Socio-economic Research Research Articles

What do stakeholders expect from an integrated system for informing social partners and decision makers in digital monitoring of CO2 storage

The authors participate in DigiMon international project (“Digital monitoring of CO2 storage projects”), which aims to develop a next generation human centred monitoring system for CO2 geological storage sites. It includes newly developed subsurface imaging technologies based on seismic fibre optic and gravity surveying. In addition, the SEL methodology was developed, which provides an assessment framework to understand which technical and non-technical aspects still need to be improved in order to implement CCS and its monitoring system successfully. Application of the SEL methodology based on socio-economic research carried out in Norway, Netherlands, Germany and Greece, identified what do stakeholders expect from a monitoring system. In this paper, the authors provide hints on how the outcomes of the international project DigiMon can be integrated within a Decision Support System (DSS) in order to assist the operator to follow up and manage CCS operation. The role of DSS is to assist data access, reservoir modelling, results interpretation and development of alternative solutions. The key stakeholders (decision makers) that must be kept informed are determined by National legislation. Their role is to assess environmental risk and manage emergency crises, if and when they occur. Processed data can be transmitted exclusively to them and can also be presented on regional maps, highlighting possible mitigation scenarios and intervention measures.

Energy management of municipalities as an indicator of differentiation of municipal districts by quality of management in the Leningrad region

Aim. To determine the possibility of assessing the energy management of municipalities as an in­dicator of differentiation of municipal districts by quality of management in the Leningrad region.Tasks. To describe the energy capacity of the Leningrad region; to assess the impact of energy management as a management practice on the differentiation of municipal districts in terms of management quality; to compare the quality of general management and energy management in municipal districts.Methods. The authors used modern methodology of socio-economic research, including the ap­plication of system and process approaches, the method of comparative analysis.Results. A mismatch was found between the overall quality of management (in terms of assessed results) and the quality of energy management in municipal districts.Conclusions. According to the author's position, the uneven quality of management in munici­pal districts is obvious. The necessity of introducing into the practice of municipal management of the Leningrad region of the Russian Federation (RF) a more responsible approach to solving the problem of improving the energy efficiency of the regional socio-economic system as a goal of energy management, which should be seen as a means to improve the system of public pro­duction (goods and services) and improve the quality of environment and life of the population in the region under study.

Online Survey Data on Economic Effects of Lockdowns and Post-Stratification Data Adjustment: Evidence from Bulgaria

This contribution aims to discuss an original survey methodology, conceived in lockdown conditions, when face to face interviewing was prohibited and economic and sociological research faced obstacles in obtaining empirical data. An original pseudo-longitudinal Covid-CAWI is conducted in two fully harmonized waves. The basic methodological principles are elucidated along with limitations and advantages within the context of anti-epidemic measures and lockdowns in Bulgaria. The article elaborates the steps of data cleaning, conducted as an essential pre-processing step to high level of data quality. Special focus is devoted to posterior data optimization, using post-stratification adjustments. A comparison between weighted and unweighted data on economic effects is analysed. The paper contributes to the scientific debate on methodology insofar as online surveys become the one and only research opportunity for quantitative research in a crisis situation. The presented analysis of subsequent optimization procedures in Internet studies aims to open a discussion, especially in the context of socioeconomic research in a crisis situation where there are physical distance constraints. The data from the Covid-CAWI survey will be available for open access, so all interested in research may analyse the effects of the pandemic on social and economic life and debate on survey methodology.

Our First 20 Years

The launch of the Socio-Economic Review 20 years ago should have surprised no one with any scholarly interest in capitalism. The journal was the result of more than a decade-long intellectual movement that began with the creation of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics in 1989 at the initiative of Amitai Etzioni. His communitarian vision, academic reputation and entrepreneurship attracted both top scholars and young researchers to the intellectual project of developing alternatives to the dominance of neoliberal thinking. The alternative approach was to view the economy in the wider context of political and social forces and moral concerns, and that in turn, called for inviting social science disciplines that had been marginalized by neoclassical economics to investigate the economy. Years of gathering scholars from both sides of the Atlantic and community building resulted in the Madison Declaration on the Need for Socio-Economic Research in 1999. If the idea of socio-economics looked quaint and marginal in the late 1980s, by the 2000s it was a thriving intellectual movement very much riding the waves of the times. As the Socio-Economic Review appeared, the world economy was struggling. After the roaring 1990s, the Washington consensus, which had previously guided economic policies, was crumbling, and the triumphalist phrase, ‘the end of history’, was reduced to a punchline. The Asian Crisis in 1997 was an early warning, quickly followed by the crash of the ruble, revealing the failure of the capitalist transition in Russia. Next came the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, a large hedge fund, led by two economists, who just the year before won the Nobel prize. The fund that heavily invested in Russian bonds had to be rescued with a $3.6 billion bailout. The burst of the dotcom bubble in 2000 further reinforced the notion that global capitalism was much more fragile than neoliberal ideas had led us to believe, and was not at all a self-contained, self-driving and self-correcting system, but was at the mercy of politics, and social and cultural processes. The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, on the physical centre of world finance, demonstrated in a crude fashion the power of political forces. A more benign form of the power of politics over the economy was on exhibit in January of 2002, when the euro was launched as the currency in most of the member countries of the European Union. Less spectacular, but equally important was the steady rise of social inequalities. It has been an obsession for sociologists, but long ignored by mainstream economics until Piketty and Saez forced the topic into economics in an article published a month after SER appeared.

