Institutional Trap Research Articles

Institutional Traps and Interest Groups in the Sphere of Education and Science

The article is devoted to study of institutional traps of optimization in education and science spheres. Our analysis also identifies the role of key actors or groups of interests in education sphere in reproduction of aforesaid institutional traps. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate identified institutional traps and groups of interests with help of narratives that were generated in the course of organized focus-groups with university stuff. This article is based on previous research where key institutional traps in education sphere were identified and described. This paper continues the analysis of following institutional traps: metrics trap, the trap of increasing bureaucracy, the trap of financing gap, the trap of electronisation and digitalisation, the trap of reducing the quality of education, the trap of human resources and justifies the efficiency of focus groups research method for detection groups of interests as real or potential actors of institutional changes. This method enables to find out the existing contradictions inside the groups and as a consequence to deepen the understanding of the nature of studied institutional traps and propose recommendations for overcoming the negative effects of it.

Institutional Traps in the Scientific and Educational Sphere: Nature and Mechanism of Elimination

Introduction. One of the consequences of the crisis associated with the coronavirus pandemic will be increased global competition for human capital. Russia’s ability to create barriers to “brain drain” will determine how quickly to overcome the crisis and enter the sixth technological order. Improving the efficiency of the educational system (primarily higher education) as a “basis” for training scientists, who can provide “breakthrough” scientific results, actualises the research aimed at eliminating ineffective standards, which set false benchmarks for the innovative development of higher education and science. The aim of the present research is to identify the nature of institutional traps in the scientific and educational sphere and to suggest the ways to eliminate them. Methodology and research methods. The current research was carried out on the basis of a systematic approach. The following general scientific methods were employed: analytical review of scientific literature and the content of normative documents, generalisation, comparison, synthesis. Results and scientific novelty. The author’s hypothesis that the backbone of the institutional trap in the scientific and educational sphere is the trap of strategic planning in the formal documents, which should set strategic guidelines of development of higher education and science, the real content of these documents does not represent: a) the structure of trained personnel (the proportion of graduates, who studied under secondary professional and higher education programmes); b) the planned number of future specialists in specialties and areas of training, which are critical for a breakthrough in the sixth technological order; с) the necessary and sufficient number of researchers, who can provide “breakthrough” scientific results; d) the necessary and sufficient number of higher school teachers, who can provide high-quality transfer of “compressed” human experience. In the scientific sphere, the phenomenon of “implicit knowledge deficit” is recorded: against the background of an increase in the proportion of young researchers (up to 39 years of age), the number and proportion in the cohort of middle-aged researchers (40-59 years) decreases. In higher education, there is a “surplus of implicit knowledge”: a decrease in the share of young teachers with a fairly stable share of middle-aged teachers creates a situation, where there is no one to transmit implicit knowledge to. Cumulatively, this can prevent real scientific results from being obtained and promoted in the real economy and commercialisation, as well as lead to imitation of scientific research and the absence of “breakthrough” scientific results. The analysis of approaches used by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation to assess the effectiveness of universities and research organisations suggests the existence of a “performance evaluation trap”, when the proposed methods do not allow making an objective conclusion about the essence of the measured. The trap of strategic planning in the scientific and educational sphere predefined the paradoxes of strategic planning in the Russian Federation when the development of strategies and programmes for the promotion of crucial sectors of the national economy is not based on forecasting long-term socio-economic development of Russia. Based on the generalisation of the results of the analysis, the proposals are formulated, which should be kept in a reference framework for a national-oriented strategy for the development of the scientific and educational sphere. Practical significance. The research results can be used to adjust the strategy for the development of scientific and educational sphere.

Global Traps for the Russian Innovation System

The features of the transformation of national innovation systems into an instrument of the dominance of conservative leaders of technologically developed markets are described. The difference in institutional conditions in the activities of companies in global innovation markets leads to the emergence of institutional rents. It is shown that in the framework of the formation of a global innovation system, on the one hand, the institutional strength of transnational corporations as market leaders is increasing, on the other, new global transformation processes are underway. They are based on flexible network structures and the dominance of intermediaries with the transition to a system of intermediary monopoly. Such transformations pose new threats to global crises and open up “windows of opportunity” for the Russian innovation system, which is in an institutional trap in which, due to the dominance of foreign companies in most technologically advanced markets, domestic business is forced to give them high institutional rents and is deprived of it this significant part of the resources for its development.

