A.V. SHMAKOV
Candidate of Economics (PhD), Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 165-171

J. Meynstring began one of his speeches (Oklahoma, 1929) with the outstanding words: “Do you think that economics is a dismal science? You just haven’t learnt the chemistry!”To continue the great Californian economist’s traditions, I introduce you a course of popular science lectures of economics, which I have given in Novosibirsk in last ten years. The third lecture is about the economic way of thinking. We’ll pass the way from learning the action of mirror neurons to «as if» principle, which permits predictionof human behavior. We’ll disclose economic inefficiency of the legendary «Solomon’s decision». We’ll notice the motivational influence of justice and altruism. We’ll learn that we should estimate the future consequences of our decisions. We’ll learn how to distinguish a signal to successful haggle in the sunk costs. We’ll explain why managers – the persons who are able to manage stimulus of other people, – can overcome the breaches better than lawyers, and why only top-manager can overcome the breaches of other managers. We’llfind out why policemen «save» criminals as a reserve, and why managers decrease the selling. We’lldescribe how the manager should behave with the employees: to scold or to praise them, and why the fear of excessive praise is just a superstition.

N.A. KRAVTSOV
Candidate of Jurisprudence, Associate Professor, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 157-164

The issue raised in the article is related to the reasons behind serious attitude toward political significance of musical art in Ancient Greece. It is claimed that almost universal acceptance of the concept of direct impact of music on customs and moods of listeners was the cause of such attitude. Ancient Greek practice assumed possibility of legislative establishment of a duty of citizens to be trained in playing musical instruments. Besides, there was a widespread phenomenon – technical and acoustical standards were perceived as the precepts of law, with the obligatory sanctions for their non-compliance. Existence of the special sanctions which are closely connected with music is curious: the obligation to compose and sing a dishonoring song about a guilty man, a ban imposed on noble songs singing, and so on. Certain civil duties, like a horegiya, were as well related to music. It is claimed in article that originally such a duty was assigned not simply to rich citizens, but to those ones who understood the basis principles of musical art. As well, privileges provided by the government to the winners of musical competitions, are of interest for the author

MICHAEL J. BAKER
Emeritus Professor of Marketing at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 137-156

Having identified a research issue or question one must select a research strategy and appropriate methodology for collecting information that will illuminate the problem. In this paper we look first at the research strategy and the scientific approach to problem solving. The primary research methods of Observation, Experimentation and Survey are discussed in some detail. The paper concludes with a look at qualitative methodologies and the differences between cross-sectional and longitudinal research.

A.V. BABIKOVA
Candidate of Economics (PhD), Associate Professor at the Department of Enterprise Economy, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

N.N. LYABAKH
Doctor of Technical Sciences (DSc), Professor at the Department of Enterprise Economy, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

A.Yu. FEDOTOVA
Candidate of Economics (PhD), Associate Professor at the Department of Innovation and Economic Design, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

A.V. KHANINA
Postgraduate at the Department of Innovation and Economic Design, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

I.K. SHEVCHENKO
Doctor of Economics (DSc), Professor at the Department of Innovation and Economic Design, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 130-136

The article is devoted to the operation of state-owned corporations in high-tech industries. In particular, development of the model to assess the performance of state-owned corporations in the industry in which they were created. State-owned corporations with their significant potential in the industrial policy are considered as points of growth that characterizes them as an instrument of state regulation of the process of industrial development, updating the issues of their effective functioning and impact on the industry and the economy as a whole. Solution of the problem can be achieved by identifying the economic entity – the state-owned corporations and the branch it operates in, in the basis of the feature space. The fuzzy set theory is proposed as the mathematical tool. Besides, the possibility of assessing the impact of market and non-market factors on the activities of state-owned corporations is considered. The formalized representation of the object based on this research will develop and apply mathematical models assessing the development of industries in the institutional circuit of state-owned corporations.

