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An import reduction has a more than proportionate impact on Russia’s industrial output and exports. Over one year, a 1% decrease in imports as a share of production costs across industries leads to a more than 2% output reduction and an even more significant decline in ex...
Central banks have a system for announcing the future path of monetary policy: forward guidance. It contributes to the reducing uncertainty in the economy and decreasing market volatility and helps economic agents adjust to expected changes in advance.
In the last decades, economists have created a number of indices of central bank transparency. However, all of them target a professional audience. We have built a new index to cover regulator efforts to communicate with a broader audience.
Stock market capitalisation plays a significant role in creating wealth for the population, and often draws the attention of financial authorities. But what drives capitalisation growth and what is its ‘optimal’ size? Some of the answers can be found in economic science.
The Russian market is assimilating key green financial instruments: bonds, corporate lending, and mortgages. However, there are other forms of sustainable finance that could also potentially take root in the market.
Modern technology and big data on retail sales enable more accurate and faster measurement of inflation. We are developing a methodology for calculating a price index based on data from online receipts: in the future, it will make it possible to track inflation in near real time.
Human capital is one of the key factors of economic growth, but there are few quantitative estimates of its contribution to the Russian economy. New estimates show that its contribution peaked in the second half of the 2000s and had almost disappeared by the end of the 2010s.
In a geographically large economy, different regions can respond differently to the same events. Nowcasting used for data across Russia revealed these differences as well as their dependence on the level of development and the sectoral specialisation of the regions.
Russian companies became more generous with their dividends. Corporate reports for 2005–2023 show that major corporations provide the largest payments, while third-tier issuers pay dividends most frequently. However, a focus on dividends does not guarantee a return on investment.
Europe’s dependence on Russian supplied gas has drastically reduced. Nevertheless, several EU member states retain an interest in continued Russian exports given the steep costs of switching to alternative supplies.
The number of educated and employed women in Russia is high by world standards. Russia is among the world leaders for the share of families with a woman as the main breadwinner. The weak role in governance and large pay gap are paradoxical, but have an institutional explanation.
The past two years saw an almost complete transformation of the logistics and geography of Russia’s export and import. Analysis of this process has identified a number of patterns and risks in the new structure of foreign trade.
In terms of concentration of wealth in the hands of a small group, 1% of the population, Russia is among the world’s leaders. This group is almost inaccessible for sociological analysis, but a few assessments can be made from open sources.
Cryptocurrencies have become a riskier asset than they once were and no longer add diversification to investment portfolios. Cryptoassets more and more resemble lottery tickets in terms of risk profile.
People’s inflation expectations are often based on the dynamics of prices for certain goods and services called “visible items”. For Russians, these visible items include durables such as cars and clothes, and also petrol, housing maintenance and public transport fares.
Many indicators point to a rise in economic uncertainty, but it is the news that reflects this trend most quickly. The index based on media archives has accurately shown all crises in the 21st century and made it possible to calculate their consequences for the economy.
The dynamics and geography of international capital flows are changing. Geopolitical risks have become the major driver of these flows.
AI has become a tool of creative destruction. Companies that incorporate it into their business models will set the tone for the development of their sectors in the coming years. Perhaps AI will also cause a realignment in the trade and economic alliances of countries.
After a period of record growth in 2022, gas spot prices in the European market have returned to the levels seen two years ago. Europe has managed to adapt to the reduction in supplies from Russia, but price volatility and consumption risks persist.
The inflationary episode that has been experienced by all developed countries since 2021 is not over. The risk of losing the inflation anchor and falling into the stagflation trap exists even though the effects of pro-inflation factors have almost completely worn off.
Have central banks opened up due to the increased openness of the authorities or the developments of new media? This is not the case. Openness was a response to unprecedented shocks that has helped to withstand such shocks when traditional tools have turned out to be ineffective.
Entrepreneurship in Russia has shown great resilience to changes in the political and economic landscape: the influence of institutions and culture on business activity may persist even after extreme changes in political and economic conditions.