2014. vol. 18. No. 1

A methodology has been developed to construct a time series of Russian Input-Output (IO) accounts for 2003 and subsequent years. This was based on the OKVED (All-Russian classifier of activities) and OKPD (All-Russian classifier of Products by Activity) classifications that are harmonized with the NACE rev. 1/CPA. The construction used IO Accounts for 2003 built in the Soviet classifications as the starting point.

An iterative algorithm has been proposed to transform these tables for 2003 into the OKVED/OKPD classifications. In the first step Use table (initial approximation) at purchasers' prices has been transformed using the conversion table bridging the Soviet classifications to the OKVED/OKPD classifications. In the second step the initial approximations of the 5 components of Use table at purchasers’ prices have been developed: the use of domestic goods and services at basic prices, the use of imported goods and services at basic prices; transport margins; trade margins and net taxes on products are developed. In the third step balancing each of the five tables has been taken place to ensure compliance of the row totals with the respective targets of national accounts. In the fourth step the final version of the use table at purchasers' prices has been calculated as the sum of the balanced five tables.

The method has been proposed to construct time series of IO Accounts at current prices based on these classifications for 2004 and subsequent years on the basis of transformed IO accounts for 2003 using the RAS procedure. RAS method is applied in two stages, first to determine the column totals of each of the calculated five tables and then to calculate all other items of these tables. Unlike traditional applications, in this paper RAS method is used to calculate matrices of intermediate consumption and final demand of goods and services simultaneously.

IO Accounts at basic prices account for 2004 and subsequent years have also been derived at previous year prices. For this purpose the deflators have been calculated on the basis of national accounts variables and statistics of international trade in goods and services.

The article explores the issue of capturing the value added in international trade flows using international input-output frameworks. We review the methodology employed by foreign researchers to develop an approach for a decomposition of gross trade flows into value added components of certain origin and destination and to comprehensively analyse global value chains. Two sets of inter-country input-output tables provide statistical input to derive new and easy-to-handle indicators that show Russia’s role in the global value chains as at 2005. Russia appears to be an active part of the European value chains thanks to its exports of raw energy resources. Demand for the latter is created by the direct importers, but is also indirectly fuelled by consumption of third countries, i.e. further downstream. We provide evidence that the value added originating in Russia’s oil and gas sector is hidden in other countries’ and other sectors’ exports. However, these multiplicative effects are significant for Russia’s total trade rather than its partners’ trade, with the exception of some Eastern European economies, primarily Baltic countries. This is perhaps a sub-optimal model of integration into the global value chains, but secures Russia’s position as a relatively large net exporter of value added alongside top contributors among developed and developing countries. We supplement our results with a brief description of the analytical capabilities of the international input-output frameworks, existing experience and prospects of their use for policy making.

There are many mechanisms households employ to adapt to shocks. A coping strategy that receives little attention in the literature is the adaptation of household size and structure in response to changing economic conditions. Using data from Russian Longitudinal Survey that span the two recent economic recessions of 1998 and 2008, we provide new empirical evidence on how households may respond to economic shocks, focusing on the role of changes in household size and composition. We assume that individuals face a tradeoff between taking advantages of economies of scale and specialization when living with others and individual privacy. Consumption smoothing is achieved by forgoing privacy during the crisis and results in increases in household size. We control for the endogeneity of household consumption with respect to household structure by using the instrumental variable method. Our empirical results suggest that members of the households that experienced negative income shocks are more likely to move in with others than households whose income remained the same or increased. Policy measures may include the simplification of procedures related to the geograp­hical transfers of health insurance and pensions, the development of programs of part-time and temporary employment to help households to implement their own coping strategies.

Do higher fixed capital investments lead to lower unit material costs in the manufacturing sector? Is there homogeneity across industries with respect to the relationship between material costs and investments? What is the underlying mechanism which can explain this relation ship? One of the possible mechanisms explaining the negative association between invest ments and costs is technological progress. In this paper we study whether fixed capital investments can lead not only to higher output in an industry, but also to lower material costs, and whether lower costs per unit of output are related to a technological replacement of fixed. This research problem has not been studied yet using the U.S. industry data. We study six main manufacturing industries in the U.S., based on the NAICS industrial classification, during the period 1958– 2005 (the source is the NBER–CES database). The database is unique as it contains price deflators for investments in fixed capital and for material costs. We also know that during the period under consideration there was an investment boom in the U.S. industry. We are modeling the relationship between investments and costs using the two types of models: vector autoregressive model (when the studied processes are stationary) and error correction model (when the processes are non-stationary). Vector autoregressive models allow to avoid explicit assumptions about the direction of causality between investments and costs. We also test and control for possible endogenous structural changes in the estimated models. Our results suggest that the effect of fixed capital investments is heterogeneous across industries: the statistically significant effect of investments exists only in two studied industries out of six (in textile industry and in machinery).

International experience demonstrates that successful development of national econo­my is inseparably linked with the use of innovation potential of small business – the most dynamical and flexible sector of economic activity. However, in order to use the maximum extent possible and, consequently, increase the economic return it is necessary to have a profound array of realistic and operational information that includes numerous aspects and entrepreneurial behavior’s motivation. Within a post-crisis business environment its role in socioeconomic development of the country has significantly increased and pointed out the necessity and relevance of researches that study and analyze business climate.

Available Russian statistical data collection reflecting the condition of small business primarily from a quantitative point of view is insufficient not only because of its coverage but also because of estimation methods, which reduces the possibilities of analysis of current changes. Unfortunately, modern studying and analyzing methods of considered subjects show an obvious informational gap in researches that are based on the regular environment surveys. Application of this tool is especially significant for the economy in the circumstances because of the limited opportunities to complete economic information by means of existing quantitative statistical practices.

This paper presents a complex analysis of business climate in the manufacturing industries in 2013. The research is based on sample business environment surveys of more than 2,5 thousand small businesses in the field of industry (sections C, D, and E of the Russian Classification of Economic Activities) conducted by the Federal State Statistics Service for 2008–2013.

This paper reviews the contribution of Eugene Fama, Lars Hansen and Robert Shiller to financial asset pricing research. We show how the Nobel prize winners have changed the approach to asset pricing research, as well as the views of academic economists and investors about price predictability and the risk-return relationship.