MACROECONOMICS

• A. Kudrin — Ruble Real Effective Exchange Rate: Problems of Appeciation

• R. Kapelyushnikov — Composition of Russian Employment: Specifics and Dynamics
• V. Radaev — The Evolution of Organizational Forms in Russian Retailing

• I. Ulyanov — On the Role of Statistic Characteristics of the Profit Rate in the Government Regulation of the Economy

• S. Moiseev — Optimum Structure of the Banking Market: How Many Banks Are Necessary for Russia?
• A. Sarkisyants — Current Tendencies of the Russian Banking Sector Development
• V. Zrazhevsky — Today and Tomorrow of the Russian Banking System
• A. Yakovleva — Transnational Banks and Financial Institutions: The Essence and Strategy of Development
• A. Chavtur — Present-day Problems of Post Bank Activities
• M. Markov — Bureau of Credit Histories: Problems and Prospects of Development

• Yu. Temny, V. Stal'naya — Gambling Business: Pro et Contra

• Barnett V. A History of Russian Economic Thought

• Russia's Economic Security. The General Course: A Textbook / Ed. by V. K. Senchagov

• Academician T. S. Khachaturov — Economist, Pedagogue and Public Figure

Abstracts

The article is focused on the estimation of advantages and risks of the policy of "strong" ruble. The author analyzes factors, that cause effective exchange rate appreciation, studies the influence of ruble appreciation on the import dynamics. In the end suggestions on the optimal exchange rate policy in Russia are offered.

The paper examines industrial, occupational and educational characteristics of Russian employment. The author indicates that although in the post-reform period there were deep and fast changes in the composition of the Russian workforce in some crucial respects it continues to differ substantially from that in many other mature and transition market economies. The paper provides a series of quantitative estimates of the impact that shifts in industrial and occupational structure have exerted on shifts in educational structure of employment. Its main findings suggest that since the mid 1990s the evolution of the educational system in Russia has become mostly autonomous and lost any systematic relationship with economic restructuring, with changes in distribution of workers by industries and occupations.

Conceptual schemes of the organizational ecology are applied to reveal major trends in the evolution of trading formats in Russian retailing at present. They include the increasing share of modern stores, downstream waves of exploring the market niches from premium to economic market segments, and the spread of the multiformat strategy. The role of new trading formats in Russia is compared with that in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Scenarios of future development in the retailing sector are presented.

The article analyzes the main theoretical approaches to studying ¬profitability, taking into account the interests of the state and firms. This analysis involves the problem of the balanced taxation of wages and profits. The author pays special attention to the differences between the said approaches in analyzing the statistic characteristics of the profit rate.

The number of classical banks in the world has reduced. In the majority of countries the number of banks does not exceed 200. The uniqueness of the Russian banking sector is that in this respect it takes the third place in the world after the USA and Germany. The paper reviews the conclusions of the economic theory about the optimum structure of the banking market. The empirical analysis shows that the number of banks in a country is influenced by the size of its territory, population number and GDP per capita. Our econometric estimate is that the equilibrium number of banks in Russia should be in a range of 180—220 units.

The article considers a new model of the Russian banking system and its prospects. It also studies the ties of the national banking sector with the real one. The activity of foreign banks in Russia is investigated as well as the tendencies of the world banking process.

The article is devoted to actual questions of the Russian banking system trsnsformation. The author pays special attention to the specifics of the most demanded directions of banking business development. The analysis of the development of various groups of Russian financial institutions and the estimated forecast of changes of forms and methods of their activity are offered in the article. The author proposes a number of effective measures on perfection of the strategy of the domestic banking system.

The article considers various aspects of the activity of transnational banks (TNB) and their differences from national banks. Special attention is paid to principles of TNB functioning, policies and strategies of development, types of activity and examples of services as well as basic risks and methods of their overcoming. Development of transnational banks in the world is illustrated with the example of Citibank. Studying the experience of TNB activity is very useful for the Russian banking community.

The article describes the present state of the post bank business in Russia and in the world, highlighting its typology and development trends. Optimal competitive niches and primary audience of the business are defined. Factors of system implementation of the post bank activities, strategic principles and priorities of their development are revealed. Coordinating activities and expansion possibilities for the post bank business are reviewed as well as issues of functional cross-branch integration.

The article is devoted to the analysis of problems arising with introducing the system of the Bureau of Credit Histories. Basic definitions are presented, theoretical and practical issues concerning BCH functioning in Russia and in the world are considered. The conclusion is made that this system allows for decreasing risks for all participants of the credit process.