Research & Expertise news at HSE University

In recent years in Russia, female smoking has increased, while the opposite holds true for men; in addition to this, smoking has increased at higher rates among those with lower levels of education compared to more educated Russians.

This is the conclusion reached by researchers from the HSE’s Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge (ISSEK), based on a survey of people aiming to establish the level of trust members of the general public have in science and technology.

Nina Ershova, Research Fellow at HSE Institute for Industrial and Market Studies, examined Japanese companies' experience of investing in Russia. Her paper "Challenges for foreign investors in Russia: the case of Japanese companies" is based on findings from a survey of 32 companies — members of the Japan Business Club in Moscow, conducted between April and June 2015, and content analysis of twenty interviews with Japanese business, academic and NGO representatives conducted between 2008 and 2015.

Russia is 43rd in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2016, up five positions from its 2015 ranking. Just as last year, Switzerland, Sweden, U.K., U.S. and Finland remain the top-ranking countries in the GII. These are the findings from the GII 2016 report comparing the performance of national innovation systems in 128 economies.

Ivan Smirnov graduated from his master’s programme in Paris and hadn’t really considered coming back to Russia. But that was before he learned about the full-time advanced doctoral programme at HSE. The programme has some unique advantages among Russian programmes, which make it comparable to European PhDs.

In 2015, Russians’ trust in banks dropped sharply as the country’s economy faced a crisis, yet at the same time, the amount of individual bank deposits paradoxically increased, according to findings from a survey conducted by LSES as part of the "Monitoring Financial Behaviour and Consumer Confidence in Financial Institutions" project (2009-2015). 

The HSE Institute of Education has become a founding partner of the Institute for Global Educational Opportunity, an association of universities and research centres that study educational inequality. Representatives from Russia, the U.S., Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Chili gathered in Washington to reach an agreement on joint annual conferences, publications, and research.

In terms of activity in lodging complaints with the WTO Court (the agency through which WTO members resolve their disputes), Russia has not advanced beyond South Africa. The United States and EU countries are currently the leaders in terms of WTO disputes. The low level of activity on Russia’s side is primarily due to its relatively recent membership in the organization.