INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION
The article presents the results of the analysis of total factor productivity( TFP) of Russian companies across eight industries — agriculture, extraction, processing, energy, water supply, trade, transportation, and information and communication — during the period of 2012 to 2020. Over this timeframe, there was an observable trend of decreasing TFP among Russian companies cumulatively. Sector-specific analysis reveals an upward TFP trend in agriculture, extraction, and trade sectors, while in information and communication, the metric remained virtually unchanged. Almost across all sectors, except for information and communication, private companies exhibited lower TFP compared to stateowned enterprises (SOEs) with direct government ownership. Furthermore, in the extraction sector, SOEs demonstrated higher TFP than private organizations. However, the TFP of medium and small private companies proved to be higher across all sectors, excluding agriculture and extraction. Additionally, it was found that both private companies and SOEs with direct government ownership lagged behind the productivity of SOEs with indirect government ownership, except for the extraction sector, where these distinctions were negligible
LABOR AND SOCIAL ECONOMICS
In this study, we explore wage dynamics of STEM and nonSTEM professionals during their working life. We analyze wage differences along the wage distribution and with labor market experience. The main novelty in the paper is decomposing the wage growth in separate effects of experience, cohort and time, and accounting for potential depreciation. The identification used in this procedure is based on the ideas of the human capital theory. The empirical realization employs data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. It shows that Russian STEM graduates accumulate human capital at a slower rate than nonSTEM graduates do. However, STEM skills acquired by the beginning of the career are less exposed to obsoleteness than nonSTEM. This reflects a stronger cohort effect for the latter group, and is an implication of the systemic change and the transformational recession during the 1990s
The article focuses on the work–life balance of teachers who are somehow connected with tutoring. Achieving work–life balance is problematic for them because of increased requirements for their professionalism. The combinations of the parameters of “work” and “life” in the career path of the teacher, which are the most successful in terms of self-assessment of workload and well-being, are revealed. The influence of socio-demographic characteristics of teachers on the chances of being satisfied with the work schedule is considered. The study is based on the results of an online survey of educators conducted in February 2022. The sample consists of teachers and tutors that are using online educational platforms and marketplaces to find the main and additional job. Only higher workload at school statistically significantly increases dissatisfaction with the work schedule. This may be due to low incomes of teachers. At the same time, there are differences in satisfaction with the work schedule among men and women
The problem of digital transformation of the labor market is widely discussed in the current scientific literature. In the context of the rapid spread of modern information technologies, in particular artificial intelligence (AI), many companies inevitably face difficulties in hiring highly qualified personnel. At the same time, research still lacks a clear understanding of the pace of AI adoption in different occupations, as well as what knowledge, skills, and abilities are actually in demand by employers. This study analyzes the demand for worker skills and the salaries offered by employers within firms, industries, and occupations. By focusing on AI skills, this paper adapts and extends the application of mainstream empirical methodology to the understudied context of the Russian labor market. The study uses data from firms and online job advertisements for the period from 2007 to 2020, and conducts econometric analysis to estimate the demand for skills. The results of the study show a rapid growth in the demand for AI skills in Russia, which is associated with significant wage premiums for these skills. However, when combined with other skills, the effect of AI skills can be negated. For example, the results suggest that basic and advanced computer skills are negatively complementary in terms of demand, which may lead to lower wages. Moreover, in the context of the Russian labor market, the demand for nontechnical skills in AI-related jobs is not associated with offering higher wages
ECONOMIC HISTORY AND HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
The paper deals with the theory and practical experience of Soviet economic reforms in 1921—1985. The authors discuss current literature on the subject and suggest methodological tools for the analysis of Soviet economic reforms, their stages and conceptions. Special attention is paid to the “new economic policy” of the 1920s (nep) and “Kosygin reform” of 1965. The authors figure out three basic concepts of Soviet reforms: improvement of planning administration, development of the key indicator of economic performance, and complex improvements of the economic mechanism
The author of this article systematizes archival data on the prices of paper and paints in Russia between the 1710s and 1780s and consider the development of their production in the country. We use more than 160 archival sources, which allows to construct time series. The resulting numbers make the author doubt the “price revolution” in eighteenth-century Russia. The price jump was observed in the agricultural market, the prices of the considered industrial goods remained stable. Thus we can talk about the “scissors” of prices, the socioeconomic consequences of which are studied in the article. The author aims to explain the reasons for the success of replacing foreign products with domestically produced goods in Petrine Russia, as well as the reasons for the technological lag at the end of the century
The paper analyzes the metaphor of “an invisible hand”, which was introduced two and a half centuries ago by Adam Smith (1723—1790) and which eventually became the central concept of the modern economics. The second part examines the origin and history of the reception of Smith’s metaphor at various stages of the evolution of economic thought. Paradoxically, it gained wide popularity only since the middle of the 20th century due to its mention in the famous textbook by P. Samuelson “Economics”. In the interpretation of this metaphor by modern economists, two traditions exist — neoclassical and Austrian. In mainstream, Smith’s “invisible hand” is identified with the First Fundamental Theorem of welfare economics, which looks like an anachronism. There are more grounds for the convergence of the concepts of “an invisible hand” and “spontaneous order”, from which the Austrian school proceeds. Smith almost accidentally stumbled upon a figurative expression which turned out to be heuristically extremely productive and has become firmly embedded in the lexicon of many modern disciplines — from economics to the philosophy of science
DEBATING SOCIETY
The purpose of the article is to substantiate the need and characterize the main directions of a deep reform of economic education in Russia. The existing model of economic education, based on the absolute dominance of neoclassical economic theory, even taking into account the recent partial renovation of the latter, is unable to provide the formation of knowledge and competence, allowing not only to solve standard tasks of rational choice of optimal investment and consumption trajectories, but also to independently analyze and act in a qualitatively changing economy, focusing not only on selfish private interest, but also on solving the problems of national and global development. In a dialogue with the publication of A. Auzan, A. Maltsev and A. Kurdin (Voprosy Ekonomiki, 2023, No. 10), the authors show that the changes proposed are necessary, but not sufficient, only in some part they take into account the results of past discussions and publications. The answer to the challenges facingeducation in the context of qualitative changes in the economy and society necessitates the inclusion in the circle of compulsory disciplines (1) of heterodox economic theory, which reveals the content of existing economic systems, the contradictions and patterns of their transformation, the technological, social, political and cultural context of economic processes; (2) the course “Russian economy”; (3) the history of economy and economic thought with (4) a significant reduction and updating of the content of courses in micro- and macroeconomics, strengthening their social, environmental, and humanistic orientation