Located in Ekaterinburg (Russia), Graduate School of Economics and Management (GSEM) UrFU is a recognized research and education center adhering to international academic standards. Special features and development drivers of the School include highly professional team, strong research potential, open international environment and close partnership with local and international corporations. 

Dear colleagues!

We would like to introduce a Digest of Publications of GSEM. This digest presents the main areas of research and contains information about significant journal articles in economics and management written by authors from Ural Federal University.

R-Economy (ISSN 2412-0731) is a peer-reviewed electronic open access journal publishing original research papers and reviews in the field of regional economics and urban studies. The journal is listed in Scopus, DOAJ, RePEC and VAK list.

Watch the video introduction to the R-Economy journal from our Editor-in-chief Irina Turgel:

We are looking forward to your articles!

Website: https://journals.urfu.ru/index.php/r-economy

Weibo: https://weibo.com/u/6268793818/home?wvr=5

VK: https://vk.com/public211905055

Discord: https://discord.gg/tkE797zv2V

Do geopolitical events transmit opportunity or threat to green markets? Decomposed measures of geopolitical risks

Sohag, K., Hammoudeh, S., Elsayed, A., Mariev, O., Safonova, Yu.

Energy Economics

(ABDC: A*, AJG/ABS: 3, IF = 9.252, Q1 JIF, Q1 SJR)

The growth of clean energies and technologies requires a sound financial market, while equity and bond markets are exposed to geopolitical risks. We investigate the response of green equity and green bonds to newly develop decomposed measures of geopolitical risks, including geopolitical acts, threats, and narrow and broad measures. To this end, we apply two robust methods; namely, the cross-quantilogram and quantile and quantile (QQ) approaches, to estimate the conditional and unconditional volatility spillovers considering short, medium, and long term. Surprisingly our empirical investigation demonstrates that all measures of geopolitical risk (except geopolitical acts) transmit positive shocks to the green investments (both equity and bonds) from bearish to bullish market states. At the bullish state, green markets respond negatively to the highest quantiles of all measures of geopolitical risks under a long memory. However, the geopolitical acts negatively shock the green bonds and green equity at some extreme quantiles. Our empirical findings are beneficial by transmitting opportunities and preventing risks for investment decision-making in the green markets, considering. geopolitical risks

Co-dynamics of climate policy stringency and public support

Konc, T., Drews, S., Savin, I. & van den Bergh, J.

Global Environmental Change

(ABDC: A*, AJG/ABS: 3, IF = 11.16, Q1 JIF, Q1 SJR)

Public support for stringent climate policies is currently weak. We develop a model to study the dynamics of public support for climate policies. It comprises three interconnected modules: one calculates policy impacts; a second translates these into policy support mediated by social influence; and a third represents the regulator adapting policy stringency depending on public support. The model combines general-equilibrium and agent-based elements and is empirically grounded in a household survey, which allows quantifying policy support as a function of effectiveness, personal wellbeing and distributional effects. We apply our approach to compare two policy instruments, namely carbon taxation and performance standards, and identify intertemporal trajectories that meet the climate target and count on sufficient public support. Our results highlight the importance of social influence, opinion stability and income inequality for public support of climate policies. Our model predicts that carbon taxation consistently generates more public support than standards. Finally, we show that under moderate social influence and income inequality, an increasing carbon tax trajectory combined with progressive revenue redistribution receives the highest average public support over time.

Capital market deepening, Governor’s characteristics and Russian regional enterprises: A big data analysis

Sohag, K., Kliestik, T., Shams, R., Mariev, O., Davidson N.

Journal of Business Research

(ABDC: A, AJG/ABS: 3, IF = 10.969, Q1 JIF, Q1 SJR)

We measure the impact of the bank credit disbursement on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) growth, incorporating the role of regional governors’ characteristics in the case of 84 regions of the Russian Federation. Given the considerable heterogeneity across regions, time and reverse causality, we applied the Panel Quantile Regression via Moments (MM-QR) approach to analyze monthly frequency big data (2016M1–2021M1). Our empirical investigation demonstrates that bank credit disbursement and MSME growth follow a non-monotonic relation, implying that up to the specific size of the credit is detrimental, but after surpassing the threshold size, it is supportive to MSME growth under each quantile. Regional governors’ political and economic liaison with the federal government impede MSME growth under different quantiles of MSME growth. Our findings further infer that credit market deepening along with firms’ individual characteristics are crucial for enterprise performance in the current time of digital transformation. We provide several policy implications

Electric vehicles’ consumer behaviours: Mapping the field and providing a research agenda

Secinaro, S., Calandra, D., Lanzalonga, F., Ferraris, A.

