Dynamics of investments in Russia under the conditions of sanction restrictions: Forecast based on an agent-based model

Abstract

The situation of a trade war between Russia and Western countries is unprecedented in recent history, both in terms of the scale of the restrictions being introduced and because of their mutually dangerous nature, as a result of which the entire world economic system is experiencing difficulties. An urgent task is to develop an economic policy for Russia that will allow for a quick reorientation to Eastern markets and the use of new growth drivers. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the measures taken should be carried out using modern tools, one of which is agent-based economic models. Since Russia is not considered as a key player in the models of international trade relations developed in a number of countries, in order to assess the sanctions imposed against it, it was necessary to develop a new tool – an agent-based model of trade wars between Russia, the USA, China and the European Union. The purpose of the study presented in this article is to assess the need of the Russian economy for additional investments in various industries for large-scale import substitution of products till now supplied from unfriendly countries. To achieve this, the agent-based model reproduces the sectoral structure of the considered economies of the countries and trade relations among them that existed before the start of the special military operation, compiles scenarios of possible sanctions, and simulates the corresponding changes in international trade relations. As part of the scenario calculations, three series of experiments were carried out. In the first series, for each scenario the expected dynamics of Russia’s GDP in 2022 was estimated in the context of organizing import substitution programs in key industries, and the cost of these programs was calculated. In the second series, the dependence of GDP dynamics on the volume of investments was studied. The third series simulated the dynamics of trade relations for the period up to 2025 for two investment policy options in each scenario. The results of the experiments also show that the impact of investments on the economy is stronger, the more severe the sanctions are, and under these conditions, the implementation of investment programs can accelerate economic recovery on average by 0.5% of GDP per year.