The aim of this paper was to present some results of the study of the impact of the sanctions, imposed on the Russian Federation in 2014 and consistently expanded and deepened, not on Russia, but on those who use these sanctions — the countries that imposed the sanctions (the sanctioners). External trade, that is one of the objects of the sanctions, was chosen as the subject of the study. The author’s task was to estimate the role of the Russian Federation in the external trade of the countries, which use the sanctions against Russia, before and after the sanctions, and to evaluate the harm caused to these countries by their sanctions and by Russia’s counter-sanctions. To solve these problems, the author proposed a mathematical tool for the damage quantitative assessment. The World Trade Organization statistics for 2012–2017 formed a database for the study, and economic-mathematical and statistical methods were taken as research instruments. One may summarize the results of the study as follows. First, Russia plays an insignificant role in foreign trade of most countries that imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation. However, the damage from the sanctions and counter-sanctions for some of them turns out to be quite significant. Second, the negative impact of the sanctions on their initiators in the sphere of external trade is the stronger, the more important for the sanctioning country its trade relations with the Russian Federation are. Third, the burden of the sanctions was less heavy for their main initiator — the united States of America, than for their less economically strong partners that imposed the sanctions. The author’s main conclusion is that eventually the economic interests of some of these countries win up over the political goals that go against these interests, and the volume of the foreign trade, that dropped down after the sanctions were imposed on Russia, tends to recover. Russia, shifting from the overseas markets to the domestic one and changing the geographical structure of its international trade, does continue to develop. To present the results of the study to the Russian readers, the version of the article in Russian is submitted to the journal “The World of New Economy”. Its title is “Anti-Russian Sanctions: Damage to the Countries that Declared them”. The version gives the results of the analysis of the impact of sanctions on technology trade and the content of the study of foreign trade in goods, detailed in this paper.

The paper analyzes inflation targeting which used in many countries as a tool for the monetary policy of central banks. The study of the experience of inflation targeting over the past quarter century shows a number of shortcomings. The important one is that inflation targeting is powerless in relation to import inflation. This problem is particularly acute for import-dependent countries. The authors summarize the failure of inflation targeting to influence the import of inflation regarding inflation caused by the increase in production costs. The problem is studied by the example of post-communist Georgia (that uses inflation targeting) and its major trading partners. The authors analyze various modifications of the inflation indicator, such as agflation, munflation, and imflation. It is shown that the first two reflect price fluctuations on the nutrition, medical care, medication and utilities. Imflation reflects the dynamics of import prices on the domestic market, in the formation of which the exchange rate of the national currency is of great importance. The indicators of agflation and munflation together with the traditional indicator of inflation should become one of the important macroeconomic indicators for governments that develop economic and social policies. The authors propose a new approach to monetary policy, called complex inflation targeting. In this case, monetary policy targets are not only inflation, but also imflation. As for the exchange rate of the national currency, it should be influenced by the actual level of the imflation indicator.

We propose new models for analyzing changes in the value of the company using stochastic discount rates. It is shown that for the majority of the companies under study, local changes in the rate of the company value growth (percentage changes to the previous level) are not explained by the corresponding changes neither in the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), nor in the cash flows. This fact, as well as the research results by J. Cochrane, who proved that discount rates volatility is the main contributor to price volatility, became initial prerequisites for building models based on stochastic discount rates. The work presents three models built on stochastic discount rates, where cash flows are assumed to be growing with a certain trend, and the factors affecting the price of the company are described by stochastic discount factors. These models are alternative in relation to the commonly used traditional cash flow discounting (DCF) models where the free cash flow is discounted through the WACC, or the free flow to capital at the opportunity cost of equity. The first model is used to analyze the dependence of the company value on investments. It uses free cash flow subject to zero growth. The second model uses net cash flow from operating activities plus interest, minus the minimum investment subject to zero growth. The third model uses net cash flow from operating activities plus interest adjusted to taxes. This model requires to estimate the rates of the company downsizing subject to zero investment. The third model is applicable for companies with volatile investments, where it is difficult to reliably estimate free cash flow in case of zero growth. The models are designed for analysis of the factors influencing the value of the company for value-based management. Another application of the models is the evaluation of investment value of the company and the answer to the question of its possible overestimated or underestimated value. The third way to apply this model is the empirical evaluation of the weighted average cost of capital applicable to the company’s investment projects, alternative to WACC, assessed by standard methods.

