Opening remarks

Dear readers!

On February 20, 2024, the editor-in-chief of the “Scientific Research of the Faculty of Economics. Electronic Journal”, Vasily Petrovich Kolesov, Doctor of Economics, Honored Professor of Moscow State University, Dean of the Faculty of Economics (1987 - 2012), President of the Faculty of Economics (since 2012), Scientific Director of the Department of World Economy (since 2017) had passed away. Vasily Petrovich was at the center of the journal’s creation in 2009, when he supported the idea of enthusiastic employees to publish an open access electronic journal with a wide variety of articles, representing the achievements of modern economic science and providing broader opportunities than the existing faculty journals, both in volume and in presentation of scientific achievements. During its existence, the journal has united “under one cover” the works of famous Russian and foreign economists and works of promising young scientists. V.P. Kolesov performed the duties of the journal’s editor-in-chief with exceptional responsibility, read all articles submitted to the editor, and determined the journal’s policy. Current journal's achievements were made possible largely due to his participation. The criteria for the quality of the published material he set will determine the further work of the journal.

This issue is dedicated to Vasily Petrovich Kolesov, in loving memory, with eternal gratitude to a wonderful person who influenced the development of Russian economic science and education.

The issue includes articles of both theoretical and practical importance. They show the place of Russia in the modern world in the context of the current political and economic situation, reveal the philosophical and methodological foundations of economic and mathematical modeling of sustainable development, explore the markets of digital platforms in the context of theory and antitrust practice, provide an analysis of competition and the level of dominance in the Russian food market, highlight the need to introduce a unified standard of social well-being for Russia, trace the evolution of views on the role of digitalization in the development of labor relations and personnel policy and carry out an assessment of the demographic situation in South Ossetia in recent decades.

The article “Philosophical and Methodological Foundations of Economic-Mathematical Modeling in the Context of Achieving Goals of Sustainable Development and Energy Transition of The Russian Economy” explores the philosophical and methodological foundations of economic and mathematical tools used to identify structural changes (shifts) in connection with the energy transition and to ensure sustainable development of the Russian economy. In this regard, a comparison of two methods is given: the input-output method, which is presented in the report of the UN expert group led by V. Leontiev, and the D. Meadows method, set out in the first report of the Club of Rome. This comparison confirms the advantage of using the approach proposed by V. Leontyev to assess the socio-economic consequences of the energy transition to ensure sustainable development of the national economy.

Author of the article “Defining a Relevant Market for Digitals Platforms: Theory and Regulatory Practice” considers different theoretical and methodological approaches to assessing market boundaries for digital platforms and existing antitrust practice. The author shows how the definition of market boundaries influenced the decisions made by the regulator and conclude that the definition of market boundaries  had a key impact on the results of antitrust proceedings against digital platforms. A comparison of approaches to determining the boundaries of the market of Russian and foreign antimonopoly regulators is also given. Based on the generalization, an approach to determining market boundaries for digital platforms is proposed.

The article “Analysis of Competition and the level of Dominance in the Russian Food Retail Market” gives an assessment of competition and the level of dominance in the Russian food retail market for the period 2015-2022. A total of 36 companies were analyzed. The Lind and Herfindahl-Hirschman indices, as well as the SV (strength/variety) matrix, were used as analytical tools. As the results of the study showed, the food retail industry in Russia is highly competitive. Over eight years, the total share of key players has increased, but does not exceed 30%, and therefore it was concluded that there is no dominance in the food retail market in Russia. Due to the active process of acquisitions and mergers by key players, 2 main players were formed: X5 Group and PJSC Magnit, and there is also a high saturation of small companies. It is worth noting that despite the pandemic and the unstable geopolitical situation, the food market is still growing and even, in times of crisis, shows its largest total market share. The forecasts for the Russian food retail market are positive, as the online shopping market is growing rapidly.

The purpose of the article “Current Aspects of the Implementation of the Concept of Social Well-being Standard” is to justify the implementation of a unified standard of social well-being. Authors analyze a number of measures taken at the state level recently, aimed at implementing the principles and elements of this standard. The article presents author's vision of what the content of the social welfare standard should be, what volume of government services, public goods and cash payments it should guarantee to Russian citizens.

The article “The Evolution of Perspectives on the role of Digitalisation in the Development of Labour Relations and Human Resources Policy” examines the evolution of views on the use of information technologies in the functioning of the organizational unit responsible for working with personnel and personnel administration. To do this, a chronological analysis of more than 70 scientific papers published from the 1970s to the present was undertaken. The results of the study show an increase in the intensity of the influence of information technology on personnel policy and social and labor relations in general, starting with the use of computers as a place to store information about personnel and the potential for remote work, ending with the global influence of modern information technologies on social and labor relations and the labor market - the emergence of new forms of employment, changes in the organization of work, the simultaneous creation of new jobs and the threat to many existing ones. Separately, the work analyzed the evolution of views on the ethical component of the digitalization of labor relations and personnel policy.

The article “Demography of South Ossetia in Recent History” provides a description of the demographic situation in South Ossetia over the past three decades, identifying key problems and the reasons for their occurrence. The main conclusion that the author makes is that there is a case of stable depopulation in South Ossetia with all the ensuing negative socio-economic consequences. The article notes that an effective, balanced demographic policy is needed in combination with a course towards deepening the integration of South Ossetia with the Russian Federation.

The editors continue the good tradition and publish a review of the scientific event within the framework of the international conference “Russia in the Struggle for Russia: Statehood and Society, Economy and Culture, Global Conflicts and Peacemaking,” organized by the Research Laboratory of Philosophy of Economics together with the scientific council of the Center of Social Sciences of Moscow State University. In an overview of the discussion on the topic “Russia – World – Russia: Problems, Configurations, Outcomes” its participants expressed their vision of the current political and economic situation, the role and prospects of Russia.

We are looking forward to your feedback on the articles published in this issue and welcome possible future cooperation and contributions.

 Deputy Chief Editor
Head of the Department of
Philosophy and Methodology of Economics of the
Faculty of Economics of
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Professor Leonid A. Tutov

Download