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2021, Issue 1 (49). Abstracts
On some models of altruistic behavior The paper surveys several recent approaches to studying, modeling, and interpreting altruistic behavior. In the first section we describe a modification of the system of axioms of classical rational choice theory taking into consideration moral reference points. We study the moral monotonicity axiom, compare the predictions of the standard and the modified system of axioms, and describe series of experiments contradicting the standard system, but agreeing with the modified one. In the second section we discuss the approach of J. Roemer who suggested to consider Kantian optimization in place of the standard Nash one. It is well known that Nash equilibria are not necessarily optimal. It happens, as, for example, in the tragedy of the commons, that all the participants would benefit from choosing a different, non-Nash equilibrium, and in this section we consider mechanisms allowing to realize an optimal choice. In the third section we consider a model in which different parenting styles (based on altruism and paternalism) emerge as equilibrium outcomes and are affected by both parental preferences and the socioeconomic environment. We discuss statistical and experimental data showing historical development of parental styles and allowing to check various predictions of the model. Key words: altruism, game "Ultimatum", game "Dictator", choice theory, moral reference point, Kantian optimization, paternalism, parenting style
Endogenous Stackelberg leadership within a team. The coalition effect The article engages in a theoretical investigation of the possibility of implementing the Stackelberg strategy within a team. It is assumed that the team gene-rates aggregate income that increases as the efforts invested by each agent intensify, subject to the law of diminishing returns. The goal of each agent in a team is to maximize his own individual gain. In order to achieve an outcome that is Paretopreferable over Nash equilibrium, two approaches may be used: identifying a leader or forming a smaller group (coalition) within the team whose members, in pursuance of increased individual gains, choose the route that maximizes coalition gains. It is shown that the advent of a coalition in a team results in Pareto-improvement in a simultaneous game. We analyse the possibility of endogenous leadership forming according to the Stackelberg model when using the mechanism of timing decisions. It is established that under autonomy of all team members, leadership formation can only be confidently predicted in specific individual cases. In a significantly more general case, all of the prerequisites for the formation of leadership are created by the presence of a single coalition interested in implementing the Stackelberg strategy. Key words: team, leader, coalition, Stackelberg equilibrium, Pareto-improvement
Investments in the infrastructure of Siberia and the Far East. Macroeconomic analysis based on general equilibrium model We have developed a general equilibrium model that belongs to the class of real business cycle models of a small open economy exporting natural resources, which allows us to take into account the impact of investments in infrastructure projects. The model was calibrated to perform deterministic simulation of the investments project of the new railway construction and associated enterprises for the extraction and primary processing of natural resources in Siberia and the Far East. We use the information available before 2018. By 2050, the contribution of the infrastructure project, with a total size of 2.3% of GDP, to GDP growth is estimated at 4.0%, and the largest contribution of 2.7% of GDP is made by the growth of natural resource exports by 31.6 billion US dollars. 29.4 billion US dollars import increase and 7.2% consumption increase are due to the 5.4% of real ruble appreciation by 2050. The long-term equivalent consumption variation of the project is estimated as 8.36% a year. The project leads to an exacerbation of the Dutch disease of the Russian economy: the country’s specialization in the production and export of natural resources increases, imports increase, exports of other goods decrease, consumption increases, currency appreciates, and labor supply decreases. Key words: investments in infrastructure; infrastructural project; general equilibrium; Dutch disease; Siberia and Far East
T.L. Zhuravleva, National Research University "Higher Scool of Economics" (NRU HSE), Saint Petersburg, Russia Is the difference in consumption and income an indication of petty corruption? Based on micro-level data on reported household earnings, expenditures and assets, provided by the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) for the period 2000–2013, it is found that households with workers in the public sector receive lower earnings than households with members employed in the private sector but enjoy the same level of consumption. Controlling for the reported level of earnings, private households do not show a significantly higher probability of possessing summer cottages (dachas), cars and computers, or living in better housing conditions, or having a higher level of monetary savings. The differences in assets cannot be reconciled with the sizeable expenditure-income gap found. The precautionary motives of workers are not able to reconcile these discrepancies either: neither attitude to risk, nor risk itself, differ between individuals employed in the private and public sectors. It is hypothesized that employees continue working in the public sector despite their low rate of official pay, because of unreported income they receive, or bribes. Key words: petty corruption, bribery, Russian Federation, Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS)
D.E. Konoplev, Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia Digital poverty: How online economy captures property inequality The article discusses the problem of digital poverty, arising when communication through digital platforms reduces the cost of the process of obtaining and exchanging information and replaces traditional economic processes. Using the example of the consumption of digital and online services, the author shows how digital communications can act as a marker for differentiating the behavior of the poor and the rich. Using cluster analysis and assessment of multicollinearity, the author interprets the data of a sociological study of five groups of respondents, indicating the factors of manifestation of digital poverty in the behavior of economic agents. The problem of the digital trace formed as a result of the automated data collection from users of online services is also considered. The author notes that consumers of digital services, in exchange for discounts, transfer their personal data to digital platforms that use the information received to stimulate further online consumption through new discounts and loyalty programs, which has a negative impact on offline consumption. The study also raises the issue of the accompanying digital poverty of economic externalities, identifies markers of property inequality in the digital economy, possible options for the development of the online economy against the background of the classical communication and social relations become luxurious. It also indicates the main scenarios for leveling the effects of digital poverty. Key words: digital poverty, e-commerce, social media, communication, digital trace, augmented reality
