Oktay MAMEDOV
Doct. Econ. (DSc), Professor, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 6-16
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-6-16

Two hundred years ago a genius was born, who influenced modern social studies. The «theory of commodity fetishism» is one of the remarkable features of the Marxist methodological framework. This theory is the key to understanding the essence of the modern economy: those economists who are well-acquainted with it, may be proudly referred as the theorist, as opposed to those who are only applied economists, not familiar with the theory of commodity fetishism. The article deals with the elements of Marx’s theory of commodity fetishism, remained underestimated, with the reasons for the commodity fetishism’s transformation into a quasi-commodity one, and with the dangers of the quasi-commodity fetishism. The theory of commodity fetishism is set forth in the final, fourth, paragraph of the famous first chapter of the first volume of «Capital» by Karl Marx. The fate of this paragraph is amazing. Usually, the readers of the first chapter pay more attention to the historical logic of the commodity exchange genesis, with the fourth paragraph set aside. Meanwhile, this paragraph is the one which deals with the author’s striking insights into the essence of the economic relations. Moreover, this text also deals with the «defetisation» of the subject of economic theory. The article focuses on quasi-commodity fetishism, which reduces the social essence of the economy to commodities’ substitutes. The author defines «quasicommodity fetishism» as an imaginary autonomy of a non-independent commodity fetishism. As the author argues, appearance of quasi-commodity fetishism was due to transformation of the economy into the quasi-economy. In the quasi-economy, the circulars and orders issued by the officials become dominant commodities. It is not surprising that the real economy is being displaced by its imitation – quasi-commodity production with its curious quasi-commodities, tirelessly manufactured by the bureaucratic structures.

Grigoriy I. KHANIN
Doct. Sci. (Econ.), Professor, Leading Research Associate, The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), Siberian Institute of Management, Novosibirsk, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 17-26
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-17-26

The author continues to calculate the Altman model for the largest Russian companies. This time it is calculated for Gazprom Group. The calculations are made using the frameworks of the traditional model and the model for emerging markets, currently applied to Russia. The model based on the accounting statements of the Gazprom Group shows its unsatisfactory financial position. The fixed assets of the company are recalculated, showing that fixed assets are underestimated 7,01 times. The Altman coefficient, taking into account the replacement cost of fixed assets due to the traditional model, shows that the company is close to bankruptcy. A hypothesis is put forward that the company has offshore accounts which are used as a pledge for creditors. The size of these accounts is calculated. At the same time, the Group’s revenue, fixed assets and profits are specified. The Altman coefficient is calculated considering the offshore accounts and new data on revenue, fixed assets and profit. The Group’s bankruptcy is observed, although the Altman coefficient turned out to be higher than in case of calculation without considering offshore accounts. Only the Altman model for developing countries shows that Gazprom Group is in the gray zone. The impact of the tax burden on the company’s standing is analyzed. The reasons that force Russian companies to distort accounting and statistical reporting explaining the possibilities of these distortions are analyzed. Based on the earlier analysis of Altman’s model for Rosneft and Gazprom Group, the conclusion on the difficult economic situation in Russia is made which is caused by unsatisfactory economic activity and poor institutional environment. It is concluded that Altman model for developing countries is more preferable. Ways to improve the fixed assets statistics are proposed.

Vitaliy L. TAMBOVTSEV
Doct. Sci. (Econ.), Senior Staff Scientist, Faculty of Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

Irina A. ROZHDESTVENSKAYA
Doct. Sci. (Econ.), Professor, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 27-45
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-27-45

The purpose of the article is to outline the basic features of the institutional theory of planning (ITP) and to justify its interpretation as a general planning theory. For this, we briefly describe the existing diversity of planning theories and the main achievements of the new institutional economics (NIE) in planning studies. From our point of view, ITP is a theory in which planning is described as the sequence of (inter-) actions of individuals – planners and stakeholders of immediate and final planning results – carried out under the influence of incentives formed in specific conditions of the internal and external institutional environment of the planning system. Proceeding from the importance of incentives for the planning success, we introduce the following types of planning situations: Self-planning, with the individual planning one’s own actions. Collective planning, with a group of individuals together forming a consensus during the discussion, determining the future actions of the group members. Planning on behalf of somebody, with a group of individuals entrusting other individuals (including the group members) to draw up the framework for action for the group members. Directive planning, with a group of individuals drawing up an action plan for another group members without the direct instructions from the latter ones. To illustrate this typology application, we show which institutional factors in different planning situations affect the planner’s incentives to ensure high quality plans. Based on the analysis, a conclusion is made on the possibility of building the general theory of planning on the basis of ITP.