Strategies for Effective Employment in the Context of the Risks of the Russian Labor Market: Formal and Informal Channels of Job Search

The weakness of institutional employment intermediaries and significant asymmetry of information remain among the main risk factors in the labor market. In this regard, the issue of researching existing ways to minimize them does not lose its relevance. The object of the study is effective employment. The subject is attracted channels and employment strategies. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research was the foundations of the concept of social capital, the study of the functioning of social capital in the Russian labor market, the concept of the egoset and the social graph. The basis of the empirical analysis was the data of state statistics. Secondary data analysis is also used in the work. The basis of the retrospective analysis was made up of monitoring data on youth issues conducted by the Socio-Political Research Sector of the Institute of Socio-Economic Research of the UFIC RAS in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The paper presents an empirical analysis of the intensity of the use of formal and informal employment channels. The experience of existing research in the field of employment is summarized and its leading strategies in the modern Russian labor market are determined. It is proved that, functioning in the modern labor market, it is social capital that is able to fulfill the role of a buffer and continues to lead and strengthen as one of the most powerful resources for effective employment. The reasons for the low intensity of involvement of formal – institutional intermediaries in the labor market in the employment strategy are substantiated. A number of the most relevant measures to improve the activities of the state employment service are given.

Strategies for effective employment in the context of the current features of the Russian labor market: convergence of formal and informal mechanisms

The labor market naturally, like any other market, is influenced by various factors that provoke social risks and threats. For the Russian labor market, first of all, this is a number of specific institutional defects and current features inherent in it, which provoke difficulties in achieving the desired social and labor status and limit opportunities for decent employment. Therefore, the study of strategies and mechanisms that contribute to their minimization does not lose its relevance. The object of the study is effective employment. The subject is attracted channels and employment strategies. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research is based on the concept of social capital, studies of the functioning of social capital in the Russian labor market, the concept of the egoset and the social graph. The empirical base of the analysis was made up of state statistics data. The paper uses secondary data analysis. The basis of the retrospective analysis was made up of monitoring data on youth issues conducted by the Socio-Political Research Sector of the Institute of Socio-Economic Research of the UFIC RAS in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The paper presents an empirical analysis of the intensity of the use of formal and informal employment mechanisms. The reasons for the low intensity of the use of formal state intermediaries in the labor market in employment strategies are substantiated. It is shown that effective employment strategies are formed on the basis of convergence of formal and informal mechanisms for finding decent jobs. It is proved that the intensification of the use by job seekers of such an informal employment resource as social capital is a reaction to the presence of characteristic institutional defects and features of the modern Russian labor market.

Assessment of the possibility of using social network data in urban research

Widespread digitalization leads to the acceleration of socioeconomic processes, which requires faster decision-making. Official statistics is the basis for managing the socio-economic development of a city or region. However, it has a number of limitations related to the timing of publication of information and details. At the same time, new data sources have been emerging in recent years. This study determines the possibility of using open data of the VKontakte social network in socioeconomic research using the example of Russian million-plus cities. The main research methods were statistical, descriptive, and comparative analysis. The information base of the study was made up of depersonalized data of the VKontakte social network users, as well as statistical data. It is revealed that on the basis of depersonalized data from VKontakte, it is possible to characterize the gender and age composition of city residents, which is comparable with Rosstat data, to identify and evaluate labor migration. It is concluded that the data from the social network can be used to obtain analytical information in situations where there is no official statistics available. The data have high geographical detail and can act as an additional source of operational big data on the composition of the population and the quality of its life.

