Russian Private Research Articles

Corporate Taxation and Capital Structure: Evidence from Russia

The study aims to empirically analyze whether corporate taxation has an impact on firm capital structure decisions. The results, based on panel data on Russian private (non-listed), non-financial and non-state owned firms, show that taxation has a significant impact on firm financial leverage (negative in terms of long-term debt and positive in terms of equity). The smallest and largest firms of the sample respond more dramatically to effective tax rates. The results are robust according to the applied tests. Moreover, additional empirical results are obtained for the standard capital structure determinants (size, profitability, tangibility and liquidity of assets), which contribute to capital structure theories.

Corporate Taxation and Capital Structure: Evidence from Russia

The study aims to empirically analyse whether corporate taxation has an impact on firm capital structure decisions. The results based on a panel data of Russian private (non-listed), non-financial and non-state owned firms show that taxation has significant impact on firm financial leverage (negative in terms of long-term debt and positive in terms of equity). The smallest and largest firms of the sample respond more to effective tax rates. The results are robust according to the tests applied. Moreover additional empirical results are obtained for the standard capital structure determinants (size, profitability, tangibility and liquidity of assets) that contribute to the capital structure theories.

UNUSED POSSIBILITIES OF DETECTIVE ACTIVITIES

Legal regulation of Lithuanian, Latvian, Russian private detectives activities provide additional opportunities for private detectives to create added value in their practice. Special laws of the countries in question that regulate their activities, give private detectives exclusive rights to provide detective services, therefore activities of other entities in this field is considered unlawful, and carries administrative and criminal liability. Another important statutory regulatory aspect of detective activities is that detectives can be recognized by law, within certain boundaries, to legally collect information about another persons private life, which is completely forbidden for any other private individual and collecting another person's private information, caries criminal and civil liability. And so the legislator has strictly limited the amount of entities that can provide services within the scope of detective activities and the content they are allowed to handle. The author presents two types of services as an example: the search of a debtor and his assets, a person's solvency and reliability evaluation. It is recommendable to employ educational measures to expand market demand for legal services that only detectives have the right to provide.

The Processes of Denationalization and Privatization in Russia in the 1990s. Part 1

The synthesis and systematization of the literature on the history of modern economic reform, accumulated over more than twenty years, allow us to streamline the existing ideas about the processes occurring in the framework of transformations and to set a new vector for comprehending the socio-economic development of Russia in the last decade of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century. A step in this direction is the analysis of publications reflecting the preparation, progress and results of state and municipal property privatization in the 1990s. The historiographical review includes monographs and articles written by both the apologists of accelerated privatization, and their opponents and critics. The review of this literature reveals a range of opinions on the preferences for the denationalizing Russian economy, evaluation of the results of privatization by the end of the 1990s, and the possibility of alternative ways to improve the efficiency of domestic enterprises. In particular, it is noted that the apologists of accelerated privatization (E. T. Gaidar, A. B. Chubais) focus on the quantitative indicators of State and municipal property transfer into private ownership. Critics of the Government’s privatization option prefer talking about qualitative implications of “property revolution†, including reducing the efficiency of privatized enterprises, falling living standards, deteriorating the legal status of employees. In the first part of the article, the author analyses the publications dedicated to the study of the foreign experience of privatization preceding the preparations for the reform of the property relations in Russia and to the evaluation of the process and results of the accelerated privatization from the position of Government supporters of the course of market reforms in the domestic economy.

Прямые и венчурные инвестиции в Российской Федерации: обзор и анализ рынка, тренды

in the article the author gives an overview and analysis of Russian private equity and venture capital market and identifies the main trends of its development. It is also summarized that the segment of venture investments starts to play more significant role in the market of direct and venture investments.

СОЦИАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ ПРИВАТИЗАЦИИ В РОССИИ 1990-х гг. В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ИСТОРИОГРАФИИ

СОЦИАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ ПРИВАТИЗАЦИИ В РОССИИ 1990-х гг. В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ИСТОРИОГРАФИИ

Legal Basis for Transformation of Public Property and Russian Legislation on Privatization in the 1990s

The article discusses the history of the legislation on privatization in Russia and features of use of privatizationas a regulator of the modern economic policy in the Russian Federation. The author shows the uniqueexperience of privatization in Russia in the 1990s, which allowed rapid creation of private sector in theRussian economy. Privatization as a paradigm of modern economic policies of developed countries hasnow become truly universal. Having replaced the strategy of state intervention in the economy, the policy ofprivatization rapidly covered the majority of foreign countries in the early 1970s. In Russia, privatization hasbecome one of the key elements in the system of market reforms and decentralization of the economy. Incontrast to countries with developed market economies, where the transfer of the state-owned property intoprivate ownership helped increase the effectiveness of individual enterprises, privatization in Russia wasintended to provide a radical shift in property relations. The article analyses different approaches to definingprivatization, including the approaches provided for in the legislation in regards to this term, highlightsthe main stages of the Russian legislation development in the field of privatization. The legislation on the“first wave” of privatization had been launched in 1992, when Russia began the “voucher” privatization(1992-1994) featured by using vouchers as means of payment (hence, this stage was called “voucher”privatization). A privatization voucher did not certify its owner’s right to the share in the public property.It was a kind of government security, the yield of which was dependent on the method of its use by theowner. By purchasing shares for privatization vouchers, their owners could earn income through the sale ofshares or in the form of dividends to be paid. After the voucher privatization, the government moved towardsa new model, known as “monetary privatization”. Main reason for transition to monetary privatization wasurgent need for federal budget revenues and the need for investment for structural transformation of theRussian economy. The article describes mortgaging auctions, which were among the non-standard formsof privatization used in practice at that period. Individual privatization projects can also be referred to thenonstandard forms. They included measures aimed at privatization of public property particularly importantfor the state, region or industry, and providing for the pre-sale preparation of the property with assistance ofan independent financial consultant.

Present at the confusion

Abstract By the fall of 1990 the economic position of the USSR had deteriorated to the point where the Gorbachev government sought the advice and assistance of the major Western international financial institutions: the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank. These IFIs were asked to diagnose the situation and recommend measures to assist in the transition from plan to market. The reform of industrial and manufacturing enterprises was a key issue among the many analyzed. This article's author, from the World Bank, worked on the enterprise reform team. Drawing on extensive notes from 1990 and 1991 interviews with Soviet and Russian officials, reformers and enterprise managers, this article portrays in detail the extent of the economic — and political — dislocation of the Soviet Union in 1990, the acutely uncertain policy and legal environments in which enterprise managers and government overseers tried to function, and the various and sometimes desperate means by which those in the enterprise sector struggled to position themselves for survival in the newly emerging economy. A major theme is the widespread but ultimately fruitless effort on the part of the Soviet and then Russian reformers to find a gradualist, minimally painful way to carry out the transition of enterprises to market operations. One result of that failure was the much-criticized Russian privatization program. The conclusion is that for political as much as economic reasons, the pace of enterprise reform adopted was unavoidable.

Russia's Wealth Possessors Study 2015

SKOLKOVO Wealth Transformation Centre has an ongoing research project to study Russian private capital and family business. Even though the history of private capital in Russia only goes back a few decades, issues concerning wealth succession are now taking on greater prominence. Succession issues are important not only for the families of wealth possessors, but also for the employees of their companies, service providers and society as a whole. Indeed, it is not a stretch to say that succession issues may directly impact the economic stability of the country. Our research report “Russia’s Wealth Possessors Study 2015,” aims to reveal the attitudes of Russian entrepreneurs and investors towards succession issues. The data obtained by the research group – from in-depth interviews with Russia’s wealth possessors – revealed insights about the personal characteristics of wealth possessors, various strategies for wealth transfer, the main challenges associated with wealth transfer in Russia, and key factors influencing wealth transfer decisions.

