Publications

The global challenges faced by the humankind encompass access to clean and affordable energy for all, shifting to the green development path and tackling the consequences of climate change. Success in addressing the related goals relies on the concerted efforts of society at large, whereby researchers may offer new solutions and media could raise awareness and organize public discussions. This chapter examines the policy landscape created for addressing the global energy and environment goals, as defined in the international documents. Moreover, the chapter analyses attention given to these goals by researchers, business and media. More specifically, the chapter focuses on goals set in the legally binding universal agreements and conventions formulated and adopted by the United Nations: “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (SDGs or SG), the Paris Agreement (PA), the “Future We Want” Resolution (FWW), and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPI). Research methods include policy analysis and the smart big data analysis of thousands of publications on the topic. The authors highlight controversial policy issues, as well as relatively low attention to global energy challenges on behalf of mass media. Researchers address these challenges much more often, however, focus primarily on a few SDGs. The outcomes underline further steps to be taken by global and national policymakers.

This paper aims at assessing energy inequality, which is at the center of SDG7, in the Eurasian Economic Union – a recently created international organization with arguably the closest integration in the energy sphere for all member states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The research was performed with the use of cross-disciplinary methods, including literature review, analysis of policy documents (applied policy analysis), and two quantitative tools widely used for energy policy analysis – the decomposition of energy consumption based on the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index and the inequality estimation by using the Theil index. The study identified contribution of three types of factors to energy consumption of the entire Eurasian Economic Union: economic growth − the increase of GDP, the relative structural changes in the economy, and energy intensity shifts. Theil index allowed determining the level of inequality in the region's energy consumption. The quantitative analyses demonstrated that in 2000–2017 the increase of GDP and energy intensity in the region were the main reasons that had determined the growing energy consumption. Theil index analysis showed that inequality of GDP-related energy consumption is decreasing, whereas the population-related inequality is increasing. Additionally, policy implications for inclusive and sustainable energy integration in the region are discussed. The required policy changes range from introducing amendments to the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty and structural changes to very precise science and technology policy tools.

A wide consensus exists on the role of intangible assets in both developed and developing economies, especially now, with the new generation of information and communication technologies. Emerging economies generally demonstrate lower endowment with intangibles (Dutz et al., 2012), but follow the same positive patterns for long-run development. In Russia, the contribution of intangibles to growth is still modest, and its capacity to foster productivity has not been achieved. As previous studies showed, efficiency represents one of the main channels of total factor productivity growth. This paper studies the effects of intangibles on the efficiency of Russian manufacturing firms in 2009–2018. Considering the heterogeneity of sectors and firms, the stochastic frontier model is applied. In general, the impact of intangibles is positive but small and influenced by external shocks and structural features. The paper provides evidence on different contributions of intangibles to efficiency for hightech and low-tech firms and its change over time. It contributes to the strand of literature regarding the technical efficiency measurement on the microlevel. On the practical side, the paper suggests an analytical framework for differentiated policy mechanisms to drive investments in intangibles, which are essential for current digital transformation.

The paper studies the procedure for restoring discreet segments of an unknown source message based on information about possible variants of each sign. An algorithm is proposed based on compiling dictionaries of appropriate lengths, searching for text sections with a total number of character variants that do not exceed a given boundary, and then iterating through and eliminating false variants of dictionary values. Statistical properties of short-length text dictionaries are investigated, and extrapolation estimates are made for long-length texts. The main mathematical properties of this algorithm are described. Theoretical studies of the effectiveness of the procedure under consideration are carried out within the framework of a certain probability-theoretical model.

Over the past decades Russia has accumulated large quantities of waste that was mainly directed to landfills. Vast territory of the country and large non-populated areas have blurred the problems. The existing authorized landfills have reached their capacity limits, and the number of unauthorized one has been growing. Moreover, overloaded and outdated landfills lead to negative social and environmental impacts, including methane and other emissions, pollution of ground water and related heath hazards. The chapter analyzes Russia’s waste reform that was launched in 2015-2017. The policy measures included a package of legislative and regulatory acts and national initiatives (projects) aimed at introducing a comprehensive management system for industrial- and municipal waste. Timewise, these efforts are comparable with the latest policy interventions in BRICS, however the countries face different challenges.

The global electric power industry is under pressure due to economic downturn, decreasing demand, lowering energy prices, and growing non-payments. National electric power industries face similar challenges. These challenges pose threats to many other sectors of economy due to ongoing digital transformation. The paper focuses on the Russian electric power industry future development trajectories, as well as implications for other sectors of economy. With the use of smart energy approach and foresight methods, the authors identified four scenarios until 2030. The Conservative scenario presumes that the current policy in the industry will be maintained. The visionary Smart Energy scenario envisages structural changes in the industry with a focus on clean energy, decentralization, and new cross-sectoral solutions. The Recurrent COVID-19 scenario previews ongoing pandemic outbreaks until 2025. The One More Wild Card scenario foresees the emergence of yet another wild card – an unexpected event that, together with the COVID-19 pandemic, will have a profound effect on the centralized power systems. Policy recommendations are outlined for each scenario. The study outcomes should be revisited periodically in order to incorporate new changes in external environment, factors and trends.