Mstislav V. BODRIKOV
Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Head of Financial and Economic Department, The branch of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise «General Radio Frequency Centre» (FSUE «GRFC») in the Northwestern Federal District, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 46-74
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-46-74

Piero Sraffa is one of the most original and mysterious economists of the 20th century. Having comprehended early the insolvability of contradictions of the marginal theory of supply and demand, he turned to the legacy of classical economists. Largely due to his efforts, the classical tradition of political economy analysis, outlined by the Physiocrats and W. Petty, but broke off after K. Marx, was revived in the middle of the twentieth century. Not confining himself to explaining the true content of classical political economy, Sraffa was actively working on ways to improve and apply it to various aspects of economic reality. The inherited from the Classics objective viewpoint on the physical nature of product’s production and social conditions of their distribution formed the methodological basis for the production approach to the analysis of structural properties of the commodity economy implemented in his own theory. The paper deals with a critical discussion of the main subject of Sraffa’s theoretical research – the theory of value (and distribution). The research checks and confirms the following hypothesis. The «effect of distribution on prices» discovered by Sraffa arises from the inconsistency of his model of the price problem. It is based on the incorrect concept of the surplus income distribution between capitalist-entrepreneurs and workers in the form of deferred wage payments. After the formal proof and economic explanation of Sraffa’s mistake, the correct formulation of the conditions of the price problem is proposed. It leads to the familiar from the classical theory of value model of prices determined by the total (both intermediate and primary) costs of commodities’ production.

Elena А. TARKHANOVA
Associate Professor, Associate Professor

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 75-82
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-75-82

Economic development often goes hand in hand with the increasing pressure upon the extraction of fossil fuels, depletion of natural resources, and heavy impact on the environment. The advent of the modern industrial revolution and the rise of overproduction have resulted in large environmental degradation. Societies and organizations have had a tendency of not caring so much about the negative impacts of their activities on nature and environment, and their focus has been only on the generation of revenue and profits. Nowadays, various financial, consulting, banking, and industrial institutions must acknowledge that carrying the earth’s carrying capacity is finite, and thus they ought not to overuse the environment. These provisions are in accord with the principles of sustainable economic development that have to be adapted and followed in order to sustain balanced economic development in various sectors of the modern economy. This paper aims to highlight the ways through which the financial and banking sector can attain sustainable development, make sufficient financial profits, and at the same time how they can become “green” (i.e. function within the framework of the sustainable development and all its guiding principles). Sustainable economic development became the key point on the agenda of various economic and business institutions, so the banks and financial institutions are also an essential part of this trend and can hardly abstain from it. The paper describes how the new opportunities emerge for financial and banking institutions with the development of new environmentally-friendly technologies that mark the transition of humanity to the decarbonized economy.

Alexander V. BUZGALIN
Doct. Sci. (Econ.), Professor, Department of Political Economy at the Faculty of Economics, Director of the Scientific and Educational Center for Modern Marxist Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, visiting professor of Peking, Hainan Normal and Cambridge Universities

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 83-97
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-83-98