Predicting technology integration and performance in transition economies: insights from Russia

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine a traditional information technology (IT) integration-performance framework in the transition economy of Russia, which has undergone significant and tumultuous institutional shifts. The research incorporates variables not previously utilized in the supply chain literature but underscore significant roles in the context of the Russian institutional environment to examine the drivers of IT integration.Design/methodology/approach– The Moscow-based, Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) was contracted to collect data from Russia manufacturing firms with 100 or more employees, and the effort resulted in 769 responses from Russian private sector firms. This primary survey data were combined with two secondary data sets to test the model using structural equation modeling.Findings– Overall, the results indicate that firms in developed economies must pay special attention to specific contextual nuances in transition economy firms that can affect their ability to successfully navigate this significantly different supply chain environment. Specifically, the results show that spatial distance from Moscow hampers a firm’s ability to integrate its logistics IT capabilities, suggesting that “modern” logistics IT (and possibly supply chain practice in general) initiate from the Moscow core and spread outward. Further, results find that growth in the number of foreign competitors in a firm’s primary industry over the prior five-year period associates with greater integrated logistics IT. It appears that increasing foreign competition creates a sense of urgency for managers within Russian firms to focus on cost reduction and improvements in logistics efficiencies by way of greater IT integration.Originality/value– A significant portion of research related to supply chain management and firm performance takes place in the economically developed West, but there are questions about whether these findings are applicable in transition economies that have a significantly different set of institutional dynamics. This research highlights how the unique contexts in transition economies such as Russia can present challenges for firms as they adapt to the realities of global market dynamics.

New Amendments to Russia's Privatization Legislation: Cosmetic Measures or Further Deregulation?

Analysis of recent updates to the Russian privatization legislation in 2015 allows saying that the 2015 amendments as a whole aim to boost the process of privatization. The suggested enhancements for the information system of privatization of government-owned and municipal property and for the mechanism of selling such property are intended to render the entire privatization process more transparent while counteracting occurrences of corruption and criminality. It has not gone unnoticed that the practice of narrowing the scope of the privatization legislation continues. Since the legislation came into force late in 2001, the number of property categories whose disposal goes beyond the scope of the provisions thereof has nearly doubled (to 20 from 11), some of which have been given a broader interpretation. The next few years will show what kind of effect the potential of the foregoing amendments has on the effectiveness of this process, bearing in mind the contribution to meeting the federal budget deficit and generating budget revenues at other levels of public authority.

Production Efficiency and Beyond: Local Determinants in Russian Privatisation

This article analyses factors influencing rural households’ decisions to remain in collectives or separate from them during Russia’s post-socialist privatisation period in the 1990s. It argues that although decisions to remain in or separate from a collective were influenced by a number of factors, the dominant one was the households’ abilities to cope with independent production. These abilities were predetermined by the extent to which production was intensified in each collective. In Siberia less labour and capital intensive husbandry based on native herding that is well - adapted to the local environment, offered better chances of establishing viable economies, and thus greater incentives to split from a collective.

Certification with Russian characteristics: Implications for social and environmental equity

This paper applies theories of equity and transnational “governance generating networks” to assess how forest certification is enacted in Russia. Drawing on eight years of field research, we compare the engagement of shifting networks of Russian private sector, NGO, governmental and local community actors in implementing select social and environmental standards and how this impacts the effectiveness of the FSC in tackling local community and environmental concerns.Our case study suggests that much of the parameter-setting for what is addressed in certification's “sites of implementation” happens outside of formal standards-setting processes. In regard to environmental standards, strong and stable transnational environmental networks have been relatively successful in protecting “high conservation value forests”. However equivalent multi-level networks are lacking for key social standards. While a national social NGO has had some success in promoting procedural equity through community participation, we find no evidence that certification was addressing local community concerns for distributive equity. In particular, certification had failed to address the loss of small and medium forest enterprises, loss of local access to sawnwood and rising costs of fuelwood. This highlights the power dynamics of global standards implementation and the need for multi-scale advocacy coalitions to ensure their effective implementation.

