Vol 30, No 4 (2022): NEW TRENDS, STRATEGIES AND STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE WORLD ECONOMY

In the modern world economy, we can observe, how some regional economic integration associations are becoming centers of attraction for foreign direct investment (FDI), while others are experiencing an acute shortage of them. This situation can be traced when comparing two integration groupings - the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Information from various media and scientifi publications indicates that the EAEU, of which Russia is a member, today can hardly be called successful in attracting FDI. ASEAN, on the contrary, is the largest recipient of foreign capital among developing countries. In order to actually support this information and determine specifi quantitative discrepancies between the volume of FDI infl to the EAEU and the volume of FDI infl to ASEAN, relevant statistical data were analyzed. It has been proved that the infl of FDI to the EAEU, even during favorable periods of growth, was signifi lower than the infl of FDI to ASEAN. Such circumstances make you think about the reasons that cause them, and also raise additional questions. What are the competitive advantages in ASEAN for attracting FDI in comparison with the EAEU? What can the EAEU do to attract more FDI? To answer these questions, a comparative analysis of the EAEU and ASEAN was carried out, including two stages. The fi stage was to compare their main economic and geographical indicators, and the second stage was to compare them with the position of the motives of foreign investors. It is concluded that the main reasons for the diff in FDI infl to ASEAN and to EAEU are, fi , the stronger position of ASEAN in economic and geographical indicators, and, secondly, the availability of conditions in ASEAN to satisfy almost any of the motives of a foreign investor. The author gives brief recommendations to the supranational bodies of the EAEU on improving conditions for foreign investors.

The problem of ensuring the economic security of the state in modern geo-economic realities is becoming an increasingly important issue. The rupture of foreign trade relations, the search for reliable trading partners, as well as building new logistics routes create challenges for the economic security system not only of the Russian Federation, but of the entire Eurasian Economic Union. Despite the fact that the fundamental basis of regional integration may be political interests, it is the positive economic effects that are the key to the long-term successful development of economic integration that can withstand emerging threats. In this article, based on a systematic approach, the essence of the concept of “economic security of a regional integration association” is proposed. Based on the analysis of theoretical approaches to understanding economic security and international economic integration, the features of the economic security of international integration entities are highlighted. The conceptual apparatus is defined - an object, a subject, interests and threats, security measures and a system for assessing regional economic security. It was revealed that the area of economic interests of a regional integration association is less than the area of economic interests of the state, and the area of threats of a regional integration association, on the contrary, is greater than the area of threats of a member state included in the association. It has been determined that the economic security of a regional integration association is a dynamic characteristic of the state of the key elements of the economic systems of the member states of a regional integration association in terms of their ability to withstand emerging external and internal threats and fully perform their functions. At the same time, the basis for ensuring the economic security of an integration association is the formation of a system of convergence of industries of states with a similar level of socio-economic development based on the application of supranational regulation measures in conditions of inclusion in world economic relations.

The study explores the contemporary situation within the global environmental agenda. This topic is vital to humanity and significant in sustainable development for years ahead. It has been already widely acknowledged that if proper measures aimed at environmental protections aren’t taken in the foreseeable future the Earth will face a huge, large-scale, and multidimensional crisis that will affect many aspects and directions of global development ahead. Thus, in 2021, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, global leaders held several events in the framework of which they made attempts to come closer to understanding and working out new environmental parameters and ecological standards under which the countries will act approximately up to the middle of the 21st century. The goal of eliminating or drastically reducing coal use, as well as focusing on the development of renewable energy sources, are regarded as critical pillars of the new environmental strategies.