T.A. Tankieva, Tula State University, Tula, Russia A study of consumers and the development problems of industrial tourism in the old industrial region (on the example of the Tula region) Over the course of the last few decades, there has been a growing interest in industrial tourism as a way to diversify regional economies and establishing a new direction of the territories development. Theoretical scientific literature and existing proposals research showed that such a development of the industrial tourism is based on limited types of production, such as food industry and electric power enterprises, as well as enterprises producing goods attractive to consumers (souvenirs, toys, cars). Experience in the development of industrial tourism shows that city and state authorities can stimulate the development of industrial tourism in the region using the potentials of the enterprises comprising its main economic base. Depending on the degree of interest of producers and possible benefits for the region, there is a need for flexible support of enterprises from other tourism actors. Local educational establishments can assist in building modern tourism products and developing effective marketing strategies. The practical significance of this work lies on the a survey of 564 potential industrial tourism consumers. It revealed rather significant differences in interest of the tourists in organizing and filling programs, depending on gender and age of the respondents. Key words: industrial tourism, tourism consumers, diversification of activities, potential of the region, industrial excursion
A.P. Kireyev, International Monetary Fund, Washington, USA Economic policies in a pandemic What economic policy space does a country have to respond to a crisis provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic? To assess this space, the article calculates the nominal policy space index as a sum of each country’s fiscal space, monetary space, and reserve space. This nominal policy space is then adjusted for institutional features of individual countries to derive the effective policy space index. By way of illustration, the article applies the index to the Covid-19 crisis. It finds that at least 95 countries (about 11 percent of global GDP and 23 percent of population) have no or very limited policy space and may require emergency assistance. Key words: policy space, fiscal space, debt sustainability, foreign reserves, public debt, market access
Is Eurozone accumulating a historic lag toward Asia in the COVID-19 context? The COVID-19 epidemic has shaken the world and affected the global economy. Coming from China, this epidemic has hit different countries in a close succession. Western Europe and the Eurozone were severely hit by the pandemy. The so-called "2nd wave" is creating havoc even in the countries that had quite well managed before – during the 1st wave of Spring 2020. Even with the vaccine, it is quite probable that economic recovery will be postponed to 2022–2023. Would the Eurozone accumulate a historic lag compared to Asia in the pandemy context? Analyses done by the end of September 2020, that is before the 2nd epidemic wave struck Europa, were already showing that the EU and the Eurozone, as some other advanced economies, fared worse in that context. This 2nd wave would quite probably strengthen this lagging. Key words: COVID-19 epidemic, 2nd wave, economic collapse, lock-down, economic cost, government support, EU countries
A.A. Auzan, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia Global institutional consequences of coronavirus This article examines the institutional consequences of the COVID-19 pandemics. It is shown that the pandemic-associated changes are related, first to the economy digital transformation, and second to 2 institutional changes schemes acting simultaneously. In the institutional theory the above mentioned schemes are reflected in the works of H. Demsetz and D. North. The author of the article examines factors related to demand and supply of institutions. The article forecasts that in the framework of J.M. Keyens’ "impossible trinity" the priority of freedom is to decrease while the priority of justice and efficiency of a state is to increase. The article distinguishes three models of political institutions supply, depending on their relation to personal data property rights and feedback capabilities: the digital totalitarianism model, the social state of sustainable development model and the model of platform-based social contract with aggregators participating in it. It is shown that the new bifurcation point is related to the personal data property rights problem and that the present institutional change can already be seen in the modification of the approaches to opportunism/opportunistic behavior problem solving as well as in the sphere of business transactions support as governmental institutions are substituted (crowded-out) by digital platforms due to high levels of "allocated" trust. Key words: COVID-19, institutional changes, personal data
A.A. Shirov, Institute of Economic Forecasting RAS, Moscow, Russia The pandemic crisis: The mechanisms of development and solutions for economic policy The new coronavirus pandemic has created new challenges for experts in economic analysis and substantiation of economic policy. The difference between a pandemic crisis and the mechanisms of a traditional business cycle crisis requires a description of the key mechanisms of its development. The relatively more favorable macroeconomic results of the Russian economy in 2020 were determined both by its structural features and by the parameters of economic policy. At the same time, the crisis led to significant social losses, which resulted in an increase in excess mortality and a decrease in real incomes of the population, and unemployment rising. The crisis has shown the impossibility of targeted support for all the affected segments of the population. In this regard, a rapid recovery of economic activity on the basis of state support can be the most effective way to restore the level and quality of life of the population. Key words: coronacrisis, economic growth, income of the population, anti-crisis policy, economic recovery
V.Yu. Muzychuk, Institute of Economics RAS, The State Institute for Art Studies of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia Culture in the context of COVID-19: Impact assessment and support measures The article is devoted to the analysis of foreign experience in supporting the cultural sector in the context of the COVID-19, which is characterized by: a complex system and a variety of public aid mechanisms; a priority in supporting freelancers; support of cultural organizations, regardless of the form of ownership and the nature of the activity (non-commercial or commercial); transparency of the conditions for receiving aid for potential recipients and society as a whole. The paper also analyzes the measures of the Russian government to support the domestic cultural sector. The consequences of the pandemic in Russia are not so destructive due to the institutional features associated with the prevalence of the public sector and the existence of contractual relations between employees and cultural organizations. However, there are certain types of occupations where the costs of pandemic are very high (professional musicians, artists, writers, etc.). Key words: cultural sector, public support for the arts and culture, cultural expenditures, cultural policy, creative industries, charities and sponsorship in the arts and culture Back | ||
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