An internet search for information on the 6000 books in D.M. Golitsyn’s library: The origin of this legend and determination of the possible size of the library

This paper describes the information that permits one to determine the origin of the legend that there were 6000 books in D.M. Golitsyn's library. Fragmentary information was found using the Internet directly on sites, in digitized book editions and the descriptions of archival file, as well as in printed publications, whose bibliographic descriptions were found on the Internet. An attempt was made to determine the possible size of D.M. Golitsyn's library. The article describes how the Internet was used to reveal little-known information from the history of Russian private libraries while subsequently gaining new information on them by complex data analysis.

Privatization Myths in russiaand the reality of local land Markets

The article analyzes the ratio of state and private forms of ownership of land and studies its local markets. The data collected as a result of field research of rural communities and also provided by real estate agencies allow to track the real growth of private property on land in municipalities. Studying the condition of local land markets at the level of rural communities one can make a number of unfavorable conclusions, such as growth of shadow sector and speculation in the prices of land plots within settlements. All these tendencies call into q uestion the existing scenario of carrying out privatization in Russia.

Public Sector and Privatisation in Russia in 2013

The core events which took place last year and which are related to the issues under consideration are the approval of a new three year privatisation programme for 2014-2016, including corporate control of market transactions associated with Rosneft and Gazprom, as well as the restructuring of the space industry, which is similar to that performed in relation to the aerospace and ship building industries.

Corruption in Russia, Russia Corrupted: Is There a Way out?

The article views corruption as an integral feature and the engine of the Russian economy. The main causes of corruption are linked to the nature of Russian privatization, mechanisms of government appointments and carrier growth, the lack of resource control in the process of the execution of economic policies. Corruption is considered to be a multilevel phenomenon, which embraces the process of governmental decision making, functioning of businesses and householders’ performance. Systematic analysis of the dissemination of corruption and successful experiences of other countries allow full scale measures for combating corruption in Russia to be proposed. Special attention is paid to the formation of state, corporate and public anti-corruption institutions.

A history of resistance to privatization in Russia

We investigate the connection between privatization in post-communist Russia and a mass privatization reform in Imperial Russia, the 1906 Stolypin land reform. Specifically, we relate historical measures of conflicts associated with the Stolypin reform to contemporary views on whether the privatization of the 1990s should be revised. These historical measures could influence contemporary views in two ways: first, differences in privatization-related conflicts in the past could have directly altered attitudes towards privatization in the 1990s and, second, these differences could merely reflect pre-determined dissimilarities in preferences. We first show that historical measures of resistance to privatization are associated with views that favor state ownership. One standard deviation increase in the historical resistance to privatization explains a quarter of the negative sentiment toward private property today. We also find that negative experiences with the Stolypin reform are associated with views on the procedural unfairness of modern privatization reforms, suggesting that pre-determined preferences cannot fully explain the weight of history.

Privatisation in Russia: Hard Choice, First Results, New Targets

The privatisation wave that spread all over the world in the 1980s at last reached the shores of Russia in the 1990s and near the bastions of the administrative system it came to rest in a rather indecisive way. If in the 1980s the issue of privatisation was of real interest only for a narrow circle of academics, and again only as it was applicable to the nations of the West and the developing nations, the autumn of 1990 in Russia was a starting point for extremely vigorous deliberations over an acceptable model of privatisation for domestic needs.

Creating Arab Nationalism? Russia and Greece in Ottoman Syria and Palestine (1840–1909)

The article discusses Russian and Greek rivalry over the influence in the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Antioch from the end of the Egyptian occupation to the Young Turk Revolution. While Greece ultimately aimed at including Orthodox Arabs in a Pan-Hellenic nation, Russian private and state actors were motivated by the cultural and political commitment to the defence of Orthodoxy from western inroads. Throughout this period, Russian diplomats were able to continue their traditional partnership with many Ottoman Greek prelates even after the Bulgarian schism of 1872. But when their leadership seemed to be the cause of mass defections from orthodoxy, Russian foreign policy makers from local consuls to the tsar were drawn into supporting the restoration of native Arab control. The article brings fresh archival evidence to put into context the development of some of the earliest modern Arab autonomous institutions. It also contributes to the discussion of the strength of dynastic and religious identities before 1914.