Modeling of Subjective Satisfaction Assessments in Socio-economic Researches

Modeling of Subjective Satisfaction Assessments in Socio-economic Researches

Modeling of Subjective Satisfaction Assessments in Socio-economic Researches

Modeling of Subjective Satisfaction Assessments in Socio-economic Researches

Transdisciplinary methods in socio-economic and environmental research

The article presents a theoretical overview characterizing the research potential of transdisciplinary methods. The empirical part was conducted in the South of Russia (Stavropol Krai) in July 2023; it summarizes the practices of using transdisciplinary methods in the analysis of socio-economic and environmental processes. The professional community of environmentalists of Stavropol Krai was involved in the development of strategic vectors of interaction with university education to solve a common task –the training of highly qualified specialists in demand by production. In the course of the study we assessed the involvement of the professional community of ecologists in the processes of interaction with university teachers; the quality of training of graduates of environmental educational programs of higher education; we identified the practiced and promising types of interaction between the professional community of ecologists and the university. The research shows the importance of universal professional competencies for the successful work of a graduate of environmental educational programs. The data obtained provide an understanding of the importance of new research strategies using transdisciplinary approaches in the analysis of socio-economic and environmental processes.

Геоинформационное картографирование размещения населения для анализа его пространственной динамики

The change in the population is the most important indicator, the reflection of which on the map allows you to obtain a visual picture of many interconnected processes occurring in the studied territory. The study solved the task of creating a series of cards that reflect a change in the population in the settlements of the Tyumen Region based on these censuses of the population of 1926 and 2010. This work provides for the development of modern geoinformation and cartographic support of socio-economic studies related to the analysis of the location of the population based on spatial databases. The choice of a large period of time and the associated significant changes in the names and the general structure of the placement of settlements leads to the need for a thorough and comprehensive study of information, determining its relevance to solve the tasks. Further, a number of problems were solved: methodological (development of the structure and content of maps) and methodical (organization of the geodatabase (BGD), the creation and design of thematic cards). As part of the study, the design of the structure of the database of spatial data was performed, and then its filling based on the censuses of the population and official statistical indicators about the population of the Tyumen Region (including the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug—Yugra and the Yamalo-Nenetskij Autonomous Okrug). For all presented cards, a geographical basis is configured with unified installations of cartographic generalization and a coordinated system of conventional signs. The developed series of maps allows you to identify and visually assess the spatial patterns of changes in the population and the network of settlements. The collected structured material organized in the BGD format provides modern cartographic support for socio-economic research related to the analysis of the population. The work was performed as part of the preparation of the demographic section of the Atlas of the Tyumen Region.

Институциональные трансформации и проекты развития Арктики и Севера: опыт экспертизы проектов человеческого развития этносоциологами Новосибирского научного центра

The article is devoted to the scientific expertise of human development projects in the North in the late Soviet and early post-Soviet periods of the institutional transformation of Russian society. Despite the fact that its official goal was the further development of the Soviet project among the peoples of the North, in essence, the researchers, in alliance with the authorities, searched for a balance between the mobilization (planned) and market strategies for the development of the Arctic and the North. The purpose of the article is to introduce into wide scientific circulation the results of research in the circumpolar zone of the RSFSR, carried out by ethnosociologists of the Novosibirsk Scientific Center (NSC) from 1982 to 1991 and later. The relevance of this work is brought to life by the desire of the state that emerged in 2010 to use market institutions in the implementation of plans for the development of the polar zone of the Russian Federation. This paper presents materials on the activities of the Regional Interdepartmental Commission for the Coordination of Comprehensive Socio-Economic, Medical, Biological and Linguistic Research on the Problems of the Development of the Peoples of the North, established in 1981 on the basis of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The tasks and functions of the Commission are described in detail. Among the key issues of its activities were the problems of labor and employment of the peoples of Siberia, the preservation of the traditional economy and native language, mass education and access to social benefits, the development of transport infrastructure and quality housing. Although the focus of the Commission’s work remained the study of the situation of the indigenous peoples of the North and Siberia, these problems were considered in a wide range of issues of developing the national economy, gaining access to the social benefits of late socialism in the paradigm of ‘the flourishing and rapprochement of nations’. With the liquidation of the Commission in the early post-Soviet period, researchers focused on studying the consequences of radical market reforms in the interethnic communities of the North of Siberia: the archaization of everyday practices, the decline in the living standards of the population, and the revitalization of ethnic self-organization structures. It is concluded that in future ‘northern’ projects, it is necessary to combine the mobilization and market strategies for the development of the Arctic.

