Research Digest
A. Yarlykapov, S. Markedonov, N. Samoilovskaya, V. Taran (4/2023). Digest #21 Human Capital VS Radicalization (Based on a Study of Dagestan Sufi Networks) (RU) Research project Developing Human Capital to Counter Terrorism and Ideological Extremism, Considering Eurasian Experience. Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: A. Andrianova.
Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published the twenty-first issue of the research digest. It presents the results of analysis on the influence of human capital on potential radicalization and deradicalization of society in Dagestan, the largest republic of the North Caucasus.
The research digest presents the results obtained during field research on the territory of several subjects of the North Caucasus and Siberian Federal Districts. The authors rely on the concept of communication networks, seeing as its main task to identify visible or hidden networks of interaction between individuals and collectives connected by common ideals and interests.
N. Voronina, M. Nagernyak, N. Mikhailova, S. Ter-Akopov (3/2023). Digest #20 Time Budgets. How Do We Spend Our Time? (RU) Research project Time Budgets Structure Analysis in the Context of Assessing the Well-being of the Population. Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: A. Andrianova.
Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published the twentieth issue of the research digest. It presents the results of data analysis on the distribution of time budgets for various types of activities.
The method of studying time budgets has a great research potential and is important from the point of view of obtaining scientifically based knowledge about the daily life of people both within the country and at the level of international comparisons.
I. Voskoboynikov (2/2023). Digest #19 General-Purpose Technologies, Human Capital and Economic Growth (RU). Research project Economic Growth, Human Capital and General-Purpose Technologies in the Context of a Global Slowdown. Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: A. Andrianova.
Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published the nineteenth issue of the research digest. It explains the correlation between balanced long-term economic growth and new technologies as a factor of human capital development.
The project aims to learn how to distinguish the effect of global economic growth factors related to the economy and human capital from specific, local ones, determined by the peculiarities of the Russian economy and its interaction with the rest of the world, considering the growth of the Russian economy in an inter-country context. It involves highlighting technologies in all industries and describing the nature of technological development.
V. Spiridonov (1/2023). Digest #18 What Does Insight Consist of? (RU). Research project Neurocognitive Decision-making Mechanisms. Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: A. Andrianova.
Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published the eighteenth issue of the research digest. It defines the phenomenon of the insight as a key moment while problem solving.
Insight is associated with a sharp and unexpected change in the representation of a problem, which leads to finding an answer (sometimes erroneous) and is often accompanied by vivid intense experiences. Its functions and the causes that give rise to it are the subject of acute theoretical and experimental discussions. Classical and modern insight studies are based on the idea that this phenomenon is whole. So far, this assumption has not been tested empirically. We have attempted to answer the question whether insight is whole, based on the metacognitive assessments of the participants’ thought processes. According to the results, the insight clearly has a complex, composite nature. This means that it is based on several different mechanisms.
M. Gershman, A. Demyanova, E. Polyakova (01/2023). Special issue of the research digest Russia’s Creative Class: a Portrait in Numbers (RU). Research project Methodological Foundations for Measuring the Socio-economic Characteristics of Creative Industries and the Creative Class. Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: M. Sokolova.
Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published a special issue of the research digest. It presents the results of a quantitative analysis of the creative class in Russia – people employed in professions related to creative and intellectual activities, carried out by the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (HSE University).
The number of the creative class in Russia in 2021 amounted to 3.4 million people, or 4.8% of the total number of employees; in five years it has increased by almost a third. The most typical representative of the Russian creative class is a young man (25–34 years old) with a higher education, but in recent years there has been an aging trend in this category of workers (which generally corresponds to the all-Russian trends in the development of the labor market). Only about half of those employed in creative professions in Russia work in their specialty. At the same time, it was the professional skills directly related to work, as well as the skills to use professional documentation and digital competencies, that turned out to be the most important for the performance of work duties.
A. Nikulin, I. Trotsuk (12/2022). Digest #17 Organic Agriculture: Russia’s Positions and Prospects under the Global Trends (RU). Research project Human Capital in Rural Development: Russia and the World. Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: A. Andrianova.
Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published the seventeenth issue of the research digest. It identifies the state and prospects for Russia’s organic farming under the global eco-development trends as outlined by the Institute of Social Sciences (RANEPA)
Until February 24, 2022, imports accounted for about 80% of the Russian organic food market, but this share has significantly decreased under the Western sanctions and trade restrictions. This expands the potential market share of the national organic production and can reduce the environmental impact of industrial agriculture. The Russian government intends to become a major exporter of organic food and to account for 10% of the global organic market by the mid-2030s.
