Vol 31, No 3 (2023): MODERNIZATION AND INNOVATION. NEW CHALLENGES OF THE WORLD ECONOMY

Research focuses on the problem of incompleteness and unreliability of the existing scientific vision of the formation and development of a market economy in Russia. In the current vision, the boundaries of the stages of formation and development of a market economy in Russia are blurred, the transition to a market path of economic development has an ambiguous interpretation in the scientific literature and is mainly associated with the 1990s. The lack of a clear understanding of the essence, sequence and continuity of the stages of formation and development of a market economy in Russia causes the uncertainty of the current stage of this process. The purpose of this research is to develop a systematic scientific vision of the process of evolution of a market economy in Russia. The study provides a historical review of the formation and development of a market economy in Russia based on the works of Doctor of Economics, prof. L.S. Shakhovskaya, who stood at the origins of the formation of the scientific concept of the market economy of Russia and in her works reflected in detail the essence and features of each stage of its evolution. This article is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Professor L.S. Shakhovskaya, was written by her students who are developing the scientific school founded by her. The proposed new scientific vision of the process of evolution of the market economy in Russia, which clearly determined the three stages of its evolution. The first stage (1991-1999) was associated with the transition from a planned to an open industrial market economy through privatization and deregulation. The second stage: (2000-2013) was the integration of Russia into the world economic system to form an open post-industrial market economy. The third (modern) stage (2014-2031) involves the strengthening of strategic academic and technological leadership for the transition to a neo-industrial market economy 4.0 through ensuring technological sovereignty. Research contributes to the development of scientific and economic thought through the formation of a systematic scientific vision of the process of evolution of the market economy in Russia, which rethought and clarified the history of the market economy in Russia, and also clarified the meaning of its current stage by reflecting its continuity and patterns of occurrence. The scientific novelty of the system vision is that it proved for the first time that the transition period is a whole set of periods involving the transformation of market relations with various targets and management measures.

Research examines multiple approaches to the term “second economy”, which appeared in the scientific economic community in the 70s of the XX century, and received a diametrically opposite interpretation already in the XXI century. The relevance of the topic is due to the scale of activities and the importance that the activities of American TNCs abroad, have acquired through an extensive and developed system of affiliated enterprises and foreign direct investment. The need to clarify the term “second economy” comes from the presence of many approaches to this concept, diametrically opposed to each other: in fact, there are two approaches, the first of which is based on the fact that the “second economy” or “economy number 2” is an informal, shadow, “gray” economy, the indicators of which are evaluative, and characterize illegal methods of enrichment or gaining access to benefits; the second approach is based on the fact that the “second economy” means a developed and extensive network of international production created through American direct investment - a complex of American enterprises abroad. The retrospective of the formation and development of TNCs and the filial system in the world economy, theoretical and practical approaches to the activities and especially the foreign economic expansion of monopolies during the XX century are considered in detail. The main attention in the work is paid to the peculiarities of the foreign activities of American TNCs and indicators reflecting their presence outside the national economy, so large that they form the “second economy” of the United States: the number of parent and affiliated enterprises, the geography of their presence and specialization, dynamics and other features of American enterprises are analyzed, investments abroad, as well as the impact of economic policy (tax and protectionism policy) on the volume of investment exports abroad.

Research deals with the issues of trade cooperation between Tajikistan and China. In order to determine the place of China in the foreign trade turnover of Tajikistan, a general statistical analysis of trade cooperation between two countries is given. Changes in the dynamics and structure of the Tajik-Chinese trade since the first years of trade cooperation are presented and the main reasons for these changes are indicated. Based on the analysis of the export-import operations of two countries over the past few years, the main influencing factors on bilateral trade in goods were identified and the existing shortcomings were indicated. It is noted that, despite the inequality of economic opportunities and potential, China pays special attention to its neighbor and strives to improve trade and economic cooperation. It is shown that China, along with other major powers in the region, has managed to strengthen its position in the developing economy of Tajikistan. The purpose of this research is to analyze trade relations between Tajikistan and China, determine the importance of this cooperation for Tajikistan, identify the influencing factors and existing problems, the solution of which could improve this cooperation in the future. The theoretical basis for this study was the work of Tajik, Russian and other foreign authors on Tajik-Chinese trade cooperation. In conclusion, the ways of increasing Tajikistan’s exports are shown, which in the long term can change the dynamics and structure of Tajikistan’s trade with China and other countries.