Journal of Business Research

(ABDC: A, AJG/ABS: 3, IF = 10.969, Q1 JIF, Q1 SJR)

Research on consumers of electric vehicles appears to offer significant contributions relative to the behaviour factors that stimulate purchase. Although it is one of the topics most endorsed by international organisations, a holistic compendium of the literature is not provided. Therefore, different research directions necessitate a clear systematisation. This study moves in this direction by conducting a bibliometric and thematic analysis of 254 studies related to consumer behaviour in the electric car market. The research reveals the primary co-citation network between international journals and authors, a map of the leading research centres on the topic, and the dimensions covered by scholars. Additionally, the analysis extends the theory of planned behaviour, offering a valuable consumer identikit for practitioners. Based on the results, the study provides multiple research questions helpful to feed the academic debate

Income from international tourism and domestic investment in South Asia: evidence from heterogeneous panel econometrics

Abbas, S., Sohag, K. & Suleman, S.

Current Issues in Tourism

(ABDC: A, AJG/ABS: 2, IF = 7.578, Q2 JIF, Q1 SJR)

International tourism appears to be a driving factor in spurring many local economies through tourism receipt-induced capital formation to reach steady-state point. Given this backdrop, this study aims to examine the proposition of whether inbound tourism can foster the local investment in selected South Asian countries. To this end, we apply several pre-estimation tests, namely cross-sectional dependency, order of integration and slope homogeneity. Our pre-estimation tests indicate to apply the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) technique to measure the short-run and long-run impacts of inbound tourism earning on domestic investment by using panel time-series data over 1995–2019. Our empirical investigation reveals that domestic investment corroborates the accelerator principle, as economic growth and international tourism’s earnings elevate the domestic investment. Similarly, financial development spurs the long-run domestic investment in our sample countries. Our analysis is robust, relaxing the assumption of cross-sectional dependency. The empirical findings reinforce South Asian countries to devise sustainable tourism policies to attract international tourists and develop the financial sector to enhance domestic investment to achieve development aspirations.

Does Weather Sharpen Income Inequality in Russia?

Otrachshenko, V., & Popova, O.

Review of Income and Wealth

(ABDC: A, AJG/ABS: 3, IF = 1.902, Q3 JIF, Q1 SJR)

Using subnational panel data, this paper analyzes how hot and cold extreme temperatures and precipitation affect economic activity and income distribution in Russia. We account for the intensity of exposure to extreme temperatures by analyzing the impacts of both single and consecutive days with extreme temperature, i.e., heat waves and cold spells, and examine several labor market channels behind those effects. We find that consecutive extremely hot days decrease regional GDP per capita but do not affect income inequality. Poor regions are affected by extreme temperatures relatively more than rich regions. These effects occur because of reallocation of labor from employment to unemployment, an increase in prices in poor regions, and to some extent because of changes in the industrial employment structure, while relative wages are not affected. Extremely cold days, both single and consecutive, as well as extreme precipitation have a limited impact on economic activity and income distribution.

Climate concern and policy acceptance before and after COVID-19

Drews, S., Savin, I., van den Bergh, J., & Villamayor-Tomás, S.

Ecological Economics

(ABDC: A, AJG/ABS: 3, IF = 6.536, Q1 JIF, Q1 SJR)

It remains unclear how COVID-19 has affected public engagement with the climate crisis. According to the finite-pool-of-worry hypothesis, concern about climate change should have decreased after the pandemic, in turn reducing climate-policy acceptance. Here we test these and several other conjectures by using survey data from 1172 Spanish participants who responded before and after the first wave of COVID-19, allowing for both aggregate and within-person analyses. We find that on average climate concern has decreased, while acceptance of most climate policies has increased. At the individual-level, adverse health experiences are unrelated to these changes. The same holds for negative economic experiences, with the exception that unemployment is associated with reduced acceptance of some policies. Complementary to the finite-pool-of-worry test, we examine three additional pandemic-related issues. As we find, (1) higher climate concern and policy acceptance are associated with a belief that climate change contributed to the COVID-19 outbreak; (2) higher policy acceptance is associated with a positive opinion about how the government addressed the COVID-19 crisis; (3) citizens show favorable attitudes to a carbon tax with revenues used to compensate COVID-19-related expenditures. Overall, we conclude there is support for addressing the global climate crisis even during a global health crisis.