Balancing in the role of a professional family assistant – from a distanced concern to an institutional trap

The article unveils the complexity of the professional role of a family assistant as well as areas close to other social professions. In addition, it shows the character of social work, which has its roots in the assumptions of social pedagogy of the 60s of the 20th century, as well as, in a similar scope, in the current expectations for social workers. The statutory requirements of family assistance, practiced and desirable work styles of assistants in Poland are described. The article presents the situations and activities of an assistant when working with families. Emphasis is placed on the multidimensionality of assistants’ work. A family assistant, like a social worker or social educator, balances his/her professional role from an empathic attitude through a distanced care to the institutional trap. These dilemmas and paradoxes together with their types and areas are described. Moreover, the article shows examples of moral dilemmas and paradoxes of family assistants’ professional actions.

“Institutional Trap”: Both a Productive Concept and a Fine Metaphor

This paper is a reaction to the polemical article by Andrei Vernikov, How much substance is there behind the concept of Trap? (Journal of Institutional Studies, 2020, 12(2), pp. 25–37). This article concludes that there is no necessary scientific rigor and constructiveness of the concept of (IT), and therefore it is proposed to introduce a kind of academic ostracism in the form of a scientific moratorium on this concept in the form of its ban on the pages of academic journals and in the programs of training courses. The proposed article shows that the term IT has all the properties of strictness when defined at the verbal, i.e. the most generalized, level. At the same time, it is demonstrated that when switching to specific model constructions, the concept of IT acquires mathematical rigor and applied operationality, which is confirmed by a large number of IT models developed in Russia and abroad. The article also refutes A. Vernikov's Lemma, according to which there is no economic or social phenomenon in modern Russia that cannot be declared an trap. This is done using such striking counterexamples as the liquidity trap and the Malthusian trap, which do not fall under the definition of IT. Special attention is paid to identifying differences in terms of IT, Institute dysfunction and lock-in effect. Typical errors in the use of the term IT are demonstrated and it is proved that the fault for this lies with the authors who produce errors, and not with the term that does not contain any specific flaws. The thesis is put forward that the purity of the terminological field of institutional analysis should be provided by the expert community at the stage of reviewing articles, and not by methods of prohibiting scientific concepts. It is concluded that the popularity of the term IT is due to the fact that it is both a strict scientific concept and a beautiful metaphor.

How Much Substance is There Behind the Concept of «Institutional Trap»?

How Much Substance is There Behind the Concept of «Institutional Trap»?

Институциональная ловушка в российском здравоохранении: к вопросу о госзакупках

<span>В статье показано, как негативные последствия институционального обеспечения в системе здравоохранения влияют на ее эффективность. Заболеваемость растет, лекарственная обеспеченность ухудшается. Автор анализирует негативные эффекты, порождаемые серьезными барьерами</span><span class="myHorizontalScaleForEmDashSpaceBefore"> </span><span>–</span><span class="myHorizontalScaleForEmDashSpaceAfter"> </span><span>институциональной ловушкой в российском здравоохранении. Наиболее подробно рассматривается современное законодательство в сфере государственных закупок. С позиции теоретических подходов конструируются последствия принимаемых решений в части сокращения финансирования и ужесточения институциональных барьеров на рынке медуслуг, а также стимулирования импортозамещения на фармацевтическом рынке. Основной вывод</span><span class="myHorizontalScaleForEmDashSpaceBefore"> </span><span>–</span><span class="myHorizontalScaleForEmDashSpaceAfter"> </span><span>все принимаемые решения последних лет способствуют лишь усугублению проблем развития отечественного здравоохранения, ведут к деградации сектора, снижению его экономической и социальной эффективности.</span>