L. Bisson, A. Gabarta, M. Kondratiev, E. Sergeev. (11/2022). Digest #16 Pension Systems Transformations in Eastern European Welfare Model: Comparative Analysis (RU). Research project The Welfare State in European Countries: Regional Peculiarities of the Formation and Use of Human Potential and Applicability of Experience in Russia. Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: A. Andrianova.
The Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published the sixteenth issue of the research digest. It presents the results of a comparative analysis of the transformation of pension systems in the Visegrad Group, conducted by the researchers of Center for European Studies of the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO University.
A series of recent economic crises in Europe has raised anew the question of state intervention limits in the economy and the parameters of the necessary sustainable social policy. The problem of the effectiveness of welfare state national models and their ability to stop crises arises again. The authors analyze the pension systems of the Visegrad European countries.
N. Kurichev, V. Vinogradova, A. Sheludkov, O. Glezer. (10/2022). Digest #15 Vulnerability of Russian Population to Climate Change (RU). Research project Spatial Differentiation of Human Potential and Territories Resilience: Socio-economic and Natural Factors. Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: A. Andrianova.
The Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published the 15th issue of the research digest. It presents the results of the vulnerability assessment of the Russian population to climate change, carried out by employees and partners of the Faculty of Geography and Geoinformation Technology (HSE University).
According to the authors, global climate change has an impact on human potential, economy and ecosystems of all countries of the world, including Russia. In Russia, the rate of climate warming is significantly higher than the average around the world. Russia's regions and municipalities differ dramatically in their vulnerability to shocks and risks associated with climate change. These differences are determined by the current natural and climatic conditions, the structure of regional and local economies, and nature management practices. It is necessary to consider the change in the living conditions of the population under climate change, since human potential is a key factor in long-term development.
E. Agadullina. (09/2022). Digest #14 Measuring Perceived Economic Inequality: A Systematization of Methods (RU). Research project Psychology of Social and Economic Inequality.Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: A. Andrianova.
The Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has released the 14th issue of the research digest. It presents the results of the classification and analysis of various methods for measuring perceived economic inequality, carried out by the Department of Psychology (HSE University).
According to the author, the increase in economic inequality is one of the biggest global problems today. Different behavioral and well-being patterns of society are associated not only with the objective level of economic inequality, but also with ideas about how different well-being indicators (for example, income) and opportunities are distributed in the society. And if the assessing methods of inequality are widely presented in the literature, then with the change in people's perceptions of inequality, everything is much more complicated. The research digest presents a systematic analysis of existing ways to assess perceived economic inequality.
S. Palminteri, M. Lebreton. (08/2022). Digest #13 Context-Dependent Outcome Encoding in Human Reinforcement Learning (ING). Project supervisor: Olga Voron. Editor: A. Andrianova. Research project Context-Dependent Outcome Encoding in Human Reinforcement Learning.
O. Demidkina, K. Vishnevsky. (07/2022). Digest #12 Digital Technology and Society (RU). Research project Studying the Involvement of the Population in the Digital Environment, the Effects of ‘New Connectivity’ and Factors of Digital Inequality
The Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has released the 12th issue of the research digest. In it, the authors found out that there is a direct relationship between public concern about the negative consequences of information and communication technologies and the emergence of new scientific research on how digital technologies affect human well-being.
The researchers posed a question: how do digital technologies affect human well-being? To address it, they developed their own concept of the Digital Well-Being Conditions Index, which makes it possible to compare the conditions created in Russia for the use of digitalization opportunities with the average indicators of OECD countries. According to the authors, The conditions created in Russia and in the OECD for the possibility of using e-government services are comparable, although the proportion of the population that does not have sufficient skills to use public services online is slightly higher than the OECD average in our country.
I.Okunev, M. Tislenko. (06/2022). Digest #11 Geography of Socio-economic Inequality in the World (RU). Research project Spatial analysis of the factors of regional distribution of human potential in Russia and in the world
The Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has released the 11th issue of the research digest. In it, academic scholars are presenting the results of applied research on the spatial distribution of socioeconomic inequality, conducted by the Center for Spatial Analysis of International Relations at MGIMO University.
The researchers posed a question: how does space affect the distribution of inequality? To address it, they selected 10 global indicators of inequality and investigated them using methods of spatial econometrics. According to the authors, inequality is a phenomenon that can be viewed in different dimensions – gender, culture, race, age, etc. However, inequality proved to be a less "geographically concentrated" category, and socio-economic inequality is not an exclusive feature of emerging economies or conventionally non "Western" communities. This is a positive finding, indicating the limitations of the notion that the institutional reproduction of inequality has geographical nature, including the framework of path dependence theory.
