Andrey Yukhanaev

Independence of board of directors, employee relation and harmonisation of corporate governance: Empirical evidence from Russian listed companies

Purpose – The main aim of this paper is to examine the role of the board of directors in Russia with specific attention to their independence, employee relations and ability of successful adaptation of the international standards.Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a survey questionnaire to provide an empirical example from a transition economy to the corporate governance literature by exploring the attitudes of the 55 board directors from 30 listed companies on the Russian Trading System (RTS) Stock Exchange.Findings – The respondents recognise the board of directors as an important instrument of efficient and good corporate governance practice. More surprisingly, they are also in favour of employee representatives on the board of directors and agree that board size and composition should be enhanced by employee representatives on the board.Research limitation/implications – Even though 200 questionnaires were distributed and the response rate was 28 per cent, the authors know that they cannot...

An investigation into the formal institutional constraints that restrict entrepreneurship and SME growth in Russia

The impact of institutions on the ease of doing business in transition economies has attracted considerable interest in recent years. The literature suggests that institutional quality is crucial in determining levels of entrepreneurship and SME development in such countries. Our research explores the perceptions of Russian SME owners regarding the quality of the institutional environment that they face making use of semi-structured interviews for data gathering purposes. We identify the political, economic and regulatory barriers that restrict entrepreneurship and SME growth in contemporary Russia, together with entrepreneurs’ views as to what reforms are needed for greater business growth in future.

Employability and Job Search Behavior: A Six-Wave Longitudinal Study of Chinese University Graduates

Purpose Graduate employability is a key concern for many observers particularly at a time when education is increasingly available for the masses. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of graduate perceived employability on job search by integrating theory of planned behavior and to identify how job search self-efficacy, subjective norms, intention and intensity change over time. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a six-wave survey study with a sample of Chinese university graduating students. Findings Results show that perceived employability has a positive and significant effect on job search self-efficacy, attitude, intention and intensity; and that all the repeated measuring variables (except job search attitude) decreased over time. Practical implications The study is useful for educators, employers and prospective students. It prompts discussion of reforms in the curriculum to increase graduate awareness of the complexity of the job search process and existing opportunities. The study could also help to explain how job search behavior changes over time. Originality/value The findings carry implications for both higher education research and the measures of improving graduate employability. The study fills the gap in the literature by integrating employability and the theory of planned behavior into one framework in order to analyze the process of Chinese university graduates’ job search behavior.

Evaluating banks performance using key financial indicators – a quantitative modeling of Russian banks

Since the financial crisis of 2008, risk based performance management has been one of the important indicator to determine the financial health of banks and financial institutions. This study relates to the problem within the Russian Banking sector for regulators to determine and reduce risks at the marco-level and assessing performance of banks at the micro-level. The objectives are: to analyse a range of performance indicators and to structure the Russian banking sector. To explore the structure of Russian Banking sector in terms of performance over the period 2000-2010, we took a sample of 1279 banks and the financial data which was in the HTML format was extracted through PHP programming. With the help of trend analysis, the period 2000-2010 was divided into four sub periods: the period of stabilization (2002-2004), substantial development (2004-2007), financial crisis (2007-2009) and moderate development (2009-2010). Multivariate analysis were applied to classify the sample banks in these sub periods which provides evidence that despite the changes in the stage of development of the economy, the Russian Banking sector can be described with quantitative modeling. Naturally, the structural changes are affected by the described economic cycles, but these changes do not affect the determination capabilities of the model. In the period 2002-2004, nine types of banks are found. There are some prosperous as well as weak banks. During the period 2004-2007, banks had a chance to increase their profits; the banking sector became more differentiated – 12 clusters are singled out. There is no doubt that the financial crisis also affected the banking industry; there were still 12 clusters in 2007-2009, but the majority were concentrated into a single cluster with low performance indicators. Finally, the Russian banking sector started its development in the period 2009-2010, uniting some bank clusters, 10 groups are found. The results indicated that through mathematical modelling, Russian banks could be rated as “rating groups” based on their performance which might be of particular interest to bank’s managers, investors, credit analysts and bank regulators. Moreover, it could be emphasized that the changes in structure are not significant, as certain groups of banks can be found at any period of time. These groups or clusters can be referred to certain “rating groups” (from the banks with the best results to those with low results) and compared to international ratings.

Russian Institutional Development: Challenges to inbound investments and implications for government policymakers

This paper sets out to contribute to the literature by investigating the institutional arrangements facing investors in Russia, the extent to which they had been reformed, and the resultant impact on the willingness of foreign-owned TNCs to commit inbound foreign direct investment (IFDI) to this high-risk transition economy. The degree to which institutional factors explain Russias persistent underperformance in terms of IFDI is assessed through the review of the academic literature and other documentary sources. Making use of the corruption perception index, ease of doing business, world governance indicators and index of economic freedom (IEF) data, we analyse the provenance of Russias IFDI-related institutional reforms since the late 1990s until the end of 2013. Given the international isolation of Russia after its annexation of the Crimea and the collapse of the oil price, the paper argues that in order to achieve a sustainable economic development, the Russian Government must implement substantial shifts in the design and functioning of its national institutions.

Role of Institutions in Economic Transition: Case of Russia

Using Russia as the focus, this study addresses the relative lack of attention that has been devoted to the role of national institutions, regulations, and the broader investment climate in determining investment attractiveness in countries undergoing economic transition. This work contributes to the current literature developed on new institutional theory and its applicability in explaining economic development and investment attractiveness of countries in transition. The analysis takes into account Russia’s distinctiveness, communist era legacies, and path dependencies that led to the creation of contemporary political and economic conditions. We discuss the specificity of national development and its impact on the business environment, and identify the key areas in the current institutional framework in Russia that urgently require reforming as well as further academic exploration.