INSTITUTIONAL TRAPS OF UKRAINE'S ECONOMY MARKET-ORIENTED REFORMING

Institutional traps that emerge as sustainable, self-supporting, ineffective institutions that have a destructive effect on the relations among economic entities within and outside the economic system are one of the manifestations of the institutional dysfunctions of market reform in post-socialist countries. Therefore, securing the exit of transformational economies from institutional traps is an important precondition for improving state regulation of market-oriented institutional transformations. The article describes the nature and peculiarities of institutional traps, outlines the basic prerequisites for their emergence and consolidation in the process of post-soviet development of Ukraine. The destructive impact of institutional traps on the national economy, which refers to increase in transactional costs, the deterioration of the investment climate, the growth of the shadow sector of the economy, the decrease in the level of competitiveness of economic entities and the reduce of public welfare have been proved. Several agendas for institutional reform of national economy that designed to release country from institutional trap are characterized including evolutionary scenario, which is based on gradual institutional development, and revolutionary scenario that refers to active institutional reform. The authors hypothesized about negative impact of low quality of social capital, insecurity of property rights, lack of transparency in public finance, the inefficiency of the judicial system on Ukrainian economy is elaborated. In order to confirm this hypothesis, a theoretical and econometric study of the main factors of corruption as an institutional trap of the market-oriented reform of Ukrainian economy were conducted. Policy implications related to exit from the specified institutional trap are formulated including implementation of effective state policy aimed at accumulation and extended reproduction of social capital, clear specification and protection of property rights etc.

Management of Cluster-Network Structures Sustainable Development

The article concentrates on development of methodological tools for creating a model of cluster structures sustainable development in shipbuilding of Russia through the example of the shipbuilding cluster of the Primorye Territory. The proposed tools can complement the existing methods for clustering industries and regions in business processes scientific and professional sphere. The proposed method of assessing regional economic system availability for clustering and algorithm for its implementation allowed to identify risks and limitations of the regional shipbuilding cluster sustainable development.The results of the research are: allocation of target structure on the cluster strategic map in terms of a balanced system of indicators, manifestation of in-system characteristics of the cluster structure model, definition of key directions for development of cooperation and collaboration relations. Further, the prerequisites were established for development of network interaction, cooperation and collaboration between the participants of the shipbuilding cluster and the parties involved in Russia and Asia-Pacific countries.The author’s contribution to the development of scientific knowledge in problems of clustering and professional sphere is formulation and manifestation of in-system components of cluster structure business model, initiation of target structure of their statistical, controlling, dynamic and predictive changes, which makes it possible to form monitoring systems at the stages of a cluster life cycle and ensure timely managerial action. The approach proposed by the author allows to reduce risks of uprising institutional trap and management disorders in the decisionmaking process on cluster-network structures establishment and functioning.

Institutional Traps and Externalities of Sustainable Development of the Mining Country in Transition to Digital and Knowledge Economy

The content, boundaries, development vector and expected results of the sustainable development policy today rightfully belong to one of the most debated issues in the scientific community. The imperative of solving the critical problem of replacing the dominant world order based on the extraction of mineral raw materials carries the risk of increasing economic isolationism. This threatens to eliminate the economics of extracting products from technological production chains that meet the needs of modern consumers around the world, and the loss of technological identity of the industry. For the transition of an economy with a developed commodity sector to the path of sustainable development, modernization of industry on a new technological basis is required and saturation of the domestic market with environmentally friendly production requires, on the one hand, the import of technologies, and on the other, significant “environmental technologies connected” investments. Therefore, sustainable development should be both a goal and, at the same time, the result of a new industrialization of the economy, cannot set itself the goal of enhancing isolation from the global raw materials market.

Майбутнє корпоративної звітності: історія, перспективи та проблеми

The purpose of the article is to analyze proposals for prospects for the development of corporate reporting in the future, as well as to identify areas and obstacles to such development. Historical aspects of forming a new model of corporate reporting have been analyzed. Priority of external factors in the improvement of corporate reporting at the initial stage of analysis of its development has been identified. The reasons for the discrepancy between the current model of corporate reporting and the specifics of the functioning of corporations have been identified. The necessity of continuous improvement of corporate reporting in accordance with the changing information needs of stakeholders has been grounded. The dependence of corporate reporting on changes in the external accounting environment (internal and external stakeholders, new technologies of work with accounting information, peculiarities of corporate activities) has been disclosed. The proposals of research structures and professional accounting organizations for improvement of corporate reporting during 2015-2019 have been analyzed. Priority environmental factors that will influence the development of corporate reporting in the future (requirements of external stakeholders, technological innovations) have been identified. Two main models have been formed that characterize the development of corporate reporting in the future. Priority of development of corporate reporting in the future has been established on the basis of selected ways (inclusion of new objects in its composition, improvement of the current accounting methodology, active introduction of technological innovations into the accounting process, improvement of the institutional structure of national accounting systems, improvement of the accounting organization process).Obstacles to the progressive development of corporate reporting in the future have been determined (necessity of transformation of the theory of double-entry accounting, necessity of economy of expenses for the reporting process, insufficiency of the solution of agency problem in corporations, falling into institutional trap in the process of development of the system of reporting regulation, low level of theorizing of corporate reporting process transformation).