The Impacts of Climate Change, Carbon Dioxide Emissions (CO2) and Renewable Energy Consumption on Agricultural Economic Growth in South Africa: ARDL Approach

One of the most affected economies by climate change is the agricultural sector. Climate change measured by temperature and precipitation has an impact on agricultural output, which in turn affects the economy of the sector. It is anticipated that using renewable energy will lower carbon emissions that are directly related to climate change. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), renewable energy usage, and climate change on South Africa’s agricultural sector from 1972 to 2021. The nexus was estimated using an Auto Regressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds test econometric technique. In the short run, findings indicated that climate change reduces agricultural economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions increase as agricultural economic growth increases. The use of renewable energy was insignificant in the short and long run. Carbon dioxide emissions granger causes temperature and renewable energy unilateral. An ARDL analysis was performed to evaluate the short and long-term relationship between agricultural economic growth, climate change, carbon dioxide emissions and renew able energy usage. The study adds new knowledge on the effects of climate change and carbon emissions on the agricultural economy alongside the use of renewable energy which can be used to inform economic policy on climate change and the energy nexus in the agricultural sector. Study findings point to the prioritization of biomass commercialization, rural and commercial farming sector bioenergy regulations and socioeconomic imperatives research is crucial in order to promote inclusive participation in the production of renewable energy.

Socio-economic metabolism research: Connotation, discovery, and prospect

Socio-economic metabolism refers to the human-driven migration and transformation of material and energy within and at the boundary of the socio-economic system. The research of socio-economic metabolism has become the core in industrial ecology. We introduced the connotation and basic steps of socio-economic metabolism research with typical cases, and summarized the main findings of socio-economic metabolism research. The research provide a method and model to track the sources, sinks, and flow path of materials in the socio-economic system, reveal how materials and their socio-economic metabolic processes supported modern production and lifestyle. Related studies have clarified the mechanism by which human activities driving the ecological and environmental problems related to material metabolism. It provides the model and database for evaluating the resource efficiency, the trend of resource supply and demand, and the potential of urban mining. We put forward the future directions of socio-economic metabolism research: to increase research objects and enhance the research precision of each object; to expand and deepen the temporal and spatial boundaries of the research system; to introduce and integrate new data sources and research methods; to connect the material flows of socio-economic metabolism with its related ecological and environmental impacts; and to establish a data platform that could be shared, expanded and accumulated.

Is the “new normal” a return to inertia and inequalities?

Since 2020, the editorial team at Regions & Cohesion has engaged these editors’ notes as a way to highlight the relevance of the socio-economic research published in the journal for our understanding of current events. We have specifically embraced discussions on the COVID-19 pandemic from the point of view of the social construction of vulnerability and risk. Our editors’ notes have focused on the relationship between development strategies and the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, and we have contextualized these discussions by focusing on global inequalities and their local manifestations. Like many people, our fear has been (and continues to be) that a “return to normal” represents a return to unsustainable development and inequity.

Labor capital development of the region in the focus of sociological research: factors and problems

The presented work analyzes the features, problems and factors of labor capital development of the Republic of Bashkortostan based on the data of a sociological study conducted by the Institute for Socio-Economic Research of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2021. A number of problems faced by the able-bodied population are considered, including: a relatively low standard of living of the population, which hinders the provision of the quality of life and professional productivity of workers; gender inequality in the distribution of labor incomes of the population; the predominance of negative assessments of the able-bodied population of their physical condition, the quality of their leisure and vacations; discrepancy between the high qualification of employees and the functions performed, which does not allow them to fully realize their labor potential in the workplace. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of values that prevail in the minds of the able-bodied population and determine their labor behavior, and as a result, have a negative impact on the formation of labor capital. Thus, it was revealed that the value orientations of the population of the Republic of Bashkortostan are typical for countries of “catching up” development. In this regard, the authors substantiate the necessity of cultivating the values of rationality of financial thinking, equality, self-expression and autonomy, as well as improving institutions that support these values in society. These values act as factors in the formation of high-quality labor capital in the conditions of modern Russia

A practice-led assessment of landscape restoration potential in a biodiversity hotspot.

