ competitiveness
Статья научная
The article examines the problems of formation and development of flax cluster in Vologda region by inter-branch and inter-territorial cooperating. The effectiveness of this cluster is primarily determined by the level of competitiveness of its products, it depends on the rate of development of advanced technologies of agricultural production, industrial primary processing of raw flax and textile industry. Basing on the data available in the system of state statistics and manufacturing accounting, the author suggests the technique to reveal the competitiveness of major products made of flax and the competitiveness of flax cluster as a whole. The algorithm of this technique for vertically-oriented formations in regional flax complex has been worked out.
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The nature of large-scale financial and economic crises and latent world management
Статья научная
The material presents in abbreviated form the contents of the report, made on the basis of collective research at the Center for Problem Analysis and Public Management Projecting and submitted at the standing Research Seminar in the Center (head - Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, General Director of the Center S.S. Sulakshin)
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The need for workforce in constituent entities of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation
Статья научная
In the first quarter of the 21st century, the Arctic and everything connected with it remains a popular topic in the humanitarian, socio-economic and political spheres. It is especially relevant for Russia, which has the largest polar sector in the world. An integrated approach to the study and analysis of development prospects of the Arctic territories can create conditions for sustainable socio-economic development not only in the Arctic zone of Russia, but also in Russia as a whole. One of the elements of this approach is the need for skilled workforce at the enterprises of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation; this topic is considered in the paper. The relevance of the topic stems from the need to implement large-scale investment projects for development of mineral resources and transport infrastructure (megaprojects), the need to address long-term tasks of socio-economic development of the Russian Arctic and ensure national security in the region. All these points are contained in the strategy for development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation until 2020...
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The north and the arctic in the new paradigm of global development: current problems
Статья
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The north of Russia: distribution of productive forces and space development
Статья научная
Following the theoretical standpoints by the academician A.G. Granberg, the author considers the main problem of space development in association with the distribution of productive forces. Each of three positions of the North area (circumpolar, latitudinal and meridian) brings up to date some certain aspects of regional politics, notably its arctic vector, regulation of norms and standards of social and production activity, strengthening of integration in the line of “North - South” in order to form a full-blooded Russian market.
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Статья научная
According to some researchers, in recent years there has been an upward trend in predominant stagnating regions in Russia. The reasons for this include low innovation activity of the periphery, deindustrialization, predominant extractive industries, capital exports, growing social and property stratification and other equally important reasons. The current economic and political crisis in our country is both a threat, an opportunity and an impetus to restructuring the regional economy. In these conditions it becomes extremely necessary to search for new growth points in the regional economy, support for the most promising industries, and efficient resource allocation. Inter-regional cooperation is the most important area of the regional policy, ensuring progressive balanced socio-economic development of regions based on establishing long-term, equal and mutually beneficial relations between them. The importance of inter-regional cooperation for the development of modern Russia's constituent entities is determined by the fact that it strengthens economic ties between them, optimizes the location of infrastructure facilities based on cooperation of their activities, eliminates inefficient financial costs associated with the creation of duplicate economic structures in Russia's constituent entities and unjustified inter-regional competition, combines the regions' economic potential for implementing the most large-scale investment projects, spreads innovative experience in innovation development...
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The overdue transformation of the budget policy model in the context of growing economic dynamics
Статья научная
The changes taking place in the Russian economy under the influence of structural shifts and institutional transformations caused by external shocks determine the need to find a balance between budget planning and economic forecasting, taking into account the revealed differences in scenario approaches, deviations in the execution of the federal budget relative to planned assignments, weak connection between budget expenditures and subsequent socio-economic dynamics. It is proved that strong economic growth is associated with the liberation of the Russian economy from the dominance of foreign business in domestic markets. The problem is the discrepancy between conservative fiscal policy and the challenges of economic development, including the development of scenario conditions for a medium-term forecast for it. The unpreparedness of the public sector for high economic growth can become a brake on economic growth and institutional transformations. The directions of expanding the fiscal space in connection with the processes of adaptation of the Russian economy to external shocks are highlighted. These include differences between scenario conditions; between the GDP parameters adopted in the draft federal budget for the first fiscal year and the reporting values of this indicator at the end of the year, faster GDP growth compared with official forecasts; structural, transformational and institutional changes taking place in the Russian economy. To improve the quality of scenario forecasting underlying the development of the federal budget, it is necessary to include ambitious “target” and “crisis” scenarios in the scenario conditions developed by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation along with conservative and basic ones. The clarification of the scenario conditions should be based on an assessment of the economic consequences of the implementation of budgetary policy measures. The composition of indicators of scenario conditions requires expansion. In addition to the current adjustments to the budget process, deeper reforms should begin to be worked out, corresponding to high economic growth and serious structural shifts in the economy.
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The paradigm of transformative investment in the context of socially oriented theories
Статья научная
The article is devoted to the study of transformative investments in the context of socially oriented theories. The growing inequality of the regions, the lack of equal opportunities in obtaining basic vital goods force society to look for new forms of overcoming social problems, which include transformative investments. The new investment paradigm, which provides for investing in solving social and environmental problems, has become widespread in many countries, the potential of this type of investment is growing every year, meeting the goals of sustainable development. Despite the fact that the investment directions of transformative investments involve investing in various spheres, this article considers only social aspects. In connection with the above, the purpose of the proposed work is to present a paradigmatic justification of transformative investments in the context of socially oriented theories. It should be noted that the phenomenon of transformative investments can theoretically be explained in the context of different theories and concepts, depending on research tasks. In this paper, the theories of social justice and social policy, the theory of the welfare state are considered. To understand the essence of transformative investments, the paper considers their main characteristics, which allowed reflecting the specifics of these investments and the features of their evaluation. Transformative projects are aimed at solving a significant social problem, they must bring financial returns and ensure guaranteed profitability, which distinguishes them from projects provided by charity or state support. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that this group of theories (along with other theories) can serve as a theoretical platform for the study of transformative investments aimed at the development of the social sphere, complementing the works of Russian and foreign scientists. The results of theoretical studies conducted by the authors determine the choice of the main directions and forms of investments that allow optimizing the social policy of the state. The paper concludes that it is necessary to maintain a balance in the social and economic spheres, taking into account the already established institutions and preventing abrupt changes in the redistribution of income; providing the population with appropriate tools and its active participation in development processes.
