ANALYSIS AND PROSPECTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVESTMENT LIBERALIZATION REGIME IN THE WORLD ECONOMY

The article assesses a significance of the most important component of the agreement on accession to the WTO, namely the agreement on trade-related investment measures (TRIMs), in increasing the attractiveness of developing countries to investors from abroad. In addition, traditional determinants of FDI placement, such as the macroeconomic stability, trade openness, and economic development, are considered. The authors carry out an analysis in the field of regulation of TRIMs by the example of economic policies in developing countries. The study shows that the extent to which TRIMs contributed to achieving the goals varied significantly, reflecting the specific economic and political conditions of the country using them. In some cases, they played a role in encouraging foreign companies to make more use of local sources or increase their exports from the host country. In other cases, the impact seemingly was negligible.

EURASIA IN POST-CRISIS ECONOMY AND ENERGY

The article considers some of the macroeconomic results of 2020 for the global economy and individual regions and countries of the world. The authors identify a number of distinctive features of the global economic crisis of 2020 and its impact on the dynamics of macroeconomic indicators in individual regions and countries of the world (the Eurasian Economic Union, the European Union, and China). It is noted that during the crisis, negative trends in the world economy and politics became more acute and fundamental contradictions between the main participants in the world economy became tougher. At the same time, a high level of mutual dependence of the economies of the EU, EAEU, China and other Eurasian states was noted. Despite the crisis conditions and unfavorable political rhetoric, economic interests and the implementation of all – Eurasian projects can become a unifying factor for overcoming the crisis and forming new development models based on rational policies and the common benefit of the states of the Eurasian space.

THE SPECIFICS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF ONLINE COMMERCE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR OF INTERNET USERS

The article presents trends and innovations in the global and Russian markets regarding consumer behavior, analyzes the prospects for the development of online commerce, and suggests various approaches to increasing the share of online store customers and consumer retention in the era of digitalization and e-commerce. In particular, the authors analyzed the specifics of interaction with the audience on the example of a large online platform “Shopping live”. The practical skills of using innovative developments by marketers in terms of the development of mobile consumption of services and goods are demonstrated. The article takes into account the requirements that customers face in connection with the pandemic and forced self-isolation, in particular, the ability to use various technical innovations. It also demonstrates, as modern factors, the experience of practicing marketers, which influenced their work in the electronic format of selling goods and services, and in particular the use of new approaches in communication and customer orientation. The authors formulate approaches to the development of electronic promotion of goods and products of various industries from the point of view of consumer preferences, based on the specifics of the marketing strategy of large marketplaces, such as Wildberries, Aliexpress.

SUBSTANTIATION OF THE CONCEPT OF REFORMING THE SYSTEM OF ORGANIZATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN INDUSTRY

Despite the fact that Russia remained among the ten leading countries by the share of costs for technological innovations in the total volume of delivered products, the gap in the level of innovation performance remained serious. In terms of the specific weight of technological innovation costs in the total volume of the delivered goods, performed works and rendered services (2,1%), Russia in 2018 ranked 9 th among European countries. In terms of its share of the research and development costs in the total cost of technological innovations (45,2%) – 14th place and in terms of the specific weight of the innovative goods, works, services in the total volume of goods delivered, works performed, services rendered (6,5%) – 24th place out of 30. An analysis of the foreign and Russian experience of the innovation organization showed that in order to multiply the share of innovative industrial products in the total production, it was necessary to create such a system of organization and management of scientific and tech- nological development, which, unlike current practice and by analogy with the key principle of modern concepts of the production organization – the principle of “pulling” – would be able to form a real paid demand for applied R & D and subsequently for basic research. At the same time, in addition to the existing stream of ideas from academic science to production, it is necessary to organize a back-stream of demand – from the factory science, which is at the forefront of understanding the current needs of industry – to the applied one and then to academic science within the range of issues really essential for production.

THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ITALY RELATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF SUPRANATIONAL FISCAL REGULATION

The article presents a retrospective analysis of relations between the government of Italy and the European Union institutions in the context of supranational fiscal regulation in 2002–2019. The authors analyze the influence of external and internal factors on the state of public finance in Italy, note the reasons that made it difficult to meet the requirements of the Stability and Growth Pact, study the main issues on the agenda in the EU-Italy relations and their evolution. The authors also come to conclusion that unlike the earlier discussions about correcting budget deficit in Italy, current focus of supranational fiscal governance is shifted to preventing it, what challenges the economic sovereignty of Italy and country’s opportunities to conduct a discretionary fiscal policy.