E-commerce has recently become one of the most dynamically developing forms of international trade, accelerating the digitalization of national economies. In this regard, each country has its own features of the e-commerce development. China and Brazil represent leading emerging economies that strengthen regional leadership in e-commerce, and the PRC is also one of the world leaders in this field. The authors conduct the comparative analysis, which emphasizes patterns and trends in Chinese and Brazilian e-commerce and demonstrates what challenges countries face and which factors impact on the expansion of e-commerce on domestic markets and beyond. The paper identifies the dynamics, main players and product structure of e-commerce, features of mobile and social e-commerce, infrastructural problems and their solutions. That allows to highlight the key determinants and prospects for the expansion of e-commerce in the studied countries. The research pays special attention to revealing the specifics of the cross-border e-commerce between China and Brazil, how Chinese companies enter the Brazilian market through e-commerce, and what steps Brazilian firms are taking in this field. The Chinese and Brazilian experiences in the e-commerce certainly represent an important contribution for Russia, which, under the current conditions, looks for the routes to expand its trade flows. E-commerce could become an additional driver for the development of the Russian economic activity and the improvement of the Russian digital economy.

The level of development of the aviation industry is an indicator of the scientific and technical potential of any state and also affects its economic level. This industry practically cannot exist without interaction with other countries, as technical achievements, scientific discoveries, know-how of some countries help other countries to develop the aircraft industry, as well as bring it to a new level. Manufacturers of civil aircraft interact with a large number of suppliers around the world in order to create a quality product. Using the example of Boeing-industry leader, while studying the role of suppliers and the company’s supply chain, the peculiarities of fragmentation of this company and its positive impact not only on the company’s position in the market inside and outside the country, but also on the development of the entire industry as a whole are shown.

Border regions in modern conditions have a special status which is determined by the geopolitical position. The Russian-Finnish borderland was characterized by a high level of activity, which provided the border regions with opportunities for economic growth. The development of the border regions of Russia and Finland diff signifi by socio-economic indicators. A comparative analysis will make it possible to assess the existing gap between the territories and identify possible areas for cooperation between the territories. The object of the study is the border regions of Russia and Finland. The aim of the study is to assess the economic development and diff processes of the border regions of Russia and Finland. The study collected a system of indicators to analyze the development of border regions, which made it possible to assess the level of socio-economic development of border regions of Russia and Finland. The analytical work used the data of Rosstat, Finstat, on the basis of which the database on socio-economic indicators of development of border regions was collected. The comparative assessment was carried out by applying the method of factor analysis (L. Thurstone’s centroid method). Analytical work was carried out with the help of the package of applied programs Statistica. Based on a certain set of indicators refl the socio-economic development of the border regions of Russia and Finland, the characteristics were built based on the values of the regions in the space of latent factors and their heterogeneity was assessed. The construction was formed on the basis of the use of factor analysis of integral characteristics that include the socio-economic indicators under study. The conducted study of the assessment of the development of border regions of Russia and Finland has identifi a high level of lagging behind the Russian border regions from the Finnish border regions according to the majority of indicators. An important result is also a signifi diff between Finnish border regions by the cumulative factor “provision of territory with resources”, Finnish border regions showed a signifi gap in relation to each other.

The efficiency of domestic and export supplies of natural gas largely determines the sustainable development of the Russian economy and national security. At present, in the context of sanction restrictions and increasing uncertainty in the global energy market, the theoretical and practical aspects of the economic efficiency of investment projects in the gas industry are of fundamental importance and require further development. The article discusses the theoretical foundations of the category “economic efficiency” and methodological approaches to its assessment on the example of investment projects in the gas industry. A comparative analysis of the standard methodology for determining economic efficiency of capital investments and the methodological recommendations for evaluating the effectiveness of investment projects in the planned and market economics has been performed based on the criteria specified by the authors. A review of published studies on methods for assessing economic efficiency of investment projects in the oil and gas sector has been performed. It is concluded that to assess the efficiency of investments is proposed to use the discounted cash flow method as the main approach, as well as the alternative methods in the papers of Russian authors. Two large-scale projects of the Russian gas industry have been considered, a review of published studies on the efficiency assessment has been performed with emphasis on the external effects due to implementation of the projects under consideration. According to the study results, the uniqueness of the implementation conditions of each gas transportation project, fundamental importance of the influence of non-economic factors on the project implementation and the need to develop assessment methods for the economic efficiency of investment projects were noted with due regard to the uncertainty and risk impact.