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The phenomenon of social institution and its theoretical definition
Статья научная
Theoretical description of institutions as social phenomena requires that their adequate model be constructed. However, the concept of “social institution” has no universally accepted definition. The article discusses the phenomenon of social institution and analyzes its definitions. Researchers consider social institution from several points of view, but the existing definitions do not reflect all the features of social institutions. It has been recently acknowledged that institutions need to be developed slowly, and radical changes in social institutions often cause serious deterioration in their functioning. The theoretical model of social institution should explain the reasons for this stability. A good model should also explain other properties of social institutions, for example, their system and structural features. The paper proposes the model of institution as an open social system with blurred boundaries and an uncertain number of participants. At the macro level, institutions as social systems have a normative, ideal and organizational structure...
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The phenomenon of strategic advantages in the 21st century
Статья научная
The article investigates issues concerning the development of countries amid geopolitical turbulence. In particular, it is shown that the development of the world economic system has two phases: monocentricity, with a leader country and the world order it has established; and multipolarity with an increasing chaos and the struggle of many countries for the reconstruction of the world. These processes are based on scale effect, which at the stage of multipolarity operates in the external sphere in the form of territorial expansion, and at the stage of monocentricity - in the internal sphere in the form of technological innovations within the corporate sector of individual countries. The paper considers the restoration of the phenomenon of strategic advantages, which barely manifested itself in the geopolitical space for a long time. To explain the cyclical rising of this effect, we introduce the concepts of independent (natural) and controlled (artificial) development instead of the concepts of outstripping development and catching-up development that are fading into the background; we show that artificial development exists in the form of acceleration and containment. This made it possible to put forward a political model of sovereignty “leader - satellites/opponents - neutral zone” instead of I. Wallerstein’s technological model “core - semi-periphery - periphery”. We propose and substantiate a quantitative criterion for strategic advantages, according to which they are observed under multiple differences (twofold or more) in the economic indicators of the compared countries. The framework study uses five indicators: area, GDP, population, technology level (GDP per capita), availability of nuclear weapons; the first four parameters are assessed quantitatively with the help of strategic advantages index; the fifth parameter is assessed qualitatively. We consider examples of the phenomenon of strategic advantages for bilateral relations: Azerbaijan/Armenia; Russia/Ukraine; South Korea/North Korea; India/Pakistan, etc. We also reveal the significance of this effect for Russia’s long-term foreign policy strategy.
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Статья научная
In the article the growing role of tourism in a modern society is characterized, the huge importance of the development of tourism for economic, social and cultural rise of Russia and its regions is marked.
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Статья научная
The article studies the transformation and regulation of the phenomenon of unevenness of socio-economic space. We provide detailed comments on a fundamental nature of the unevenness of development of socio-economic space in any territorial entity (region, country, district, etc.) and point out the importance of research on the unevenness of development from the standpoint of science and management. We substantiate a priority approach to the study of unevenness; in the framework of this approach we move consistently from quantitative assessment of the phenomenon of unevenness of space through identification of specifics and patterns to forecasting and practical recommendations for management. All this is related to the prospects of further research. We present the importance and relevance of this study, which aims to identify specifics of the phenomenon of unevenness of socio-economic development of cities and districts of the Murmansk Oblast, and to forecast its dynamics and regulation in present-day crisis conditions...
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The post-crisis economic development and prospects of innovation activity in the Tomsk region
Статья научная
Completion of the critical phase of the global financial crisis is the need for economic analysis of its possible consequences. The article presents an analysis of key aspects of economic activities of Tomsk region as an example of assessment of the prospects for the region's innovative development. It contains the data on the dynamics of post-crisis economic development and the proposals for innovative orientation of the region.
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Статья научная
The eastern regions of Russia are the convenient zone in which Russia cooperates with the actively developing Asian region. The key states of North-East Asia such as China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea are the largest participants in world trade at the present stage. The servicing of large-scale commodity flows with the European Union and the U.S. is provided by the market of transport services, by means of which the most effective schemes of delivery are built. Under these conditions, the transport system of the East of Russia has objective prerequisites for integration into the international transport system. The goal of our present study is to assess the potential of integration of the transport system of the Far East in the market of transport services in North-East Asia. At the same time, we assess integration opportunities with the help of dividing the territory of the East of Russia into districts based on the results of cluster analysis. Considering the achievement of the research goal, this approach is a new one. The need for division is due to the fact that the Far East is quite a large region, extremely heterogeneous in its internal composition, economic-geographical and socio-economic characteristics. Constituent entities of the Russian Federation as part of the Far Eastern Federal District have, among other things, different integration potential and level of development of the transport system. In the course of cluster analysis we use indicators of transport network development and the scale of foreign economic activity as the criteria for division. As a result of our calculations, we divide the Far East into five regions that differ in the potential of integration interaction of the transport system with the market of transport services in North-East Asia. The paper presents specific features of the selected areas, characteristics of transport systems and prospects for participation in the international transport market. In the future, it is possible to conduct a study taking into account the projects for development of the transport system of the Far East, which adjust the prospects for integration interactions.
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