Effective restoration planning tools are needed to mitigate global carbon and biodiversity crises. Published spatial assessments of restoration potential are often at large scales or coarse resolutions inappropriate for local action. Using a Tanzanian case study, we introduce a systematic approach to inform landscape restoration planning, estimating spatial variation in cost-effectiveness, based on restoration method, logistics, biomass modelling and uncertainty mapping. We found potential for biomass recovery across 77.7% of a 53 000 km2 region, but with some natural spatial discontinuity in moist forest biomass, that was previously assigned to human causes. Most areas with biomass deficit (80.5%) were restorable through passive or assisted natural regeneration. However, cumulative biomass gains from planting outweighed initially high implementation costs meaning that, where applicable, this method yielded greater long-term returns on investment. Accounting for ecological, funding and other uncertainty, the top 25% consistently cost-effective sites were within protected areas and/or moderately degraded moist forest and savanna. Agro-ecological mosaics had high biomass deficit but little cost-effective restoration potential. Socio-economic research will be needed to inform action towards environmental and human development goals in these areas. Our results highlight value in long-term landscape restoration investments and separate treatment of savannas and forests. Furthermore, they contradict previously asserted low restoration potential in East Africa, emphasizing the importance of our regional approach for identifying restoration opportunities across the tropics. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding forest landscape restoration: reinforcing scientific foundations for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration'.

Esophageal cancer in China: Practice and research in the new era.

China, as the one of the largest developing countries in the world and with about one-fifth of the global population, is bearing an increasing burden on health from cancer. In the area of esophageal cancer (EC), China accounts for more than 50% of the global cases, with this disease being a particularly worse for those in disadvantaged populations. Along with China's socioeconomic condition, the epidemiology, diagnosis, therapeutics and research of EC have developed throughout the 21st century. In the current review, existing control measures for EC in China are outlined, including the incidence, mortality, screening, clinical diagnosis, multidisciplinary treatment and research landscape. EC in China are very different from those in some other parts of the world, especially in Western countries. Core measures that could contribute to the prevention of EC and improve clinical outcomes in patients of less developed countries and beyond are recommended. International cooperation among academia, government and industry is especially warranted in global EC control.

Systematic Review of Multi-Dimensional Vulnerabilities in the Himalayas.

The Himalayan region is a fragile high mountain landscape where the population experiences acute vulnerability within a complex coupled human–natural system due to environmental, social, and economic linkages. The lack of significant regional and spatial knowledge of multi-faceted vulnerabilities hinders any potential recommendations to address these vulnerabilities. We systematically reviewed the literature to recommend mitigation interventions based on the region’s socio-economic and ecological vulnerability research to date. We applied the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting of Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) criteria to search for results from four comprehensive databases. For our assessment, we compiled a final sample (n = 59) of vulnerability research papers to examine the vulnerability types, spatial variation, assessment methodology, and significant drivers of change. Our study represented all Himalayan countries, namely, India, Nepal, Pakistan, China, and Bhutan. More than half of the vulnerability studies were conducted in the central Himalayan region, a quarter in the western Himalayas, and a few in the eastern Himalayas. Our review revealed that the primary drivers of change were climate change, land use/land cover, and glacial lake formation. The vulnerability assessments in the Himalayan region primarily used social science methods as compared to natural science methods. While the vulnerability studies seldom assessed mitigation interventions, our analysis identified fourteen recommendations. The recommended interventions mainly included policy interventions, livelihood improvement, and adaptation measures. This study emphasized that sustainable development requires cross-sectoral interventions to manage existing resources and mitigate the confronting vulnerabilities of the region.

Review of Models for and Socioeconomic Approaches to the Formation of Foresight Control Mechanisms: A Genesis

The study of a genesis is determined by the needs when designing the processes of high-tech development. This is performed taking the knowledge-intensive factors of a large knowledge economy into account under conditions of environmental uncertainty. An increase in the number of publications on the regulation of imbalances in the goals of innovation and efficiency that objectively arise in the processes of such development has been revealed. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze models and socioeconomic approaches for the integration of mechanisms for foreseeing and controlling the development goals of enterprises in the processes of their genesis. This led to the improvement of the theory and the development of new methodologies, models, and methods for improving the quality of the management of the innovative development of enterprises according to sustainability criteria. Therefore, an analysis of textual sources was carried out, as it is crucial to understand various text-processing approaches to optimize the forecasting of long-term goals. An attempt was made to apply methods for assessing the quality of proposals available in the literature by a number of authors to summarize and discuss the current text-based socioeconomic advances in the aspect of forming a unified mechanism for improving the quality of governance. The properties of the monitoring of the factors of the knowledge economy and the strategic planning of development goals were analyzed. The quality of proposals was assessed in a procedure, and a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of scientific approaches was conducted. This made it possible to determine the correspondence of approaches to the development of theories and new methodologies for the integration–balancing management of the integration and combination of resources by using a foresight-controlling mechanism. Moreover, this study also determines the prospects of the analyzed areas of socioeconomic research and project development.