We research n-gram dictionaries and estimate its coverage and entropy based on theweb corpus of English. We consider a method for estimating the coverage of empirically gen-erated dictionaries and an approach to address the disadvantage of low coverage. Based on theideas of Kolmogorov’s combinatorial approach, we estimate the n-gram entropy of the Englishlanguage and use mathematical extrapolation to approximate the marginal entropy. In addition,we approximate the number of all possible legal n-grams in the English language for large orderof n-grams.

National and corporate policymakers view energy security strategies through the lens of mainstream concepts and definitions offered by research and policy discourse. The central elements of the classical energy security concepts are based on the premises of sufficient and reliable supply of fossil fuels at affordable prices in centralized supply systems. However, these approaches offered by neorealism, neoliberalism, constructivism, and international political economy are outdated. They rarely take account of the latest changes in the energy industry and society. The chapter examines the classic energy security concepts and assesses to what extent changes in the energy industry are taken into consideration. This is done through integrative literature review, comparative analysis, identification of ‘international relations’ and ‘energy’ research discourse with the use of big data, and country case studies. The chapter offers suggestions for revision of energy security concepts through integration of future technology considerations, new energy sources, new actors and the interrelation among them, the specific features of the developing and least developed countries and their energy relations with the wealthy states. Moreover, the differences in International Relations and Energy researchers’ discourse of energy security are outlined together with a rationale for the interdisciplinary approach to energy security, combining the natural and social sciences ideas and tools. The findings are illustrated with case studies of energy security policymaking in selected countries.

Waste Management Policies and Practices in BRICS Nations explores recent developments in waste management. BRICS nations are the emerging economies of the world. Increasing populations, urbanization, industrialization and uses of chemical fertilizer and pesticide in agriculture for enhanced productivity of food, especially in India and China, to support the large populations harm the natural environment. The rise in the living standards of the human population has increased environmental pollution manifold, resulting in the huge generation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste simultaneously, which has contaminated natural resources such as soil, water and air. It has led to undesirable effects on the environment and human health.

 

The book offers comprehensive coverage of the most essential topics, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waste management problems with special reference to MSW in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa Solid waste management in BRICS nations Hazardous waste management in BRICS nations Policies and laws in BRICS nations

This book contains both policies and methods used for the management of waste in BRICS nations. The chapters incorporate both policies and practical aspects.

The motives behind merger and acquisitions (M&A) are often linked with the opportunities to obtain knowledge and technologies in order to enhance the competitive advantages of companies. In particular, the acquisition of digital technologies through mergers and acquisitions with ICT companies is especially relevant. However, the efficiency of such deals is often low and calls into question the implementation of digitalization strategies of companies. In this study we employ an approach for assessing the efficiency of M&A deals with ICT companies by using the DEA method. Applying regression analysis, it was found that the high level of research and development expenses of acquirers can negatively impact the efficiency of the M&A deals with ICT companies.

The lasting world economic downturn due to COVID-19 pandemic allows decision-makers and societies to re-think the economic growth basis and drivers, laying the foundation for sustainable development. Green economic recovery takes place with the leading role of the energy industry. The paper focuses on the application and desired effects of green digital technologies in the electric power industry in ten countries  the largest electricity producers and consumers. The study in designed in the frame of the sectoral innovation systems concept. The research tasks were addressed, first, through horizon scanning (the analysis of research and analytical publications). Second, green digitalization indicators for the electric power industry in the selected countries were identified with the use of statistical and other available reliable data and compared. Third, a comparative analysis of national strategic documents was performed, along with corporate tasks and indicators that reflect digital transformation at micro level. As a result of the study key trends and three models of green digitalization at national level were identified, the prerequisites and potential social and economic effects of these technologies application in electric power industry.

The report, prepared within the framework of the research direction "Natural climatic determinants of sustainable development" of the World-class Scientific Center "Center for Interdisciplinary Research of Human Potential", presents trends and factors of development of various elements of natural resource and climate systems, describes their relationship with human potential. The use of an integrated approach to the analysis and forecasting of risks associated with climate change and ecosystems, as well as potential effects for humans and society, is considered. In conclusion, recommendations on international cooperation, domestic policy measures, stakeholder involvement and the development of research and development to solve the problems identified in the report are presented.