The performance of companies in the real sector of the economy is highly relevant for the economic development of the country. The Joint Stock Company “Russian Railways” (the JSCo “RZD”) occupies a special place in the Russian economy, since it does 45% of the total cargo turnover and more than 25% of passenger traffic in the country. The aim of the article is to identify trends in key financial and economic indicators of the Russian railways in the context of the structural reform of the industry. The objective of the study is to develop a methodology for the long-term management of the financial and economic performance of the railways, as well as recommendations for its sustainable growth. The authors analyzed the financial and economic performance of the JSCo “RZD” for 15 years. They used the analysis of time series, logical and analytical method, as well as benchmarking — comparative analysis based on reference indicators. It is shown that with a low but positive profitability, the company’s financial and economic situation can be improved. The authors reviewed the dynamics of the operating costs ratio, whose value has an excessively high level in the JSCo “RZD”. To identify ways to achieve the optimum level of operating costs ratio, an analysis of financial and economic indicators of the US railway companies was conducted. The factors contributing to the systematic improvement of the operating costs ratio were revealed. Among them are: increase in the JSCo “RZD” market opportunities and their competent use based on flexible adaptation to market conditions and changing customer needs; attraction of private and private-state investments. On this basis, the following actions are proposed for improving the financial and economic indicators of the JSCo “RZD”: monitoring of the operating costs ratio; developing a scenario program to improve the long-term competitiveness and effectiveness of the Russian Railways for the period of 2025–2035. The materials of the article are of practical importance and can be used by public authorities, transport companies, as well as for the educational purposes.

Effective functioning of any organization is based on a seamless blend of the interaction between a person and organization. The importance of various types of work motivation aimed at achieving the goals of the organization and encouraging staff to work effectively determined the relevance of the study. The purpose of the study is to find ways to improve the system of work motivation, on the example of a particular enterprise, and to develop recommendations for improving the performance of the enterprise based on a motivational mechanism. The research objectives are the following: to analyze the current system of work motivation, to assess the efficiency of labor resources at the enterprise, to develop proposals for improving the financial performance of the enterprise through the motivational mechanism. The object of the study is the staff of OOO KL GROUP company specializing in retail trade of footwear, clothing and other products made of genuine leather. The subject of the study is the system of work motivation of staff and financial performance of the company. The following methods were used in the work: comparison, monographic, economic and statistical, horizontal and vertical analysis, expert assessment, sociology, organization theory and others. The authors used the results of a survey conducted by the territorial managers of the company in ten sales departments in order to identify the intensity of customer flows and the time-management of the company employees. A systematic approach in studying motivation factors allowed to develop proposals for creating a system of staff motivation at the enterprise. It is concluded that the implementation of the work motivation mechanism in the sales departments of OOO KL GROUP company gives the following results: satisfaction with the employees and their activities increases, and the company receives an annual increase in profits. Thus, work motivation affects the financial performance of the company.

The subject of the research is the economies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the branches of economic activity functioning in their territories. The aim of the study is to develop methods for assessing the efficiency of economic sectors and types of economic activity within the boundaries of 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and to create a rating of the efficiency of the constituent entities by the type of economic activity “Production and distribution of electricity, gas and water”. Economic and statistical methods, system analysis, as well as general scientific methods of comparison were used. The main calculations are based on the tax revenue efficiency index developed by the authors by types of economic activity. It is based on 13 indicators, where each corresponds to the type of economic activity and assesses the level of economic development of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. The authors analyzed the reports on tax revenues and the number of employed population in the context of economic activities. Data analysis and parameter estimation were carried out by means of the statistical information processing program IBM SPSS Statistics 20, the analytical module of the Russian Taxes regional tax revenue information analysis system and the MS Excel 365 tabular processor. Based on the proposed method, the distribution of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation was obtained according to the values index of tax revenues for all types of economic activity in 2016. The effectiveness of tax revenues for individual indicators included in the index was considered. The distribution of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation by the type of economic activity “Production and distribution of electricity, gas and water” was obtained. The distribution indicators for each constituent entity of the Russian Federation were calculated. Graphs showing the structure of the tax revenues efficiency index in the Moscow region and in the Altai Republic in 2016 were built. The proposed method allows to obtain a comprehensive indicator of the system’s activities and development, to assess its potential, to define goals, to identify infrastructural problems and the shortcomings in economic diversification, as well as to evaluate investment risks and threats.