M. Denisenko, N. Mkrtchyan. (05/2022). Digest #10 Demographic Changes and Labor Supply in Russian Regions (RU). Research project Analysis and Forecasting of Long-term Demographic and Migration Trends in Russia: Development of Multivariate Scenarios, Assessment of Socio-economic Consequences and Political Risks in a Changing Global World
The Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published the tenth issue of the research digest. The researchers suggest that in Russia, as in many other countries, the trend towards depopulation and demographic aging is already accompanied by a decline in the working-age population.
According to the authors of the research, Russia is experiencing new developments in the nature and consequences of changes in the size and composition of the population. As a result of the decline in the birth rate, each subsequent generation of children, on average, is smaller than the generation of parents. The workforce will inevitably age, and this is a very serious challenge to the Russian economy.
S. Mareeva, E. Slobodenyuk, V. Anikin. (04/2022). Digest #9 Russian Perceptions of Income Inequality: Does Social Mobility Affect Them? (RU). Research project Social Stratification, Poverty and Inequality.
The Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center has published the ninth issue of the research digest. It presents the results of an empirical study how social mobility affects the perception of inequality, carried out by the Center for Stratification Studies of the Institute of Social Policy (HSE University).
The researchers found that the reasons for the universal ideas of Russians about inequality and the lack of influence on them of experience and expectations of mobility, which are partly contrary to the results of previous studies, may lie in the peculiarities of the configuration of inequality in Russia with its characteristic significant separation of a very small elite from the rest of the population, instability mass well-being, as well as the specifics of the formation of ideas about the structure of society on the basis of norms and values, and not one's own life situation.
N. Spizina, N. Balinova. (03/2022). Digest #8 Kalmyks. Problems of Nomadic Group Adaptation in Russia. Anthropology, Biodemography and Reproduction (RU). Research project Anthropological Diversity and Adaptive Capacity in Human Populations.
Researchers from IEA RAS examined the changes in the structure of the modern rural Kalmyk population. They found that over 90 years, Kalmyk men's height and other indicators of physical development had changed, but the body structure remained the same, indicating that harmonious development had occurred. The authors concluded that in rural Kalmyk populations, there was a demographic transition from natural reproduction to a regulated type, which is more characteristic for the urban population.
S. Ryazantsev, M. Khramova, V. Gnevasheva. (02/2022). Digest #7 International Migration during the COVID-19 Pandemic (RU). Research Project International Migration. Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University).
Researchers analyze how international migration has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. They conclude that the main risks for migrants during this period have been the closure of state borders, the suspension of government agencies work and changes in working conditions. Researchers also note that migrants have started to transfer less money to their countries of origin, which has had a negative impact on the economies of those countries. A part of labor migrants has returned to their home countries, which led to an increase in unemployment there.
The authors of the digest also analyze changes in the scale of international migration in the Russian Federation during the period of restrictive measures and evaluated the timing and possibilities of its recovery.
V. Boos, M. Gershman, E. Kutsenko. (02/2022). Special Issue. Creative Specializations of Russian Cities (RU). Research project Identifying and Evaluating Creative Specializations of Russian Cities. National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University).
Scientists conducted an analysis on a sample of 197 cities with a population of more than 100 thousand people, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. They found out that on the background of significant heterogeneity of creative industries and, as expected, their maximum concentration in metropolitan areas, many Russian cities with a population under 500 thousand people are not inferior to larger ones in terms of creative activity.
M. Butovskaya, V. Burkova (01/2022). Digest #1 (6) Social Behavior under COVID-19: Dimensions, Gender and Culture (RU). Research project Human Biosocial Nature as a Resourse for Adaptation to Global Challenges. Russian Academy of Sciences Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (IEA RAS).
This digest presents the results of a large-scale cross-cultural project on the topic of social behavior under COVID-19, carried out by the Center for Cross-Cultural Psychology and Human Ethology of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The data shows that such factors as country of residence, gender and age of the respondent, living conditions, the level of power distance, collectivist and individualist features of the country of residence, awareness of the prescribed rules of behavior, cultural norms and traditions have an impact on individual behavior of people during pandemic.
The group at greatest risk of negative psychological consequences against the backdrop of the pandemic are young women living with their families. In general, those who lived with relatives/friends reported higher anxiety scores. Another important factor influencing
anxiety was age: the older generation appeared to be more stress-resistant, despite being in one of the risk groups for coronavirus. Women compared to men were more anxious about the pandemic situation.
Stress levels during the pandemic increased significantly. The study data shows that participants from more free countries have higher levels of anxiety in the background of the pandemic, while collectivist countries with a more rigid vertical of power and less tolerant of violations of accepted norms and traditions are more successful — their residents are less anxious.