FEATURES OF THE RUSSIAN SMALL BUSINESS MODEL AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The article analyzes the quantitative and structural stability of Russian small business and identifies the model features of its functioning. It investigates the dynamics of development of Russian small business is investigated and notes a downward trend in the number of small and medium-sized enterprises over the past two years. A conclusion is drawn that the quantitative indicators reflecting its functioning are highly sensitive to the negative effects of the macroeconomic environment. The author introduces a concept of the small business heterogeneity and brings up its structural characteristics, represented by various categories of small and medium-sized firms. Comparative analysis of the Russian small business model with foreign small business confirms its quantitative and structural instability. That makes the considered sector of the national economy vulnerable to shocks (externalities), including the COVID-19 pandemic. It is assumed that the negative consequences of the pandemic will affect Russian small businesses more than foreign ones, and the gap in their development levels will widen. An assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Russian small business and a forecast of its development are made in the context of limited government support and the absence of active bank lending.

INVESTMENTS IN TECHNOLOGICAL LAYOUT. STIMULATION TOOLS

An issue of the economic growth launching in Russia and carrying out technological renewal of the economy seems to be the central task at the current stage of the country’s economic development. However, the overwhelming majority of theories of economic growth, as well as the classical theory of economic policy, do not give an exact answer as to the technological renewal in the economy and its role when changing the structure of technologies and investments in them. The present study fills that apparent gap, and on the basis of the theory of technological paradigms created by the Russian school of economic thought. The purpose of the study is to structurally analyze the dynamics of investments in fixed assets in the technological structures of the Russian economy with an assessment of the impact on it of certain instruments of macroeconomic policy. On the basis of taxonomic methods of identifying paradigms by types of economic activity, the authors propose a solution to the problem of measuring structures and the investments made in them. The stages in the methodology for the struc- tural analysis and assessment of the economic policy instruments impact- ing through the regression econometric analysis on the target investment function of each of the identified paradigms are formed. The study resulted in obtaining a picture of the distribution of the impact of macroeconomic policy instruments separately for each technological paradigm, according to the selection made. That allows, firstly, to understand the dispersed power of the influence of the economic policy being implemented, and secondly, to see the possibilities of correcting the ongoing structural and investment policy and the use of macroeconomic instruments, as well as institutional changes – individual for each element of the structure – technological paradigm. The prospect of the study is the development of various models based on the selected structure of technological paradigms and investments in them, linking the development of structures and detailing the impact of each of the economic policy instruments.

ENERGY COOPERATION BETWEEN OIL AND GAS COMPANIES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND VIETNAM. PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

The article shows the history of the energy cooperation develop- ment between oil and gas companies (OGC) of the Russian Federation (RF) and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) on the continental shelf of Vietnam in the South China Sea. Despite the richest reserves of natural resources and, in particular, hydrocarbons in the territory of Vietnam, slightly less than half of the potential oil reserves and about a third of the potential natural gas reserves have been explored. The desire of the Vietnamese leadership to develop rela- tions in the oil and gas sector with foreign countries has led to the attraction of foreign oil and gas companies to the search, exploration and development of oil and gas fields on the shelf of the SRV in the South China Sea. Russian oil and gas companies are among the key partners in hydrocarbon production. The article shows the spheres of cooperation between Russian and Vietnamese oil and gas companies, its prospects and risks. The authors note that not only Russian oil and gas companies operate in Vietnam, but Vietnamese oil and gas companies have also gained access to Russian fields in the Russian Federation.

ON THE PECULIARITIES OF AFGHANISTAN’S LEGAL SYSTEM DURING THE RULE OF THE TALIBAN

The essence of any legal system in the concrete state depends on what is actually recognized in it as the main source of law. In case of Sharia, such sources are Koran, Sunnah, qiyas, and Yidma. In addition to Sharia, however, pre-Islamic and non-Islamic sources of law – such as adat (custom), firman (decree) and nizam (law) – are actively involved in the legal systems of many Muslim states. The operation of several sources of law in one country is an example char- acteristic for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban there. Lack of balance between the interests of different ethnic groups in Af- ghanistan, the inability of Afghan authorities to compromise and contradic- tions among the competing legal norms have led to destabilizing the legal sys- tem of the country that has finally been transformed into a kind of space where several enclave legal sources operate, being in a conflict with each other at such levels of their interaction as Hanafi-Hanbali (the level of madhhabs), inner- Islamic (Sufi and Wahhabi, Shiite and Sunni), ethno-political (Pashtunization and Talibanization), Sharia -non-Sharia (adat, firman). The last level – which is Sharia – non-Sharia (adat, firman) – has become an illustrative example of a complicated, sometimes conflicting, relationship of Sharia and adat (customary law, enshrined in the code of honor “Pashtunwali”).

CURRENT ISSUES OF THE RUSSIA GOVERNANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SEVENTH “SPERANSKY CONFERENCE” HELD AT THE RUSSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOR THE HUMANITIES ON NOVEMBER 19, 2020

Holding the Speransky conference [Speranskie Chteniya] has become a tradition at the Institute of Economics, Management and Law of the Russian State Humanitarian University. The topic of the conference is devoted to current issues of management in modern Russia. Its distinctive feature is an interdisciplinary scientific approach that addresses economic issues and closely related to them those of the management, jurisprudence, history, philosophy, intellectualology, sociology, political science etc.