Against the background of a global decline in food security over the past three to four years, China, remaining the world’s largest food importer, has made notable progress in improving its food security. China’s food security transformation has greatly improved not only the availability but also the affordability of food, as well as the sustainability of the Chinese food system. The increase in agricultural production, including grain production in China, indicates a transition from an extensive development model with high resource dependence to a sustainable intensification model. As a result of rapid economic and social development, the food pattern has changed based on high value foods such as meat, dairy products, fish and fish products. However, there are a number of serious problems in China’s food system. China has insufficient self-sufficiency and high import dependence on a number of food products. New to China’s nutritional challenges are the overweight part of the population and the resulting increasing burden on the health care system. In addition, China’s food losses exceed those of developed countries. The changes that the world economy is undergoing, the influence of non-market factors such as ideology, geopolitics and challenges to the multilateral trade and investment system, can seriously disrupt the global agricultural market and reduce the food security of China, which is heavily dependent on foreign food trade. The transformation of China’s food system is aimed at preventing and eliminating the risks of disruption of food imports, diversifying import sources, reducing the cost of agricultural products through scientific and technological progress and increasing investment in infrastructure, the transition of Chinese agriculture from a strategy of increasing production to improving the quality of products and its security.

The relevance of the chosen topic of the study is justified by a number of developments in the modern world economy: the rapid development of the global blue economy amid growing demand for products sourced from ocean resources; increasing attention to international environmental sustainability, especially at a time of transformation of traditional ocean industries; and underutilization of the potential of blue economy development in a number of regions, including Africa. The study aims to analyse the current state and prospects of the “blue economy” globally and in Africa, while also developing a stimulus plan for the most promising sectors of the blue economy on the continent. Despite progress between 2010 and 2022 in exploring the blue economy concept, there is a lack of scientific research on its development in specific regions and under international cooperation. This study addresses this research gap by analysing the global and African development of the blue economy. Barriers and challenges hindering the sustainable development of the blue economy have been identified, both globally and in Africa. The study identifies prospects and directions for sustainable development, which will depend on the dynamics of technology costs, particularly in Africa where timely resolution of issues is crucial. The author questions not only achieving sustainable growth but also expanding Africa’s role and significance in the global blue economy, and optimally harnessing the continent’s vast developmental potential, including its neighbouring islands. Research outcomes include a project for constructing offshore wind farms (OWFs) and recommendations to foster the blue economy in Africa. The analysis highlights the need for decisive political measures, cooperation, effective coordination, and the ratification of international documents to achieve sustainable development goals in Africa. The combination of these factors with technological advancements in the blue economy sectors presents an opportunity to alleviate national differences and contradictions.

One of the most important areas for improving Russian economy under the influence of sanctions pressure is to increase the level of energy efficiency in the consumption of fuel and energy resources. The aim of the study is to study the place and role of the Russian economy in the process of forming the world fuel and energy balance. An analysis of the data on the production and consumption of fuel and energy resources by Russia emphasized that the country occupies a leading position in terms of reserves, production volumes, consumption and exports of global fuel and energy resources, while the efficiency of energy consumption in the country is significantly behind the world average, which negatively affects the internal economic processes taking place in the country and requires the search for solutions to increase the level of energy efficiency. Research analyzes analyzes the volume of thermal energy consumption in Russia in comparison with the global scale, as a result it was revealed that the annual volume of thermal energy consumption in Russia is 11 times more than, for example, in Germany, 12.5 times more than in the USA, 12.7 times more than in Kazakhstan, which underlines the significant contribution of the heat supply industry to the lag in the level of energy efficiency of the Russian economy from the indicators of most countries. Analysis of the statistical data of average temperatures in various countries of the world, as well as the federal districts of the country, revealed the influence of the climatic factor on the volume of thermal energy consumption in Russia, which determines the impossibility of excluding the consumption of thermal energy to maintain the functioning of the Russian economy. The main result of the study is the revealed high role of the Russian economy in shaping the global fuel and energy balance, as well as the need to increase the level of energy efficiency of fuel and energy consumption. The materials suggest the improvement of alternative replacement models for consumed primary and secondary fuel and energy resources. As an energy replacement resource, it is proposed to use electric energy in the system of combined district heating of industrial areas. The use of electric boilers makes it possible to increase the energy efficiency of integrated energy supply, enhance the environmental friendliness of heat supply, and reduce the cost of the economy for centralized heat supply of individual territories.