E.D. SLOBODENYUK
Candidate of Sociology (PhD), Lecturer of the Economic Faculty, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 114-129

The paper covers the issue of the social structure of a group of the poor in Russia. It is shown that the structure is based on the period of time poor people spend in poverty. Thus, although the group is heterogenic because of the variety of factors leading to poverty, all the distinctions rapidly vanish in chronic poverty. The paper also illustrates that each extra year spent in relative poverty has worse influence on a standard of living of the poor than each extra year spent in absolute poverty

A.G. KHARIN
Candidate of Economics (PhD), Associate Professor of Economics and Finance, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia

T.R. GAREEV
Candidate of Economics (PhD), Associate Professor, Vice Rector for Development and Strategic Planning, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 105-113

Stakeholder approach – a hot topic in contemporary management – presents a variety of challenges. Because each of the stakeholders acts on their own agenda, one of the key issues of this approach is the lack of formal descriptors of stakeholder behavior. To overcome this particular difficulty, we propose that the managers apply tools and methods originally developed within the game theory. In this article we study the interaction between stakeholders working on a common managerial solution. In particular, we are looking at the elements of the game theory that can be used to solve similar tasks. In the end, we offer a set of principles that can become the foundation for applying game theory to the stakeholder approach. We describe the basic model of analysis that can nonetheless help standardize the stakeholder decision-making process given that the agents will view organizational management as a dynamic game of cooperation. We also discuss the possibilities of further development of the basic model.

V.V. MELNIKOV
Candidate of Economics (PhD), Associate Professor, Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 91-104

The article is devoted to the psychological basics of formation of opportunistic behavior’s economic costs, considering the institutional environment influence. The place of opportunistic behavior is viewed as a variety of individual activity. The author approves that economic optimization is the particular case of the satisfying adaptation processes directed to ensure a balance in a homeostatic system including conditions for carrying out biogeocenosis studies of the individual. The role of opportunistic behavior as the compensation mechanism is shown; adaptation strategies and behavioral solutions are considered in the context of the frustration, as well as the institutional and logistical environment influence on business process. The frustration mechanism effect on the occurrence of different types of economic costs is analyzed. The influence of psychological, institutional and economic factors on formation of transaction costs of opportunistic behavior is demonstrated.

V.V. VOLCHIK
Doctor of Economics (DSc), Professor, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

А.А. OGANESYAN
Candidate of Economics (PhD), Principal Researcher, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 79-90

Over the last decades economic theorists have shown an increasing interest in the issues related to methodological differences between OIE and NIE. The discussion gets more complicated and popular, having attracted institutionalists of both camps. Extended literature exists on the historical events that caused dominance of neoclassical and neo-institutional economics in the University syllabuses, original institutional economic being neglected at that. In this article, an attempt is made to continue the discussion by reminding the reader of the general differences between the original institutionalist methodology and the neo-institutional one. Then, we proceed by explaining the concept of a transaction as the basic unit of economic activity, revealing adverse consequences of its misunderstanding in the institutional analysis.

D.V. KADOCHNIKOV
Candidate of Economics, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 68-78

The paper discusses key concepts of the theory of equilibrium pricing in the stock market, whose explicit and implicit interpretations in theoretical models (CAPM and its versions), on the one hand, and in empirical studies, on the other hand, are in fundamental conflict with each other. These concepts include «equilibrium», «equilibrium price/value», and even «stock market». In the context of the above-mentioned models, an equilibrium is a situation in which investors have no incentive to change the structure of their portfolios, ceteris paribus. Such an equilibrium, once achieved, does not imply any trade in stocks. Parameters of observed transactions with stocks thus should not be interpreted as equilibrium prices, despite widely spread research practice. The misinterpretation of the theoretical concepts leads to incorrect formulation of research questions in applied analysis, not to mention the widespread incorrect, if not mythological interpretations of the original theoretical models

E.V. MIKHALKINA
Doctor of Economics (DSc), Professor, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

L.S. SKACHKOVA
Candidate of Economics (PhD), Associate Professor, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2014, Vol. 12 (no. 4),

p. 59-67

The article analyzes the factors that have a significant influence on the direction of research in the field of forecasting demand and supply of labor and competences. The authors give a detailed description of the effects of such factors as economic growth; growth of labor productivity; demographic crisis; controversy in the field of training; structural imbalance of supply and demand; new vectors of development of the Russian economy; the development of new forms of employment; the institutional development of the middle class; geopolitical risks. In addition, the paper presents a classification of the existing methods of forecasting of labor and skills demand and supply in Russia.