Negative Reviews Boost Sales
Aleksei Smirnov, Assistant Professor, HSE University Faculty of Economic Sciences, and Egor Starkov, Assistant Professor, University of Copenhagen, have constructed a mathematical model that explains why it is advantageous for sellers not to delete negative reviews of their products. A study detailing this conclusion has been accepted for publication in The American Economic Journal: Microeconomics.
Russians Are Switching to Wine and Beer: Alcohol Consumption Patterns are Increasingly Dependent on Non-Economic Factors
Social class does not strongly influence the kind of alcohol Russians drink. Gender, age, education and place of residence are more important. For example, young people prefer beer, wines are primarily popular among women, and ‘moonshine in combination with other drinks’ are mainly consumed by the older age groups. This was the conclusion reached by HSE University researchers.
Managing Climate Risk: How to Adapt Regions to Changes
An applied research project being carried out by the HSE Laboratory for Economics of Climate Change uses the example of the Chechen Republic and the mountainous areas of Krasnodar Krai to create a model of climate risk evaluation and management for Russian regions. Laboratory heads Igor Makarov and Ilya Stepanov talk about the threats presented by global climate change, about whether the pandemic will slow it down, and why a multifaceted approach is essential.
Lower Rates of Self-isolation Observed in Low Income Areas
Researchers at HSE and Lomonosov Moscow State University analyzed data on Russians’ movements during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their analysis showed that residents of lower-income municipalities self-isolated less compared to residents of higher-income cities. The findings were published in the journal Environment and Planning A.
A Biased Evaluation of Employees’ Performance Can Be Useful for Employers
In assessing an employee’s performance, employers often listen to his immediate supervisor or colleagues, and these opinions can be highly subjective. Sergey Stepanov, an economist from HSE University, has shown that biased evaluations can actually benefit employers. An article substantiating this finding was published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
Russians’ Social Well-Being: How the Pandemic is Changing Society
In 2020, against the backdrop of the coronavirus crisis and other global challenges that are increasing uncertainty, HSE University social scientists recorded the most significant shift in people’s perception of current fundamental social and economic issues. In particular, respondents expressed increased approval of the government, higher demands of it, as well as higher levels of ‘profound’ civic activity and self-confidence.
Project 5-100 Universities See a Dramatic Increase in Publications in Leading Journals
A team of HSE researchers—Nataliya Matveeva, Ivan Sterligov, and Maria Yudkevich—have analyzed the research activity of universities participating in Russia’s Academic Excellence Project 5-100. Overall, the quality of publications of these universities has improved. Collectively, participating universities have tripled their number of publications in reputable journals in the past three years, and researchers have begun to collaborate with each other more frequently. The study was published in the Journal of Informetrics.
Academic Dishonesty: Fear and Justifications
End-of-term exams have just finished in many universities operating on the modular system. Some students passed because they worked hard while others passed by cheating. Why do some students cheat by looking over someone's shoulder, furtively searching for test answers on the internet, using cheat sheets during exams or paying others to complete their coursework? A study conducted by the HSE Centre for Sociology of Higher Education offers some answers.
HSE University Experts Analysed How Personality Affects Earnings and Career Outcomes
Openness, friendliness, tenacity, motivation, risk-taking, self-control and other non-cognitive components of human capital can be important determinants of earnings. And parental investment in their children’s non-cognitive skills affects their future academic and career success. This is set out in the work of HSE University’s Centre for Labour Market Studies (CLMS).
Russia’s Middle Class: Between a ‘Sticky Floor’ and a ‘Sticky Ceiling’
Upward and especially downward income mobility in Russia is higher than in developed countries, making it difficult to form a fully-fledged middle class. And the likelihood of being trapped in long-term poverty turns out to be greater than the transition to stable affluence. This is the conclusion reached by HSE University experts.