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Marx was a world-wide event. The author proves that the classical and modern economic theory of Marxism, cleansed of the layers of past dogmatism, provides answers to both fundamental and contemporary questions of economic life. Classical Marxism reveals the causes and patterns of market and capital emergence, their contradictions, the potential and limits of their development. The theory of commodity production (and the market as its form) as a particular historically specific system of social relations, and not merely a mechanism for measuring the results and costs, the theory of exploitation and subordination of labor to capital are not only characteristics of capitalism of the nineteenth century (and this capitalism is again reproduced in countries of the periphery and semi-periphery centuries later), these are the general foundations of any economy dominated by market competition, money, and profit. Modern Marxism has shown what new content these categories receive in those economic systems where production is no longer based on the reproductive industrial, but on creative, high-tech labor. This is a market in which network corporations increasingly produce not goods, but their signs which are simulacra, where network corporations manipulate consumers, using a complex system of methods of technological and economic subordination of counterparts, up to the hype. This is capital, which appropriates not only surplus value, but also intellectual rent and subordinates the personality of the creative worker. But this is also the system of relations in which both elements of post-capitalist relations-public regulation, the withdrawal of a part of the profits of the owners of capital and its use for public needs, the property of everyone for everything (free unlimited access to public benefits – culture, education, etc.) are developed and undermined its bases. Such are counterpoints of the market and capital of the 21st century, revealed not only by Marx, but also by modern Marxists all over the world.

Igor S. PYZHEV
Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Head of Research-Educational Laboratory for Institutional Studies in Economics, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Vadim P. GORYACHEV
Senior Teacher, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 99-113
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-99-113

The article includes the description of the content and realizing process of author theoretical approach to evaluate of the economic efficiency of institutional changes with regard to industry markets; this is the innovative sight on the method of the institutional environment dynamical analysis. The realizing process of sought method represents the definition of limitations of the industry market, assignment of the economic subjects and description of its institutional environment, exposure and analysis of institutional changes, modeling of the economic efficiency of institutional changes. Eventually, the gradual analysis of institutional changes efficiency on the ground of offer model allows seeing what subject of industry market is a receiver of most profit and who has the vast losses. Therefore, it is possible to carry out such a change of the institution, which will contribute to a more even distribution of benefits and losses so that none of the economic subjects of the industry market was the recipient of net losses and none of the groups of economic subjects did not become the owner of a significant gain. So, a comprehensive analytical tool for the identification and economic analysis of institutional market changes can directly solve the problems of applied institutional analysis of industry market interactions.

CHEN Hong
Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, Marxist College, Hainan Normal University, China

JIANG Bo
PhD graduate, Hainan Normal University, China

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 114-121
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-114-121

Marx’s labor theory of value is being formed and developed under certain historical conditions, it went through the process from questions to support and from support to positive innovation. This process is not only the process of Marx’s understanding of historical materialism, but also the combination of historical materialism and labor theory of value. Only by clarifying the scientific process of Marx’s labor theory of value and deepening the modern understanding of Marx’s labor theory of value can we really grasp the essence of the theory of labor value and grasp its great significance more comprehensively. The article reveals the formation of the theory of labor value in the works of Karl Marx, as well as estimates of the current value of the labor theory of value for finding solutions to the challenges of modern social and economic life. The author focuses on the following provisions, indicating the theoretical and practical significance of Marx’s labor theory of value: (1) it provides the theoretical basis for historical materialism; (2) it does not only have guiding significance for the liberation of working class, but also indicates that the working class will be the representative of advanced productive forces in the future; (3) it makes the socialism from dream to science, and lays the theoretical basis for the scientific socialism. The author also identifies the following directions for deepening the Marx’s labor theory of value, necessary for its development in the 21st century: definition of productive labor and non-productive labor; the role of scientific and technological personnel and management personnel in social production and value creation; the understanding of the relationship between value creation and value distribution.

Evgeny A. KAPOGUZOV
Doct. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, F. M. Dostoevsky Omsk State University, Omsk, Russia

Roman I. CHUPIN
Cand. Sci. (Sociology), Researcher, Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Omsk, Russia

Maria S. KHARLAMOVA
Engineer, Sectors of Research Methods of Regional Development Problems, Omsk Scientific Centre of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science, Omsk, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 122-139
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-122-139

