We consider the problem of finding a valid covariance matrix in the FX market given an initial non-PSD estimate of such a matrix. The standard no-arbitrage assumption implies additional linear constraints on such matrices, which automat-ically makes them singular. As a result, one cannot just...

In this research the causal influences among proactive orientation, individual activism, personal achievement, and subjective well-being in the world as a whole and in three world-system zones based on the 5th wave World Values Survey dataset are examined. To test the first and second...

Nonprofit accountability in Russia is becoming increasingly important as nonprofit organizations become more open delivering more social services, public participation increases and third sector institutions evolve. In this paper authors demonstrate accountability in its different dimensions as...

Individuals’ lifestyles strongly affect health outcomes and thus are a subject for public regulations in all developed countries. In this paper we discuss how different policy measures change individual behaviour with respect to consuming alcohol, tobacco products, and healthy food and...

The main goal of public procurement reform in Russia, initiated in 2005, was to prevent corrupt deals between suppliers and procurers. That is why the public procurement law favors formal mechanisms to govern most of the stages of procurement: the procurer is not allowed to take into account the...

The article summarizes the data from a few tens of interviews with entrepreneurs – representatives of a small business. The purpose of the interview was to discover expectations and suggestions from entrepreneurs to the local and state government. Interview data reveal the profound...

This paper employs the category “kul’turnost’” for the analysis of post-Soviet urban mass celebrations. Based on empirical data gathered during White Nights in Perm Festival – 2012, the paper delves into how Soviet ideological cliches and stereotypes are manifested in the language of...

Unlike variable-centered measures, validity and stability of typologies have been rarely studied. Magun, Rudnev and Schmidt [in review] developed a value typology of the European population using data from the 4th round of the European Social Survey. The value classes showed heuristic power in...

In this paper we draw upon important distinctions suggested by classics of anthropology in order to develop a theoretical approach to the phenomenon of debt. Building on the opposition be-tween the logic of the gift and that of the market, we elucidate moral tensions that call debt rela-tions...

This paper reveals variations in value change (namely the substitution of materialist priorities for post-materialist) in Europe, and substantiates that post-socialist societies follow a similar path of development to advanced Western Europe. The linear decomposition analysis showed that...