Mineral import demand and clean energy transitions in the top mineral-importing countries

Islam, M., Sohag, K., Alam, M.

Resources Policy

(ABDC: B, AJG/ABS: 2, IF = 8.222, Q1 JIF, Q1 SJR)

The clean energy transitions require a large volume of minerals to handle its diverse technologies, such as solar photovoltaics (PV), wind turbines etc. Therefore, mineral importing countries concentrated on cleaner energy production confront an uprising trend in critical mineral prices due to thriving demands. We quest for the response of the top mineral importing countries' import demand for minerals to the clean energy transitions from 1996 to 2019 within the import-demand function analysis. Using the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) method, our findings divulge a significantly positive response of mineral import demand to solar and wind energy productions in the long run. We also find that mineral price elasticity holds the Marshallian demand hypothesis in the mineral-laden solar energy generation while contradicting it in wind energy production. In addition, the oil price substitution effect does not sustain, whereas exchange rate depreciates mineral import demands in the long run. Therefore, our policy implications encompass optimizing the mineral resources for clean energy transitions to materialize the 21st century's global agenda of a decarbonized or net-zero emissions trajectory.

Financial infrastructure — total factor productivity (TFP) nexus within the purview of FDI outflow, trade openness, innovation, human capital and institutional quality: Evidence from BRICS economies

Rehman, F. U., & Islam, M. M.

Applied Economics

(ABDC: A, AJG/ABS: 2, IF = 1.916, Q3 JIF, Q2 SJR)

BRICS countries’ contribution to the global economy has received wider attention. The critical factor behind their role is financial market reform that stimulates these economies’ productivity growth. This research contributes to constructing a comprehensive index of financial infrastructure and measuring its relationship with BRICS economies’ total factor productivity (TFP) within the purview of outward FDI, trade openness, human capital, innovation and institutional quality during 1990–2019 using the CS-ARDL technique. The findings divulge a significant and positive role of financial infrastructure in TFP both in the long and short runs, while outward FDI, trade openness, human capital, and innovation walk on the same footing in BRICS countries. Moreover, the CS-ARDL-based investigated findings remain the same across the two-way fixed effect with Driscoll and Kraay Standard Error technique. Therefore, BRICS countries’ more promotion of financial dynamics and other ancillary economic, demographic, and technological factors is critical to stepping towards the spectacular growth trajectory.

Complementary or adverse? Comparing development results of official funding from China and traditional donors in Africa

Marson, M. & Savin, I.

Structural Change and Economic Dynamics

(ABDC: B, AJG/ABS: 2, IF = 5.059, Q1 JIF, Q1 SJR)

While China has become an important source of aid and other official funding for Africa, its coordination with other development partners remains limited, and its contribution to development has been questioned. Despite different development models represented by China and traditional donors, recent studies demonstrated that funding from the two has similar determinants, but little was done to systematically compare their role for development. The paper evaluate their impacts on infrastructure, governance, external debt sustainability and dependence on natural resources. Furthermore, we explore whether there are (dis)advantages from the presence of both donors. Overall, we find that China has similar, beneficial, impact when compared with traditional donors on all the development dimensions but debt. The presence of both donors, in turn, has a positive effect on debt sustainability, but negative impacts on the other dimensions. We interpret these results based on effective development cooperation principles of ownership, alignment, harmonisation, and accountability.

Antecedents and consequences of fast-food restaurant customers' perception of price fairness

Singh, G., Slack, N. J., Sharma, S., Aiyub, A. S., & Ferraris, A.

British Food Journal

(ABDC: B)

This study examines the influence of service quality dimensions (food quality, physical environment quality and employee service quality) and brand image of fast-food restaurants on price fairness and its consequence on customer retention. This survey collected 331 responses using the public intercept method. Data analysis involved performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the measurement model, followed by structural equation modeling. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS (model1 in process macro), while mediation was performed using model 4 in process macro. Empirical results of this study revealed the positive effect of restaurant service quality dimensions on price fairness and price fairness on customer retention. It also revealed that brand image strengthened the restaurant service-quality/price fairness interrelationship, and that customer satisfaction partially mediated the price fairness/customer retention interrelationship. Findings of this study are useful to marketers and fast-food restaurateurs in establishing the right combination of service quality dimensions and brand image that increase perceptions of price fairness and increase customer satisfaction and retention. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical foundations of customers' perceived price fairness and retention research, specifically in the understudied fast-food sector of emerging economies. It extends the application of the equity theory to expose the direct and indirect influences on customer perceived price fairness and customer retention. The findings provide a better understanding of price fairness perceptions.

