HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences Co-Authors Intercontinental Monograph
The monograph Russian and Western Economic Thought has been published under the editorship of the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences and the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart (Germany). Written by a selection of respected experts, the monograph examines the interrelations and mutual influence of Russian and Western economic thinking. The book is edited by Prof. Vladimir Avtonomov, HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences, and Prof. Harald Hagemann, the University of Hohenheim.
Vladimir Avtonomov outlines the main idea of the book thus: ‘It so happens that economic ideas come to Russia from the West. Once in Russia, they are developed and modified to better reflect the specific Russian circumstances. These modified ideas then influence the next generation of Western economists.’ Among these ‘specific Russian circumstances’, the authors mention social and religious factors specific to Russian thought (particularly in the nineteenth century), attention to the peasant question, serfdom in Russia, the increased influence of Marxism, the development of mathematics and statistics, and the unique experience of building a planned economy.
The idea of exploring the mutual influence of Russian and Western economic thought first took shape in the form of the Russian Journal of Economics. The release was prepared by HSE researchers (Vladimir Avtonomov, Denis Melnik, Natalia Makasheva) and Western historians of economic thought (Harald Hagemann, François Allisson). It was so successful that the authors decided to expand it with other examples of cultural interaction. As a result, the intercontinental monograph was published.
Vladimir Avtonomov wrote the foreword and the chapter about Nikolai Chernyshevsky (who influenced Karl Marx and, in turn, was influenced by August von Haxthausen) and Andrei Storch. François Allisson (Switzerland) wrote about Mikhail Tugan-Baranovsky. Austrian economists Christian Gehrke and Heinz Kurz examined the legacy of Vladimir Dmitriev, Vladislav Bortkevich, and Georgi Artemovich (Georg von) Kharazov and the special role of Bortkevich in spreading Russian ideas in the West.
Nikolay Nenovsky (Bulgaria) and Günter Chaloupek (Austria) wrote about Peter Struve. The chapter on Vladimir Bazarov and Alexander Bogdanov was written by HSE graduate student Elizaveta Burina, who is preparing her PhD thesis for Paris I University. Denis Melnik completed the collection with a story about Vladimir Lenin and the few years when Lenin was involved in science and development economics.
Jean-Sébastien Lenfant (France) wrote about Evgeny Slutsky. Prof. Hagemann talked about Grigory Feldman and his macroeconomic model. Carol Scott Leonard, who used to work for HSE University and is now working in the UK, wrote a chapter about Alexander Chayanov, and Natalia Makasheva wrote a chapter on Nikolai Kondratiev. Jacob Marschak's journey from Russian revolutionary to President of the American Economic Association has been described by Prof. Hagemann and Canadian economist Robert Dimand.
Moshe Syrquin (University of Miami) wrote about Simon Kuznets. Andrei Belykh (St Petersburg) wrote about Alexander Gerschenkron and his economic backwardness syndrome. Prof. Hagemann added details about Wassily Leontief's understudied German period in Russia. John King (Australia) wrote about Paul Baran, while Mauro Boianovsky (Brazil) wrote about Evsey Domar. The chapter about Leonid Kantorovich was completed by Michael Ellman.
Vladimir Avtonomov noted that foreign researchers, including well-known ones, have shown a great interest in Russian economists. He underlined that many economists who wrote in Russian and are mentioned in the monograph were born in Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries and had different perceptions of their national identity. All these issues are presented accurately and openly in their biographies.
‘I received a lot of letters from the participants, who were satisfied with the way the book shows that Russian thought and Western thought are one single whole; they enrich each other, they are in a constructive dialogue, and this is the natural state of countries and cultures,’ Vladimir Avtonomov concluded.
See also:
Economists Suggest Using Media's Attention to Bitcoin to Predict its Returns
Researchers at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences have studied the relationship between the changes in the bitcoin prices and the media attention to this cryptocurrency. The researchers examined the mentions of bitcoin in the media between 2017 and 2021 and built a mathematical model that revealed the strong relationship between media attention and bitcoin prices. The study was published in the Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry journal.
HSE Economists Develop a Model for Sustainable Solar Geoengineering Agreements
Researchers at HSE University and George Mason University have investigated the sustainability of prospective international agreements on solar geoengineering. The authors have proposed a scheme in which payments flow from affluent nations to less wealthy ones; an arrangement which sets their proposal apart from traditional systems. The proposed model aims to dissuade more vulnerable countries from excessive use of the prevalent geoengineering method by providing compensation for the potential damage they may incur and supporting their adaptation to climate change. The paper has been published in Environmental and Resource Economics.
Crypto Investors Receive Downside Risk Premiums
Victoria Dobrynskaya, Assistant Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences, has analysed the price dynamics of 2,000 cryptocurrencies from 2014 to 2021 and investigated the association between downside risks and average returns in the cryptocurrency market. As it turns out, cryptocurrencies exhibiting a greater risk tend to yield higher average returns. The study has been published in International Review of Financial Analysis.
Results of the Contest to Predict Nobel Prize Winners in Economics
Claudia Goldin's award was predicted by five people. They are Olga Peresypkina (RSVPU), Anastasia Sirotina (first-year student of the Bachelor's in Applied Mathematics and Information Science at HSE University), Mikhail Shabanov (Global Vision Asset Management LLC), Tatul Hayrapetyan (PhD student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business), and Hemant Kumar (Ettumanoorappan College, Kerala, India).
Financial Sector Risks Can Hinder Transition to Green Economy
According to HSE and MGIMO economists, increased financial sector risks in developed countries may be associated with a higher carbon footprint in banks' loan portfolios. This is likely due to the fact that in response to an unstable economic situation, banks tend to issue more loans to companies that have a detrimental impact on the environment. Although this might yield short-term profits for the banks, such trends hinder humanity's progress towards achieving a green economy. The paper has been published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
Winner of 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics Announced
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023 to Claudia Goldin (Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA), ‘for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes.’ According to the Nobel committee, Professor Goldin has uncovered key factors that determine gender differences in the labour market.
Millennials Are Three Times Ahead of Zoomers in the Monetised Creator Economy. Even Boomers Outperform Them. Okay Then…
A group of specialists from the HSE Institute for Cultural Studies, Vitaly Kurennoy, Alexander Suvalko and Maria Figura, have determined two main trends that are actively shaping the image of the creative economy and culture in 2021-2023: the creator economy and the maker economy.
Teaching Masters' Students and Conducting Lectures in English Boost Academic Productivity
HSE researchers have analysed teaching load data at the HSE campus in St Petersburg to investigate the potential impact of teaching on faculty research output. They found that factors such as teaching primarily masters' courses, conducting 20% of lectures in English, and supervising only one doctoral student per year were associated with a greater likelihood of producing more high-quality academic papers. The study has been published in Higher Education Quarterly.
'HSE Paved My Road to Harvard'
Nargiz Mammadova, from Azerbaijan, is a 2022 graduate of the Economics: Research Programme and a finalist of the Global Essay Competition in St. Gallen. As she prepares to start her Master of Public Administration in International Development programme at Harvard in August 2023, Nargiz reflects on her time studying at HSE University during the COVID-19 pandemic, talks about her work for the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, and shares an important message for future students.
Income and Cost of Living Distribution Found to Be Similar in Russia and US
Researchers at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences Laboratory for Wealth Measurement analysed income and cost of living data at the sub-regional level in Russia (municipalities) and in the US (counties). The study reveals that territorial differences in the cost of living are more pronounced in Russia compared to the United States. However, the distribution of overall income across settlements of varying sizes is quite comparable in both countries. The article has been published in the HSE Economic Journal.