61%
was the average capacity utilization level at Russian manufacturing companies in July, the lowest number seen in three years.
Children Help Adults to Learn about Innovation
On July 18, the Global Innovation Index 2014 was presented in Sidney. HSE’s First Vice Rector Leonid Gokhberg and Research Fellow Valentina Polyakova at the Institute of Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK) co-authored the research into levels of innovation development in different countries.
Work in their Field Helps Students Study Better
In many cases combining study and work not only doesn’t undermine a student’s achievements, it actually enhances them. The experience of working in the field you are studying at university helps better master a profession and doesn’t cause a time conflict, says Diana Yanbarisova, Junior Research Fellow at the HSE Institute of Education, in her article, published in the latest issue of the HSE’s journal Voprosy Obrazovania (Issues of Education).
73%
of homeopathic physicians say that Russians’ trust in this kind of medicine is growing. In addition, just a third of them feel an increase in respect from the professional community.
Homeopathy Still a Stepdaughter of Medicine
According to homeopaths, an increasing number of Russian patients trust their methods. Meanwhile, conventional medicine does not take homeopathy seriously, viewing it as 'supplementary therapy' at best and as quackery and an occult practice at worst, according to Radik Sadykov, Lecturer at the Faculty of Sociology of the HSE's Department of General Sociology.
Government Finances Innovative Research
The government in Russia has been the main customer for research and development (R&D) since 2009, while the real sector of the economy finances only a third of the total R&D costs of innovation-focused research companies, according to findings from a monitoring of innovation activity carried out by the HSE's ISSEK.
Happiness as an economic category
Renowned American sociologist and political scientist, Professor at the University of Michigan and head of the HSE Laboratory for Comparative Social Research in St. Petersburg, Ronald Inglehart told the HSE news service about his research – the study of happiness.
High Taxes, Low Demand Dampen Growth
Experts from the HSE Center for Business Tendency Studies at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge have found that limited demand, high taxes, lack of financial means and a high level of uncertainty in the onward course of economic development all reduce the length of time for which businesspeople can plan, in turn obstructing investment and innovative initiatives.
Financial Crisis Affects Gender Attitudes
The economic crisis in European countries did not pass by unnoticed as concerns the public’s set of values. In some groups, there was a shift from emancipative values to more traditional ones. Above all, this involves the socially vulnerable strata that the crisis hit hardest of all, Natalia Soboleva, a researcher with HSE’s Laboratory for Comparative Social Research (LCSS), concluded in a study.
Non-commodity Exports Can Boost Russia’s GDP Growth
Data from Rosstat and the Federal Customs Service suggest that import substitution – not limited to substituted Ukrainian imports – has played a major role in keeping the Russian economy from recession in the first half of 2014. However, Russia cannot expect to achieve a sustained and dynamic GDP growth without boosting exports, in particular its non-commodity exports, according to expert analysis in Comments on State and Business published by the HSE's Centre for Development.