Mikhail B. Denisenko

Social Policy for Sustainable Development and Inclusive Economic Growth is one of HSE University's strategic projects. The project is aimed at translating scientific achievements into practical solutions for social and economic policy. HSE researchers and their partners have been actively involved in this work, and the first results have been obtained. In her interview with the HSE News Service, Vice Rector Lilia Ovcharova, Academic Supervisor of the project, spoke about what has been done so far.

The Human Capital Interdisciplinary Research Centre (HCIRC) is a world-class research centre comprising a consortium of HSE University, RANEPA, MGIMO University, and the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). Its work was highly rated by the RAS in 2021. Lilia Ovcharova, HSE University Vice Rector and initiator of the centre’s creation, talked to the HSE News Service about integration in international studies on active ageing, creating a database on development trends in human potential, studying the effects of digitalisation, and the centre’s priority activities for the future.

In Russia, as in many other countries, the trend towards depopulation and demographic aging is already accompanied by a decline in the working-age population. This is the conclusion reached by scientists from the Higher School of Economics in the tenth scientific digest “Demographic Changes and Labor Supply in Russian Regions”. The issue was prepared by the Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center.

As part of the XXIII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference, HSE University held a meeting between HSE scholars and Anton Kotyakov, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation. The title of the meeting was ‘The Future of Social Security: Trends and Forecasts.’ The experts and the Minister discussed the experience and lessons learned from population support initiatives during the pandemic, social protection efforts to reduce poverty and inequality, measures to counter sanctions, and the situation in the labour market.

The Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center, together with the Vishnevsky Institute of Demography and the International Laboratory for Population and Health, organized the first demographic readings in memory of HSE University Professor Anatoly Vishnevsky, the first director of the Institute. The experts in attendance discussed a wide range of topics, including family policy, how to improve the conditions of low-income people, and how to correct market and employment setbacks.

The annual HSE Student Research Paper Competition (SRPC) helps young researchers try their hand in a real academic competition, where leading experts and professionals from HSE University assess their research papers. This year, participation will be open from September 1 to October 15.

On April 14, at the XXII April Conference, a team under the supervision of Vladimir Gimpelson presented their report, prepared as part of the HCMRC (Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center) program.The labor force quality indicator from the Russia KLEMS data set made it possible to assess the contribution of labor force quality to labor productivity growth in the Russian economy, and to compare this contribution with similar indicators for former Soviet republics.The research concludes that Russian human capital is not as productive as it could be. The quality of the labor force does not make a tangible contribution to the growth of labor productivity and an acceleration of growth due to the role of human capital will not occur in the next two to three decades.

Previously, the position was held by Anatoly Vishnevsky, who died in January 2021.

On June 22, several HSE lecturers and staff members were awarded the status of Tenured Professor at a meeting of HSE Academic Council. Sixteen HSE staff members became Distinguished Professors at the Higher School of Economics for the first time.

On October 10, Stephen Wheatcroft, Professor of the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne delivered a lecture on ‘The importance of the grain problem in the Russian Revolution and for the next 40 years of Soviet Economics' at HSE Moscow as part of a long and busy schedule. A participant at previous April Conferences at HSE, Professor Wheatcroft is one of the world’s foremost experts on Soviet social, economic and demographic history, as well as famine and food supply problems in modern world history.

At a time when industrially developed countries are facing migration pressure, Russia needs to take a fresh look at immigration to assess its geopolitical benefits and prevent inherent social risks; a smart migrant integration policy can provide a solution.

Public misperceptions of inequality; Sanctions hit the best companies; How high is mortality in Russia?; How the type of university affects graduates' salaries; What national pride means; Muslims sharing a Protestant ethic; Economic inactivity among Russians; Russian travellers reluctant to book hotels online; The right to be forgotten; and Analysts can be wrong – these were the HSE's most interesting research papers in 2015, according to Opec.ru.

Emigration from Russia has changed significantly over the last decade. The potential for ethnic repatriation has almost been exhausted, but other factors have become stronger in the population outflow, such as reunion with families and trips for education. Such emigration is largely determined by differences in the quality of life and policies in host countries, which welcome young, educated, qualified people with a certain level of income, said Mikhail Denisenko, Deputy Director of the HSE Institute of Demography, in his presentation at the XVI April International Academic Conference at HSE.

is the minimum number of people born in the Russian Federation who are living in foreign countries.

Social policy challenges and losses; Russians are not Europeans; Why parents in Moscow hate the USE; Defence attorneys' strategies in dealing with law enforcement agencies; Migrants in Moscow: myths and reality; Why switching to 'effective contracts' for school teachers does not work—these were among the most interesting papers from the HSE's XV April Conference, according to Opec.ru.

In an environment where the natural-resources growth model is exhausted, human capital becomes the Russian economy's key competitive advantage. The problem of how the state, business and citizens can develop and invest in it was the main theme for the plenary discussion 'Social Policy Priorities' which took place on 7 April at the HSE's XVI April International Confernce on Modernizing the Economy and Society.

Russia's labour market has a growing demand for unskilled migrant workers from other CIS countries. Migrants who have worked in managerial or professional positions in their home countries almost always see their status decline once they move to Russia. In contrast, less skilled workers easily find jobs of similar status in Russia, according to Elena Varshavskaya, Professor of the HSE's Department of Human Resources Management, and Mikhail Denisenko, Deputy Director of the HSE's Institute of Demography

The parts of Russia which migrant workers from the CIS find most attractive are changing. The ‘map’ of migration flows depends on which way the investments are going. But at the same time, the general picture is unchanged: we don’t yet have an efficient system for gathering the foreign labour force we need. In an article in the HSE journal ‘Demoscope Weekly’, Olga Chudinovskikh, Mikhail Denisenko and Nikita Mkrtchyan explained their research findings

The Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, has awarded honours to some researchers from the Higher School of Economics for their work on the Strategy 2020 expert groups, including organization of the groups, the preparation of suggestions on topical issues for Russian socio-economic strategy up to 2020 and their personal input into the expert and analytical work