D. Didenko. (12/2021). Digest #5 Long-Term Trends in Income Inequality in Russia: What Do Long-Term Series of Statistical Dynamics Tell Us? (RU). Research Project Studying Formation and Development of Human Capital in Russia in the Global Context: Long-term Tendencies, Factors, Structural Dynamics (from the 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century). Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).
The digest focuses on long-term historical trends in income inequality in Russia from the 19th century to the present, primarily on wage differentials. Researchers have characterized the sources of information on inequality, adjusted and supplemented the data series constructed in previous works. They also demonstrated cyclical dynamics of income inequality with alternating periods of systemic transformation and evolutionary development during periods of market economy and centralized management in the economy.
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A. Donina, D. Kolesnik, A. Pestova. (11/2021). Digest #4 What to do with the employment of women with children in Russia? The Role of Pre-school Educational Facilities (RU). Research project Evaluating the Impact of Social Policy for Families with Children on Women's Labor Supply and their Human Capital. Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University).
Researchers from MGIMO Center for International Economics Research found out how to increase the employment rate of women with children in Russia and what prevents this from happening. Researchers stressed that women in Russia with young children under the age of three have little involvement in economic activity. One of the reasons is the low level of availability of pre-school education and childcare facilities for young children. The low employment rate is also caused by the spread of traditional gender norms.
Researchers noted that in many countries support for pre-school education and child care facilities in the form of direct provision of these services at government expense or government subsidies for these services is an effective policy measure. The authors concluded that public investments in improving access to pre-school education have a return in two years.
T. Paschenko, N. Avdeenko, M. Gasinets. (10/2021). Digest #3 Can Schools Teach Thinking? (RU) Research project Mechanisms and Factors of Key Skills and Competencies Development. Higher School of Economics (HSE University)
Researchers from HSE Educational Content Design Laboratory told what is known about the formation of creative and critical thinking in education. These skills, according to surveys, are considered by employers to be the most important ones for their employees. Formation of thinking begins at school, it is closely connected with learning activities.
Memory, attention and background knowledge are essential to the development of critical and creative thinking. However, acquiring new knowledge and memorizing facts must be combined with solving tasks that require high-order thinking skills.
Researchers emphasized that creativity is formed in a learning environment where there is mutual respect, teachers can engage in open dialogue with students and share ideas, and learning is collaborative. Researchers consider a hybrid learning format to be the most advantageous strategy for developing creative and critical thinking. In this format, students are simultaneously introduced to common ways of developing critical and creative thinking and shown how these ways can be applied to the subject material.
B. Sokolov, M.Zavadskaya, N. Soboleva, M. Ukhvatov, A. Shirokanova, A. Scherbak. (09/2021). Digest #2 Values in Crisis: the Sociology of the Coronavirus (RU). Research project Values and Attitudes Trends during the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Comparative Perspective. Higher School of Economics (HSE University)
HSE Laboratory for Comparative Social Research analyzed key social and political consequences of coronavirus pandemic first wave in Russia and compared the most interesting findings with the situation in other countries
Scientists found that there are a lot of COVID-skeptics in Russia (38%). Such people doubt the seriousness of this disease or the need for government measures to fight it. In Russia and in many other countries, individual trust in the national health system is reduced by COVID-skepticism and the belief that social media provides more reliable information than traditional media.
It turned out that more religious Russians generally tend to favor the Russian authorities, including the disease-control measures they were taking, despite the fact that certain groups of believers had a conflict with the government in the spring of 2020.
People who lost their jobs during the first phase of the pandemic were less satisfied with their lives, but having adult children reverses this effect. However, kids were a distraction for people who worked remotely — this manifested itself in a lower level of subjective well-being compared to remoters who did not have children.
S. Beredikhin, V. Vlasov, N. Gavrilova, M. Gerchman, L. Gokhberg, A. Demianova, I. Ivanova, Y. Popova. (08/2021). Digest #1 Development of Creative Industries in Russia: Key Indicators (RU). Research project Methodological Foundations for Measuring the Socio-economic Characteristics of Creative Industries and the Creative Class. Higher School of Economics (HSE University)
In recent years creative industries as a promising segment of economy have attracted the attention of politicians, experts and scientists. The development of creative industries has many positive effects on the economy and society, including the growth of small and medium-sized business, job creation and so on. The authors of the digest tried to answer the question: why is russian creative economy not developing fast enough?
According to researchers, the low growth rate of russian creative industry is mainly due to the general stagnation and slowdown in economic growth after the 2014 crisis. The decline in activity in the real sector caused a decline in demand for goods and services that are classified as creative. Between 2015 and 2019, there was a gradual rise in these markets, including the growth of its individual segments, such as online advertising. However, starting from early 2020, the pandemic has had a negative impact on creative industries around the world.