ОЦЕНКА НАЛОГОВОЙ НАГРУЗКИ МАЛОМАСШТАБНОЙ ПИЩЕВОЙ ПРОМЫШЛЕННОСТИ

The observed high shadow activity in small business requires scientific search for the causes of this institutional trap. Tax burden is considered to be a key factor of its existence. The study is aimed at assessing tax burden of small industrial enterprises in terms of its adequacy to developed countries. Methodology of the study is based on the supply-side economics theory, namely the well-known concept of the Laffer curve. The research applies classical methods such as tax burden calculation, economic modeling based on small food industry, as well as comparative analysis of tax burden in Russia with the same taxation in a country with high level of small business development (USA). Such business formats as an individual entrepreneur (similar to the US Sole Proprietorships) and OOO (similar to the US – Limited Liability Company) are considered. The comparison allows us to make a conclusion on tax burden adequacy in the Russian Federation for small industrial enterprises, subject to availability of special tax regimes in the form of Patent tax system and Unified Imputed Income Tax (UIIT). Another important conclusion of the article is that small business, which has no opportunity and benefits to apply special regimes, bears increased tax burden (compared to the United States) due to General tax system.

Convergence, Divergence, or Multiple Steady States? New Evidence on the Institutional Development Within the European Union

The positive link between good institutions and economic development is well documented in the literature on the deep determinants of economic growth. Consequently, convergence in institutional quality should be a necessary precondition for income convergence; however, only recently, researchers started to investigate empirically the nature of institutional development. This topic seems to be of particular relevance for the European Union (EU) since convergence in institutions and in per capita income across the EU Member States are key goals of the European integrations process. Especially in the course of the various EU enlargement waves starting in 2004, it was intensively discussed whether institutional and structural homogeneity are necessary preconditions for real convergence and the smooth functioning of the EU or whether a (further) catching up in the institutional and economic development will endogenously occur after the EU accession. Our paper is dedicated to the analysis of these institutional dynamics within the EU. In particular, we analyze the formation of institutional convergence clusters using Phillips and Sul’s (2007, 2009) log t test over the period 2002 to 2018. It is the first study that takes into account the possibility of multiple equilibria when analyzing the institutional catching-up process within the EU, whereas previous contributions focused on the empirical concepts of beta- and sigma-convergence. Our results indicate the existence of multiple institutional clubs (for the dimensions government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption of the Worldwide Governance Indicators) with various countries being stuck in a poor institutional trap. Moreover, we find that institutional convergence clubs are formed mainly on the basis of geographic region. Northern and Western European countries are typically in the higher institutional clubs whereas the lower institutional clubs comprise primarily Eastern and Southern European countries. When analyzing per capita income clubs, a rather similar picture emerges, suggesting that the underlying institutional clusters determine the formation of income clubs. Among the countries that joined the EU after 2004, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia perform best with respect to their institutional catching-up, whereas most of the remaining new member countries are found to be stuck in poor institutional traps. The situation is particularly severe for Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Hungary. We also study the factors that determine club membership by using an ordered probit model. Most importantly, we find that the initial levels of human capital and institutional quality are decisive for determining whether a country is on a high or low institutional growth path.

Trust and Institutional Traps in Education and Science

Trust and Institutional Traps in Education and Science

Качество региональной инновационной политики: институциональные ресурсы vs институциональные ловушки (опыт эмпирического исследования на материалах Краснодарского края)

Качество региональной инновационной политики: институциональные ресурсы vs институциональные ловушки (опыт эмпирического исследования на материалах Краснодарского края)

Institutionalism of rational choice: theoretical and methodological foundations and Ukrainian political science