Despite the growth of the Russian grain market, the issue of the quality of structural shifts remains insufficiently developed. During the period of anti-Russian sanctions, there are tendencies that indicate the existence of transformation processes in the structure of the balance of the use of grain raw materials. However, at the present stage of development, it can be noted that there are significant restrictions on import substitution. Based on the official state statistics and «Zerno Online» news agency, the structural shifts in the balance of grain use in 62 regions of the Russian Federation were analyzed for the period 2010‒2017. Based on the calculation of the Gatev and Ryabtsev indices, the grouping of Russian regions according to the intensity and level of structural shifts in the balance of the use of grain has been carried out, and the mass of structural shifts in the groups obtained has been determined. By the specification of the complex methodology for analyzing the structural shifts of Sukharev, an evaluation of the conditions for import substitution and industrialization on the received groups of regions was carried out. The analysis showed that there were no significant positive structural changes in the balance of use of grain resources. Most of the regions demonstrate the priority of the export component, which is caused by the lack of demand for additional crops within the regions. The market situation (including the price level), in turn, is determined by the increase in the volume of exports. From the normative point of view, options for state support in the sphere of deep processing of grain crops, in particular project financing, a special investment contract, as well as revision of excise taxes on bioethanol are considered.

Nikolay ROGALEV
Doct. Econ. (DSc), Professor, Department of Thermal Power Plants, National Research University «Moscow Power Engineering Institute», Moscow, Russian Federation

Yevgenya SUKHAREVA
Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Department of Economics in Power Engineering and Industry, National Research University «Moscow Power Engineering Institute», Moscow, Russian Federation

Grzegorz MENTEL
PhD, Department of Quantitative Methods, Faculty of Management, Rzeszow University of Technology, Rzeszow, Poland, and Centre for Energy Studies, Prague Business School, Prague, Czech Republic

Jacek BROŻYNA
PhD, Department of Quantitative Methods, Faculty of Management, Rzeszow University of Technology, Rzeszow, Poland

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 140-149
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-140-149

This paper focuses on the economic approaches that can be used for improving the functioning of the electricity markets. The combined production of electricity and heat at the combined heat and power (CHP) is the most profitable complex energy supply which ensures the minimum specific fuel consumption and forms the reserve of reduce of electricity tariffs. However, the obligatory participation of the CHP in the trade and economic relations of the wholesale electricity market led to a decrease in their heat load and functioning in low-economic modes with the gradual displacement of their production capacities into the zone of forced generation of electricity. In turn, the increased costs for electricity generation at CHP plants began to be shifted to heat, which caused a decrease in the efficiency of the centralized system of heat supply to consumers and triggered their transition to significantly less efficient low-capacity boiler houses, which caused a significant over-expenditure of fuel in the energy industry. Our paper proposes a structural and organizational solution to this problem, which consists in improving the model of the wholesale and retail electricity markets and the existing trade and economic relations of market entities. The key provision of the proposal is the return of the CHP from the wholesale energy market to the regional electricity markets, which will enable them to regain their positions as the main supplier of heat energy, create conditions for concluding direct contracts between consumers and local power plants, and develop competition in the retail market and build local generating capacities.

Vyacheslav V. VOLCHIK
Doct. Sci. (Econ.), Professor, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Elena V. MASLYUKOVA
Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Associate Professor, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

TERRA ECONOMICUS, 2018, Vol. 16 (no. 2),

p. 150-168
DOI: 10.23683/2073-6606-2018-16-2-150-168

Recent economic studies are increasingly focusing on the interdisciplinary agenda. The pioneer works by the Nobel laureates G. Ackerlof, R. Shiller, and wellknown economists D. Snower, D. Rodrik, S. Mukand, P. Collier emphasize the role of narratives in economics. Narratives are a valuable source of qualitative data for better understanding and modeling human behavior. Narrative discourse facilitates distribution of ideas, providing a framework for iterative economic interactions. Being widespread, ideas are increasingly perceived as the rules of interactions, providing informal or formal basis for institutions. Distribution of narratives requires a clear form, easily understandable for the masses. Thus, a range of studies appeal to the concept of narrative along with that of meme. Memes enable ideas which influence economic and political processes, to be easily disseminated and replicated. Distribution of narratives, memes and ideas depend on many factors including: their complementarity to embedded social values, culture, and actors’ beliefs and perceptions; dynamics of implicit and explicit knowledge dissemination; feedback effects, etc. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are relevant for research on narratives, ideas and institutions, depending on the specificity of research questions and research objectives. Today narrative analysis provides an effective framework for economic policy research and empirical studies in institutional change.