Close Cooperation between the HSE and Halle Institute
Philipp Marek, scientific researcher in Halle Institute for Economic Research, Germany, and participant of the XIV HSE April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development gave an interview for the HSE news service.
— Philipp, you are presenting a working paper prepared in cooperation with Ksenia Gonchar from the HSE Institute for Industrial and Market Studies. It’s called 'Natural-resource or market-seeking FDI in Russia? Empirical study of locational factors effecting regional distribution of FDI in Russia'. This joint research was possible due to the close cooperation between the HSE and Halle Institute for Economic Research.
— Last week, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the HSE and Halle Institute. We are looking to expand our cooperation through joint research and exchange programmes.
— What’s the focus of your working paper and the major findings?
— We concentrated on the oblast – 83 regions of Russia, and applied econometric techniques to discover the driving forces behind the distribution of foreign direct investments. We conducted research on a regional basis, studying such factors as local purchase, access to funding and the labor market.
The HSE researchers provided regional data on a micro level. We applied our methods in order to understand the situation. Our cooperation with colleagues from the HSE went very well and was extremely productive. We’ve been working on this paper for about 18 months.
— What are the best funded regions according to your research?
Moscow is obviously dominant, with 50% of the share of foreign investments. We should also mention Saint Petersburg and regions along the borders. For example, Vladivostok is dominated by Chinese direct investments. Cypriot investments are very high in Russia. In fact, however it’s Russian firms who are reinvesting most in the Russian economy. It’s a redirect flow of money.
We will continue our research and hope it will have an impact on the modern economy for further development.
Publications
Gonchar K.R., Marek P. Natural-resource or Market-seeking FDI in Russia? An Empirical Study of Locational Factors Affecting the Regional Distribution of FDI Entries / Working papers by IWH - Halle Institute for Economic Research. Series "IWH Discussion Papers". 2013. No. 3.
Gonchar K.R., Marek P. Natural-resource or Market-seeking FDI in Russia? An Empirical Study of Locational Factors Affecting the Regional Distribution of FDI Entries / Working papers by NRU Higher School of Economics. Series WP BRP "Economics/EC". 2013. No. 26/EC/2013.
Anna Chernyakhovskaya, specially for the HSE News Service
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