Reports from members of the Russia KLEMS group at the XXII April Conference
On April 14, at the A-14-4 session “Productivity, growth and human capital”, organized jointly by HSE University and the International Association for the Study of Income and Well-being (together with the section "Social Policy"), Ksenia Bobyleva and Anton Tolokonnikov presented their reports.
Anton Tolokonnikov presented his research on "Industrial Policy and Intersectoral Interactions in the Russian Economy". The paper examines the role of state policy in the Russian economy. The state, trying to eliminate market failures with its policies, often worsens resource allocation and harms the economy. However, government policies can have a positive effect on resource allocation, for example, by subsidizing some businesses and industries. How to stimulate economic growth by changing the sectoral structure of subsidies? The study assessed public policy for the Russian economy as a whole, and not for individual firms.
Ksenia Bobyleva's study is the first to compare the contribution of various types of intangible assets to the growth of the Russian economy and the economies of OECD countries.In Russia and the OECD, the contribution of R&D is higher in the manufacturing sector compared to market services. Intangible assets not related to R&D (for example, organizational capital, advertising) dominate in the services sector.In contrast to OECD economies, in the Russian economy, the contribution of intangible assets in market services is significantly higher than in the manufacturing sector. The contribution of intangible assets of market services to the aggregate growth of intangible assets in Russia is 0.19 p.p., which is six times higher than their contribution in manufacturing. In the OECD, this difference is not so noticeable.
"Why do the economy, business, workers, and society need productivity growth?" honorary report by Bart van Ark
Bart van Ark, professor of productivity studies at the Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) at the University of Manchester, spoke at the XXII April conference on April 14.
His report, "Why do the economy, business, workers, and society need productivity growth?", focuses on the slowdown in global productivity growth over the past 15 years, reasons for the slowdown, and measures that could revive it. Bart van Ark says to do this, the economy must become more receptive to innovation, which requires a coordinated effort from business, government, and individual workers. There is also a need for a better understanding of the extent to which, and how, productivity growth contributes to people’s welfare.
Presentation of the report "Labor productivity and Russian human capital: paradoxes of interrelation?"
On April 14, at the XXII April Conference, a team under the supervision of Vladimir Gimpelson presented their report, prepared as part of the HCMRC (Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center) program.The labor force quality indicator from the Russia KLEMS data set made it possible to assess the contribution of labor force quality to labor productivity growth in the Russian economy, and to compare this contribution with similar indicators for former Soviet republics.The research concludes that Russian human capital is not as productive as it could be. The quality of the labor force does not make a tangible contribution to the growth of labor productivity and an acceleration of growth due to the role of human capital will not occur in the next two to three decades.
Expert Center staff present reports at the 6th World KLEMS conference
The World KLEMS initiative brings together representatives from different countries and organizations who develop indicators of cross-country economic performance comparisons at the level of individual industries and conduct research based on these. On March 9 to 17, 2021, the 6th World KLEMS Conference was held in a virtual format for the first time.The conference addressed issues of the global productivity slowdown, the post-pandemic growth outlook, and the measurement of growth and productivity in the context of new economic activities and globalization. Projects from countries and groups of countries included in the World KLEMS Initiative—Asia KLEMS, EU KLEMS, and LA KLEMS—were widely presented. A separate section was devoted to the EU KLEMS project, including Russia and Eastern Europe.
Lost in Recalculation: How to Estimate the Scale of the Soviet Economy and Its Rate of Growth
Researchers trying to compare economic data of the USSR and capitalist countries face questions of the comprehensiveness, accessibility, and reliability of data on Soviet economic production and growth. At an online seminar hosted by the HSE University International Centre for the History and Sociology of World War II and its Consequences, Assistant Professor Ilya Voskoboynikov (Faculty of Economic Sciences, HSE University) presented an overview of available approaches to studying the absolute size of the Soviet economy and its growth rates.
The decomposition of Russia’s GDP growth rates—methodological features and results
On November 5, the Laboratory for Systems Analysis of Industrial Markets of the Center for Industrial Markets Research of the Institute for Applied Economic Research, RANEPA held an open, general-academic online seminar “Decomposition of Russia's GDP growth rates - methodological features and results”.
The eh.net portal published I. Voskoboinikov's review of the book by Richard Connolly "The Russian Economy: A Brief Introduction"
The Russian economy is, modifying Winston Churchill (1939), “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”; Russian economic performance is volatile. In the last three decades its institutional environment changed from a command to a market economy. Its industrial structure shifted from overinvestment in manufacturing and agriculture in the late 1980s to market services and mining. Trade conditions seem to be unpredictable. This is a sensitive issue for the economy, which depends on oil and gas exports. How can one understand the Russian development pattern over its centuries-old history and, possibly, outline Russia’s prospects for the future?
Seminar of the Russia KLEMS group “Does the double deflation procedure change our understanding of Russian economic growth, 2003–2016? The experience of Russia KLEMS”
On November 3, the Russia KLEMS group held a regular seminar about double deflation (DD) and its impact on ideas about Russian economic growth, 2003–2016, taking into account the experience of Russia KLEMS.
The experience of post-crisis recovery of the Russian economy
On September 18, Ilya Voskoboynikov presented his report “Recovery experiences of the Russian economy Implications to the Indian Economy” at a seminar organized by the Research Institute of the State Bank of India, "Experience of the post-crisis recovery of the Russian economy".
Preprint publication: “The post-shock growth of the Russian economy. The experience of the 1998 and 2008 crises and a look into the future”
The work was published in the WP3 series "Labor market issues" and studies the global recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Estimates suggest Russian GDP in 2020 will fall by 2–8%, meaning the current crisis may be more severe than the crises of 1998 and 2008. In the coming years, the Russian economy will have to recover and enter a new long-term growth trajectory. What sources and sectors can make this happen?