We build factor models of the regional budgets spending composition, based on data for 2011—2019. Our estimates reveal that expenditure on social security, public health, and education have relatively low elasticity by fiscal revenue (0.6—0.7), On the contrary, national economy and housing expenditure have the highest elasticity (1.3—1.7), while culture and general public services expenditure are characterized with medium elasticity (0.8—0.9). The major econometric tool used for the analysis is quantile regression that allows to detect heterogeneity of expenditure relations with various factors. The dependence of fiscal revenues is homogenous only for social security, public health, and housing, while for other types of expenditure this relationship differs between regions with high and low fiscal revenue. We suggest procedure to identify individual ‘spending preferences’ of particular regions and classify all regions depending on their top spending priorities. Regions with a larger value of the gross regional product most often have education and social security as their priority while other regions mainly have national economy spending as a priority.

The global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has once again shown the key role of fiscal stimulus. At the same time, in many developed countries, stimulating monetary policy was limited by the already achieved zero interest rates. But the fight against the consequences of the coronavirus with fiscal policy instruments had a negative effect in the form of an increase in the state budget deficit and, as a result, in public debt. According to the Institute of International Finance (IMF), by the end of 2022, global debt reached $297 trillion, or 349%. The public debt in the world reached 102% of GDP in 2022, which is a historically high value since the 1960s. In 2023, global debt continued to grow in nominal terms: according to the IMF, in Q1 2023, it has already increased by $8.3 trillion to $305 trillion. The risks of rapid growth in public debt in developed and developing countries were even before the COVID-19 pandemic. But after a period of stimulus fiscal measures in 2020—2021 the public debt problem has worsened, raising fears that the practice of financial repression could become a reality for the next decade. Accelerating global inflation increases incentives for governments to use financial repression to eliminate the public debt burden. At the same time, financial repression, in turn, may imply a decrease in the effectiveness of the inflation targeting policy, as a result of which there are risks that high inflation will become more sustainable.

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Claudia Goldin for her contribution to the study of women’s labor market outcomes. Goldin’s work establishes key historical facts regarding gender differences in the labor markets and provides insights into the driving forces of those gaps. Her methodology combines careful archival research, neoclassical microeconomic analysis, a cohort approach, and the use of natural experiments to identify causal relationships. This paper provides a survey of Goldin’s research on the relationship between economic development and the female labor supply, occupational segmentation, women’s educational attainment, discrimination, child penalty, and job flexibility. I also discuss how Goldin’s findings are relevant to understanding the gender gaps in Russia.

Since the mid-nineties of this century, Russia has intensified its state policy of combating excessive alcohol consumption. In particular, a minimum price threshold for vodka was introduced, excise taxes on alcohol in alcoholic beverages were substantially increased, and a mandatory ban on nighttime retail sales was introduced. A number of studies using Russian microdata have confirmed the effectiveness of these measures. From 2007 to 2017, the dynamics of alcohol consumption by the Russian population did show a consistent decline. Many researchers, both Russian and foreign, considered this trend as a success of government policy. Recently, however, official statistics have noted an annual increase in the consumption of alcoholic beverages: from 7.2 liters of pure alcohol per capita adult population in 2017 to 7.7 in 2021. Why has the alcohol policy, designed initially in line with international best practices, not reduced consumption in recent years? This article analyzes the practice of applying price and restrictive measures for the last 10 years on the basis of Rosstat data, federal and regional legislation. Excise duties and minimum vodka prices in real terms are calculated, as well as indices of the ratio of alcoholic beverage prices and average wages. The real excise taxes and prices for alcoholic beverages decreased after 2014, making them more affordable for consumers. After 2017, there is no increase in the number of Russian territories applying stricter temporary restrictions on alcohol trade compared to the norm of the federal law. Today, almost half of the country’s population lives in regions with the mildest possible time limits on alcohol sales that do not constrain its physical availability. We have to admit that the alcohol policy is inconsistent. The formal application of price and restrictive measures in the last decade has not prevented the growth of alcohol consumption.

The article examines the possible reasons for the dominance of fundamentalism( in the form of Pigouvianism or market fundamentalism) over functionalism (Coasianism) in the practice of decision-making in economic policy. Continuing the study of the relationship between Coasianism, Pigouvianism and market fundamentalism, presented in previous works, the article focuses on finding the basis for the dominance of fundamentalism at the level of individual decisions and actions — in particular, in the field of cognitive bias and behavioral effects. Decision-making using an automatic cognitive system, subject to cognitive bias, as opposed to a reflective system, can lead to the choice of a fundamentalist solution to a problem where it is not the most efficient, and also reduces the efficiency of functionalism, since it prevents the correct identification of the problem itself, of the structural alternatives for its solution, as well as identifying and comparing the effects associatedwith each of the alternatives. The microfoundations of insufficient supply and demand of the Coasian approach are explored. Based on the identified problems of supply and demand for Coasianism, as one of the possible ways to promote it, it is proposed to consider the primary socialization of the individual in the learning process, the formation of substantive critical thinking. It is emphasized that adjustments to the socialization process are a matter of long-term strategy

The article is devoted to the development of the knowledge-based approach to the theory of the firm (KBV). It is noted that the modern mainstream KBV (R. Grant (1996) and numerous followers) sees the nature of the firm in effective integration of the knowledge of specialists employed in it. The article proposes to supplement this analysis with the second important function of the firm — its role as an encapsulator of knowledge. The foundations of such an approach to knowledge were laid by H. Demsetz, but have not yet been developed in the literature. The essence of encapsulation is to reduce complete knowledge to an algorithm of actions sufficient to achieve the goal, which is possible, say, with the help of instructions, directions of the manager, built in constructive “foolproofing”, etc. The compiler of the instruction does not integrate his knowledge with the knowledge of its performer, but prescribes the unquestioned implementation of the algorithm of behaviour. Thus, huge cost savings are achieved on the training of performers. The article considers the limiting case — the scheme of the firm functioning as a pure encapsulator of knowledge, the Markov property of the process is substantiated. The role of the entrepreneur as an architect and manager of the knowledge encapsulation scheme is revealed. At the same time, significant negative aspects of production based on the widespread use of encapsulated (incomplete — you do what you do not understand) knowledge are analyzed. In particular, the non-creative nature of labour in the encapsulationbased firm (a particular manifestation of which is the slow spread of horizontally organized or teal firms) and the threat of disqualification of performers when combining encapsulation with artificial intelligence are discussed

The article continues to discuss options for the modernization of higher economic education in Russia, including those provisions that are presented in two articles: by A. Auzan, A. Maltsev and A. Kurdin (Voprosy Ekonomiki, 2023, No. 10) and by A. Buzgalin and A. Kolganov (Voprosy Ekonomiki, 2023, No. 11). Questions are formulated to clarify the position and further discussion. It is proposed to consider the modernization of economic education through the prism of structural alternatives for building an interdisciplinary discourse, as well as the demand for expert knowledge based on applied scientific research from business and the state. Special attention is paid to the significance of heterodox economic theories, as well as to the description of the image of the desired future economic education. The following principles of its construction are formulated: sufficient conceptual pluralism; setting up filters to maintain research quality standards and navigate within a disciplinary area; forming research coalitions; restructuring of curricula in the context of “building bridges” between research programs.