Antecedents and consequences of fast-food restaurant customers' perception of price fairness

Singh, G., Slack, N. J., Sharma, S., Aiyub, A. S., & Ferraris, A.

British Food Journal

(ABDC: B)

This study examines the influence of service quality dimensions (food quality, physical environment quality and employee service quality) and brand image of fast-food restaurants on price fairness and its consequence on customer retention. This survey collected 331 responses using the public intercept method. Data analysis involved performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the measurement model, followed by structural equation modeling. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS (model1 in process macro), while mediation was performed using model 4 in process macro. Empirical results of this study revealed the positive effect of restaurant service quality dimensions on price fairness and price fairness on customer retention. It also revealed that brand image strengthened the restaurant service-quality/price fairness interrelationship, and that customer satisfaction partially mediated the price fairness/customer retention interrelationship. Findings of this study are useful to marketers and fast-food restaurateurs in establishing the right combination of service quality dimensions and brand image that increase perceptions of price fairness and increase customer satisfaction and retention. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical foundations of customers' perceived price fairness and retention research, specifically in the understudied fast-food sector of emerging economies. It extends the application of the equity theory to expose the direct and indirect influences on customer perceived price fairness and customer retention. The findings provide a better understanding of price fairness perceptions.

Antecedents and consequences of fast-food restaurant customers' perception of price fairness

Singh, G., Slack, N. J., Sharma, S., Aiyub, A. S., & Ferraris, A.

British Food Journal

(ABDC: B)

This study examines the influence of service quality dimensions (food quality, physical environment quality and employee service quality) and brand image of fast-food restaurants on price fairness and its consequence on customer retention. This survey collected 331 responses using the public intercept method. Data analysis involved performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the measurement model, followed by structural equation modeling. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS (model1 in process macro), while mediation was performed using model 4 in process macro. Empirical results of this study revealed the positive effect of restaurant service quality dimensions on price fairness and price fairness on customer retention. It also revealed that brand image strengthened the restaurant service-quality/price fairness interrelationship, and that customer satisfaction partially mediated the price fairness/customer retention interrelationship. Findings of this study are useful to marketers and fast-food restaurateurs in establishing the right combination of service quality dimensions and brand image that increase perceptions of price fairness and increase customer satisfaction and retention. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical foundations of customers' perceived price fairness and retention research, specifically in the understudied fast-food sector of emerging economies. It extends the application of the equity theory to expose the direct and indirect influences on customer perceived price fairness and customer retention. The findings provide a better understanding of price fairness perceptions.

Antecedents and consequences of fast-food restaurant customers' perception of price fairness

Singh, G., Slack, N. J., Sharma, S., Aiyub, A. S., & Ferraris, A.

British Food Journal

(ABDC: B)

This study examines the influence of service quality dimensions (food quality, physical environment quality and employee service quality) and brand image of fast-food restaurants on price fairness and its consequence on customer retention. This survey collected 331 responses using the public intercept method. Data analysis involved performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the measurement model, followed by structural equation modeling. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS (model1 in process macro), while mediation was performed using model 4 in process macro. Empirical results of this study revealed the positive effect of restaurant service quality dimensions on price fairness and price fairness on customer retention. It also revealed that brand image strengthened the restaurant service-quality/price fairness interrelationship, and that customer satisfaction partially mediated the price fairness/customer retention interrelationship. Findings of this study are useful to marketers and fast-food restaurateurs in establishing the right combination of service quality dimensions and brand image that increase perceptions of price fairness and increase customer satisfaction and retention. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical foundations of customers' perceived price fairness and retention research, specifically in the understudied fast-food sector of emerging economies. It extends the application of the equity theory to expose the direct and indirect influences on customer perceived price fairness and customer retention. The findings provide a better understanding of price fairness perceptions.

Antecedents and consequences of fast-food restaurant customers' perception of price fairness

Singh, G., Slack, N. J., Sharma, S., Aiyub, A. S., & Ferraris, A.