It has been substantiated that the use of a research strategy of rational choice institutionalism was one of the factors that contributed to a return to the institutional theory of policy analysis individual dimension in the paper. Possibilities to achieve utility and distribution of resources in society at the political process micro-level began to be considered as sufficiently important resultants of functioning of the institutional system alongside macro-politics. In addition, it is specified that application of the methodology of the STEM subjects has allowed characterizing the activities of political institutions using the terms of effectiveness, which led to a reorientation of the study of their informal varieties as real regulators of political behaviour. However, the interest in empirical development has created the danger of rationalizing the politics up to its dehumanization, whereof avoiding, according to foreign political scientists, is possible adhering to ethical constraints that arise from the peculiarities of complex human nature.As a result of the analysis held, it has been found that, unlike the studies of foreign experts who distinguish various substantive areas of analysis in the theory of rational choice institutionalism, the applied potential of implementation of elements of its methodology in the works of Ukrainian scientists is rather instrumental. The general conclusion is that the research strategy of this version of new institutionalism in the practical plane is used mainly as one of many methodological approaches to the study of different political phenomena and processes. To some extent, similar to the particular area of research that reveals the analytical resource of rational choice institutionalism is to study the peculiarities of formation and functioning of parliament and the related processes (electoral strategies and coalition arrangements).It is emphasized that the most interesting for us may be the segment of scientific works, which are based on the theory of rational choice institutionalism, and related to the analysis of those factors that may impede democratic transformations in transitional political systems. It can be argued that inefficient political institutions, despite their irrational nature, continue to function in the political system because they are the product of a rational choice of influential political actors. In this case, the understanding of the very concept of rationality is distorted, which from an absolute category is transformed into a relative one, not only because of the limitations associated with the action of moral and ethical factors, but mainly due to maintenance of an inefficient institutional equilibrium, i.e. an institutional trap.

Some institutional restrictions on the development of urban municipalities in the Republic of Bashkortostan

The article discusses some of the institutional constraints characteristic of urban municipalities of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The main formal and informal institutions for nominating candidates for the post of heads of municipalities are considered. It has been established that when appointing to a post, informal standards for the selection of candidates are of great importance. The institutional and cultural environment from which the selection of staff for the post of heads of municipalities takes place is limited by the following general provisions: non-core education, gender inequality and the practice of appointment. The emergence of an institutional trap in the field of finance is justified, debt on overdue loans is growing, and consumer loans keep stability. All this is associated with a decrease in real cash incomes of the population. There is a decrease in the average per capita cash income of the population, which is associated with a decrease in real and disposable cash incomes of the population; all this leads to a high debt load on the population. It has been revealed that aging industrial enterprises and a resource-dependent economy in the republic, including the development of Shahan for the production of soda ash, shows a strong dependence on old institutions in the Russian economy and is defined as the “gauge effect”. Institutional constraints lie in the problem of the resource dependence of the old type of production. The greatest resonance in the public opinion of the republic is caused by the development of the Shihan by the Bashkir soda company. Production does not bear significant transaction costs for technical and technological modernization of production.

Effects of Institutional Differences on Economic Growth

This article builds on the concept of institutional differences and the related concept of institutional rent in the context of the multitier Russian economy discussed in [1]. The analysis introduces three groups of sectors: giant, large, and other Russian companies. The boundaries between the sectors are fuzzy. This article seeks neither to analyze the quantitative characteristics of their activity nor to assess the significance of institutional differences and institutional rent for economic growth. No recommendations are given as to how to address the negative effects of the existing institutional trap. In this context, the aim of this article is to identify approaches to solving the listed problems.

Social Entrepreneurs and Institutional Traps

Putting forth an ethic-centric, empathetic and dialectic perspective on institutional influences, we argue that, in addition to positive institutional forces that increase societal and organization...

Наукометрия как сдерживающий фактор экономических исследований: опыт США

The article reveals the deterrent eff ect of the scientometric factor on the development of economic research based on the analysis of publication activity in American economic journals. The author systematizes the main trends in the development of modern economic research. It is shown that publications in the top fi ve journals in the United States infl uence the direction of research in the economy, career paths and the reputation of young researchers, decisions of funding agencies, as well as the ratings of departments and universities. Diff erences in citation rates between the top fi ve journals and other top-level journals are noted. It is shown that the orientation to publications in the top “fi ve” as the main scientometric indicator stimulates careerism and restrains the development of new ideas. Possible ways of overcoming the existing institutional trap are considered.