Неэргодическая экономика

This article examines the concept of inclusive institutions (CII) put forward by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. It draws analogies and parallels between the CII and earlier economic theories and doctrines, revealing their organic interconnection and continuity. Particular focus is put on a more precise definition of inclusive and extractive institutions made possible by the introduction of the concepts of guarantees and freedoms of two social groups, the elites and the masses. The author shows that many systemic crises do not lend themselves to an adequate explanation without these clarifications.

The article surveys the ideas that constitute the basis of contemporary trap theory. Theoretical diagrams and constructs are presented as well as empirical facts that reveal how institutional and technological traps originate and function. Ways in which systems get out of traps are considered, and the significance of the new theory for understanding not only global but also everyday events in economics is discussed.

This article discusses the phenomenon of academic rent looking at its financial and non-financial components. The study of the internal structure of academic rent helps to better understand its dynamics. The author provides an introspective analysis of his own experience of working at a university and describes the process of gradual depletion of academic rent. The study provides numerous facts and discusses several high-profile cases that illustrate this process. The author formulates four basic conditions required for restoring academic rent and shows that all these conditions were violated during the economic reforms of the 1990s. This leads to a pessimistic conclusion that in the coming years the traditional model of academic rent cannot be restored. The author further analyzes the recent attempts to reform higher education and the organization of science in Russia. The analysis shows that these attempts may prove futile and fail to restore the prestige of the academia.

Building a market economy in Russia has brought not only the emergence of various economic conflicts but also the destruction of entire branches and spheres of activity. One such “fragile” sector has been higher education, which has undergone massive changes and is now facing new institutional reforms.

Russian universities do not do well in international rankings. Recent attempts in Russia to create different forms of ranking are aimed at reflecting what strengths universities there may have, but it is up to the universities themselves to find ways to better characterize themselves in existing systems of ranking.

In each consecutive round of reforms, Russia’s advancement toward a market transformation has given rise to distinctive economic and social anomalies. One such anomaly is the “dissertation trap,” which implies the purchase and sale of academic degrees and ranks in a corresponding “black” market. The present article analyzes the sociocultural characteristics of this exotic phenomenon.