British Food Journal

(ABDC: B)

This study examines the influence of service quality dimensions (food quality, physical environment quality and employee service quality) and brand image of fast-food restaurants on price fairness and its consequence on customer retention. This survey collected 331 responses using the public intercept method. Data analysis involved performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the measurement model, followed by structural equation modeling. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS (model1 in process macro), while mediation was performed using model 4 in process macro. Empirical results of this study revealed the positive effect of restaurant service quality dimensions on price fairness and price fairness on customer retention. It also revealed that brand image strengthened the restaurant service-quality/price fairness interrelationship, and that customer satisfaction partially mediated the price fairness/customer retention interrelationship. Findings of this study are useful to marketers and fast-food restaurateurs in establishing the right combination of service quality dimensions and brand image that increase perceptions of price fairness and increase customer satisfaction and retention. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical foundations of customers' perceived price fairness and retention research, specifically in the understudied fast-food sector of emerging economies. It extends the application of the equity theory to expose the direct and indirect influences on customer perceived price fairness and customer retention. The findings provide a better understanding of price fairness perceptions.

Antecedents and consequences of fast-food restaurant customers' perception of price fairness

Singh, G., Slack, N. J., Sharma, S., Aiyub, A. S., & Ferraris, A.

British Food Journal

(ABDC: B)

This study examines the influence of service quality dimensions (food quality, physical environment quality and employee service quality) and brand image of fast-food restaurants on price fairness and its consequence on customer retention. This survey collected 331 responses using the public intercept method. Data analysis involved performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the measurement model, followed by structural equation modeling. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS (model1 in process macro), while mediation was performed using model 4 in process macro. Empirical results of this study revealed the positive effect of restaurant service quality dimensions on price fairness and price fairness on customer retention. It also revealed that brand image strengthened the restaurant service-quality/price fairness interrelationship, and that customer satisfaction partially mediated the price fairness/customer retention interrelationship. Findings of this study are useful to marketers and fast-food restaurateurs in establishing the right combination of service quality dimensions and brand image that increase perceptions of price fairness and increase customer satisfaction and retention. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical foundations of customers' perceived price fairness and retention research, specifically in the understudied fast-food sector of emerging economies. It extends the application of the equity theory to expose the direct and indirect influences on customer perceived price fairness and customer retention. The findings provide a better understanding of price fairness perceptions.

Antecedents and consequences of fast-food restaurant customers' perception of price fairness

Singh, G., Slack, N. J., Sharma, S., Aiyub, A. S., & Ferraris, A.

British Food Journal

(ABDC: B)

This study examines the influence of service quality dimensions (food quality, physical environment quality and employee service quality) and brand image of fast-food restaurants on price fairness and its consequence on customer retention. This survey collected 331 responses using the public intercept method. Data analysis involved performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the measurement model, followed by structural equation modeling. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS (model1 in process macro), while mediation was performed using model 4 in process macro. Empirical results of this study revealed the positive effect of restaurant service quality dimensions on price fairness and price fairness on customer retention. It also revealed that brand image strengthened the restaurant service-quality/price fairness interrelationship, and that customer satisfaction partially mediated the price fairness/customer retention interrelationship. Findings of this study are useful to marketers and fast-food restaurateurs in establishing the right combination of service quality dimensions and brand image that increase perceptions of price fairness and increase customer satisfaction and retention. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical foundations of customers' perceived price fairness and retention research, specifically in the understudied fast-food sector of emerging economies. It extends the application of the equity theory to expose the direct and indirect influences on customer perceived price fairness and customer retention. The findings provide a better understanding of price fairness perceptions.

Antecedents and consequences of fast-food restaurant customers' perception of price fairness

Singh, G., Slack, N. J., Sharma, S., Aiyub, A. S., & Ferraris, A.

British Food Journal

(ABDC: B)

This study examines the influence of service quality dimensions (food quality, physical environment quality and employee service quality) and brand image of fast-food restaurants on price fairness and its consequence on customer retention. This survey collected 331 responses using the public intercept method. Data analysis involved performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the measurement model, followed by structural equation modeling. Moderation analysis was performed using SPSS (model1 in process macro), while mediation was performed using model 4 in process macro. Empirical results of this study revealed the positive effect of restaurant service quality dimensions on price fairness and price fairness on customer retention. It also revealed that brand image strengthened the restaurant service-quality/price fairness interrelationship, and that customer satisfaction partially mediated the price fairness/customer retention interrelationship. Findings of this study are useful to marketers and fast-food restaurateurs in establishing the right combination of service quality dimensions and brand image that increase perceptions of price fairness and increase customer satisfaction and retention. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical foundations of customers' perceived price fairness and retention research, specifically in the understudied fast-food sector of emerging economies. It extends the application of the equity theory to expose the direct and indirect influences on customer perceived price fairness and customer retention. The findings provide a better understanding of price fairness perceptions.