The aviation industry is one of the economy’s most knowledge-intensive and innovative sectors. For this reason, the main civil aviation manufacturers have a full production cycle for creating aircraft. A limited number of countries represent them. These are the USA, France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain, as well as Russia, Brazil, Canada, and China. Boeing and Airbus are the undisputed leaders in the international civil aviation market. Companies from the USA (General Electric, Pratt & Whitney) and Europe (Rolls-Royce, Safran) are also leading in the aircraft engine market. After a protracted recession, the aircraft industry in Russia began to integrate into the global aviation industry successfully. But, the restrictions imposed in the spring of 2022 against Russian civil aviation have impacted the possibilities of its development within international production value chains, significantly changing plans for individual projects and the Russian aviation industry as a whole. The goal of the article is to determine the place and prospects of Russia in the world market of aircraft engines; identify the possibilities of domestic enterprises to quickly implement measures to transfer all aircraft systems and units to domestic analogues. The article gives a general description of the global civil aircraft industry, including the production of aircraft engines. Leading companies in the global aircraft manufacturing market are represented. The study results made it possible to determine the main trends in this market; identify factors and conditions that influence their formation. In this context, the role of import substitution in this area of activity, the problems of the Russian aviation industry and its ability to provide the domestic market with civilian airliners in the foreseeable future are analyzed.

The article presents methodological tools for assessing the value of the company, taking into account the fact of distortion of the accounting (financial) statements of the company. The reliability of the reporting of companies of the type of economic activity “Construction” is determined - one of the most important industries for the development of the Siberian Federal District (SFD) in the post-pandemic reality. The cost of construction companies of the SFD is estimated, the existence of a relationship between the manipulation of reporting and the value of the company is revealed. The authors propose an algorithm for assessing the value of the company, taking into account the fact of manipulation of reporting data. The steps of the algorithm of actions involve building a probit regression on an array of reporting data of companies with an interesting type of economic activity, determining the probability of manipulating reporting data based on the regression obtained, assessing the real value of the company taking into account the facts of manipulation. The proposed methodology for assessing the value of a company, taking into account manipulation, can be used to make management and investment decisions by external and internal stakeholders, including banks, credit organizations, suppliers, owners of construction companies, and other interested parties.

In this paper, the authors consider models for building digital economy systems in foreign countries. The relevance of research is primarily due to the need to develop a clear and coherent understanding of the optimal scheme of digital construction in the economy of the Russian Federation, which at the initial stage is impossible without analyzing the experience already existing in the world. It is necessary to identify both stimulating and inhibiting factors that influence the effectiveness of the digital transformation of foreign economic systems. The purpose of the study is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the most successful global models of building a digital economy, followed by the development of an understanding of their applicability in Russia. Thus, in this paper, the authors offered their answer to the question: “Can the Russian Federation successfully apply the already proven strategy of digital transformation of the economy or is it necessary to develop unique own solutions?” To do this, the authors examined statistical data characterizing the economy of advanced states from the point of view of digital transformation, regulatory documents regulating state policy in this area, as well as the positions of researchers working in this direction. The use of the statistical analysis method made it possible to compare the factors of influence and the results of digital construction. Within the framework of a formal and logical approach based on the study of the provisions of strategic planning documents of foreign countries, the authors formulated some possible scenarios for the further development of the digital transformation of the economies of Europe, the United States and China. As a result of the conducted research, the authors concluded about the possibility of using certain digital construction tools used abroad, in Russia, and also assess the degree of effectiveness of the introduction of foreign models of digital transformation into the practice of the domestic economy.

Since Republic of North Macedonia has been a candidate country for European Union membership for almost two decades, the goal of this article is to shed a light on the conditions and requirements that were set before Macedonia and their evolution for this time period. For that purpose the article, annual reports of the European Commission on Macedonia’s progress were reviewed. Further on, analysis of the development of Macedonia’s macroeconomic indicators was carried out which was followed by a comparative analysis of the state of the economic development of the Central and Eastern European countries - member states of the European Union, at the moment of their accession. It was established that the EU enlargement process have undergone significant changes since its foundation. Over time, the changed political environment within the EU has led to a significant strengthening and tightening of the rules and criteria. The inefficiency of the latest accessions provoked the EU once again to change the accession negotiation process and introduce new accession process that is significantly more political than economic. In Macedonia’s case, it was political and not economic requirements that led to the country becoming stuck in its EU accession process. The economic results achieved by Macedonia during the researched period, even though lower than the average for the union, were still higher that the results shown by some Central and Eastern European counties at the time when they became members of the EU. Therefore, is no doubt, that Macedonia’s path to the EU was conditioned by political obstacles, the same situation continues today. But the major question that still stand unanswered is weather this kind increased politicization of the process is contradictory to the merit-based system the EU prides itself on.