• A. Baranov, E. Malkov, L. Polishchuk, M. Rochlitz, G. Syunyaev — Measuring Institutions in?Russian Regions: Methodology, Sources of Data, Analysis
• A. Shastitko, A. Shastitko — Markets of Joint Products: Theoretical Model and Policy Implications

• O. Koshovets, T. Varkhotov — Epistemological Status of Models and Thought Experiments in Economics

• O. Volkova — Transparency, Accountability, and Trust in Society

• A. Bulatov — Offshore Business of Russian Residents (On the Books "Offshore Business in Foreign-Economic Activity", "Capital Flow from Russia: Issues and Decisions", ­"Deoffshorization of Russian Economy: Possibilities and Limits")

Abstracts

The paper deals with the roots and features of current Russian economic problems as a combination of structural and institutional crises, cyclical and external shocks. Mobilization and liberalization are discussed as two key economic policy alternatives. The analysis includes historical retrospection which provides some important lessons from economic development in the 20th century. Special attention is paid to the desirable policy to stimulate economic growth.

JEL: O52, P27.
Keywords: economic policy, crisis, globalization, Russia.

Analyzing the changes of key macroeconomic indicators in the context of global trends, the authors conclude that the prolonged stagnation of the Russian economy, deeply integrated into global economic processes, is a natural consequence of weakening its competitiveness and reducing investment attractiveness. "Moderately tight" monetary policy conducted against the background of large scale monetary expansion in developed countries has made its contribution.

JEL: F4, E20, E22, E5, G15.
Keywords: world economy, economic growth, investment, monetary policy, international capital flows, financial markets.

The article analyzes the causes and possible consequences of the current situation in the foreign exchange market for Russian development strategy of import substitution that the country has to develop and implement after the US, the EU and some of its allies initiated economic sanctions against Russia. It is shown that the sanctions policy follows the competition, aggravated with the onset of the structural crisis of the world economy in 2008, that is understood as the crisis in the model of inflationary growth, combined with the cyclical and financial crises.

JEL: E10, E31, E44.
Keywords: monetary policy, systemic crisis, international competition, the inflationary model of economic growth, economic sanctions.

The paper explores various measures of institutional quality in Russian regions, and compares those measures to each other. Such analysis leads to the conclusion that Russian regional institutions are essentially multidimensional, and therefore comparisons of Russian regions in terms of their overall institutional quality could be problematic. New institutional indexes are derived from Russian enterprise surveys held under the BEEPS project of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. Such indexes yield a typology of Russian regions in terms of efficacy of regional administrations’ control over economy and bureaucracy in their regions. Dynamics of regional institutional indexes is investigated against the backdrop of Russia-wide institutional trends.

JEL: D73, D78, H73, H83, O17.
Keywords: institutions; institutional measurement; regional rankings; centralized and decentralized corruption; institutional dynamics.

The article considers the phenomenon of price behavior on markets of joint products. It is shown that conclusions about the nature of economic entities’ behavior on this kind of markets could be inaccurate if their characteristics such as joint costs and correlation of demand conditions on markets mentioned are not taken into account. For this purpose a theoretical model, built according to basic microeconomic principles, is applied. It provides an opportunity to reveal — without further new institutional analysis — that the reason for price deviation from a competitive level does not always lie in actions restricting competition.

JEL: D4.
Keywords: joint products, joint costs, competition.

The paper considers the analogy of theoretical modeling and thought ­experiment in economics. The authors provide historical and epistemological analysis of thought experiments and their relations to the material experiments in natural science. They conclude that thought experiments as instruments are used both in physics and in economics, but in radically different ways. In the natural science, a thought experiment is tightly connected to the material experimentation, while in economics it is used in isolation. Material experiments serve as a means to demonstrate the reality, while thought experiments cannot be a full-fledged instrument of studying the reality. Rather, they constitute the instrument of structuring the field of inquiry.

JEL: A11, A12, B41, B59.
Keywords: economic reality, ontology, model, experiment, thought experiment, instrumentalism.

The paper analyses the concepts of transparency and accountability, their correlation with other key concepts used in Russian social and economic discourses, and also the critique of the transparency and accountability practices. It is shown that the main effect of development of these technologies is the substitution of reality by the "picture" formed for external users, transformation of this "picture" into the self-purpose. The reason of this is the change of paradigms of trust. Society has passed from trust in authorities with their right to make decisions on the basis of professional judgment to trust in procedures and standards, trust in "picture". We have changed trust in result to trust in processes of its receiving.

JEL: A13, A19, B40, D85, H83, M14, M4, Z1.
Keywords: transparency, accountability, trust, calculability, quantification, accounting, reporting, objectification, financial markets, university ratings.

The article reviews three books: "Offshore Business in Foreign-Economic Activity" ed. by G. M. Kostyunina, "Capital Flow from Russia: Issues and Decisions" by S. S. Sulakshin et al. and "Deoffshorization of Russian Economy: Possibilities and Limits" by B. A. Kheyfets, that analyze capital flow from Russia, especially in the form of offshore invest­ments of Russian residents. The author offers some hypotheses about specificities of these investments. Russian in­vestments are analyzed against the background of recent anti-offshore campaign in Russia and the world. Some recommendations on state regulation of offshore business of Russian residents are formulated.

JEL: F2, F6, P5.
Keywords: Russia, international capital movement, capital outflow and inflow balance, capital flight, offshore, deoffshorization, anti-offshore policy.