Intensive development of microfinance organizations in Russia has a double meaning. On the one hand, they are claimed by the population; on the other hand, the state control over their activities is difficult. The study reveals the nature, problems and prospects of development of microfinance organizations in Russia. The aim of the authors is to determine the nature of the controversial development of the financial market segment and suggest mechanisms that can resolve these contradictions. The study used a systematic approach and statistical methods. The authors analyzed analytical and statistical information of the Bank of Russia. The lack of adequate mechanisms for the state regulation and control over the activities of microfinance organizations the state is due to the gaps in the legislative framework. This was the reason for the increase in the share of overdue debts, the high debt load of the population, the intensification of collectors, the increase in lawsuits. The actions are proposed for increasing transparency of microfinance transactions without increasing the administrative burden on regulatory authorities. Among them are: attracting private investorslenders to microfinance activities with the development of Internet infrastructure, creating a special online platform to register microloan transactions between individuals and / or legal entities in real time with recording them in the Bank of Russia and in tax services. It is also necessary to amend the legislation on microfinance activity. This sequence of actions will lead to a reduction in the informal sector in the microfinance segment and in the financial market of the Russian Federation as a whole. The proposals made in the article can be used to develop the anti-crisis program of the Government of the Russian Federation in this area.

The article examines the impact of informational messages characterizing the crisis in the economy on the financial market indicators. The aim of the article is to build an index that allows assessing the crisis situation in the country based on textual analysis of informational messages. Due to the literature review, the factors determining the crisis in the economy were identified. The empirical base of the study included more than 10 million news texts from various sources accredited by Thomson Reuters. For the first time, the authors compiled a “bag of words” (dictionary) to determine the crisis situation in the country; and by means of the text analysis, they developed the author’s crisis index calculated on the basis of news reports in foreign media about Russia. They conducted the analysis of the relations between the crisis index and the stock index MOEX. According to the results of the study, it has been established that an increase in the number of news reports determining the crisis situation in the economy has a negative effect on the financial market: it leads to a drop in stock prices. Thus, not only objective economic factors, but also the information component influencing the mood of investors and the behavior of economic entities, affects the key indicators of the financial market. The proposed author’s crisis index can also be used to assess other relations, for example, the effect of the crisis on the exchange rate.

Access to financing is a fundamental factor determining growth opportunities for small and medium enterprises. Along with the state forms of support for the subjects of this business segment, as well as traditional banking products, private investment mechanisms are being developed through the establishment and extension of crowdinvesting platforms. They imply involving funds of population as the most important market agent. The aim of the article is to reveal the key importance of the institutional development of the crowdfunding and crowdinvesting market as a modern tool for supporting small and medium enterprises, reproduction of people’s personal savings and incomes of professional investors. The following scientific methods and approaches were used in the study: observation, comparison, analogies, analysis, synthesis, method of expert assessments, system and structured approach. The authors’ definition of crowdinvesting is given. Three fundamental features of crowdinvesting are defined: collective microfinancing of a project from an alternative set of startups, an intermediate agent in the form of a remote platform, financial retribution. To prove the development of the world and domestic crowdinvesting market, its condition and the performance indicators of well-known crowdinvesting companies are characterized in dynamics. The authors revealed the key advantages of crowdinvesting, factors stimulating of its volume growth in Russia, as well as risks, mainly associated with insufficient regulation of the new and fast-growing institutional mechanism of crowdinvesting. The important perspective of crowdinvesting as an instrument of project financing in Russia is highlighted on the example of specific scopes for investment, multifunctional services of Russian platforms, expanding pool of investors, new financial and technological methods of exchange and support. The study allowed identifying a number of key areas for crowdinvesting development in Russia. The work mainstreams: building an effective regulation system for crowdinvesting platforms, including through developing self-regulation tools, a co-financing program for crowdinvesting projects from development institutions, the work of the regulatory sandbox, legislative consolidation and support for implementing new types of information and economic interaction on crowdinvesting platforms (not only B 2B, P2B, but also G2B, B 2G).