2017. vol. 12. No. 4

The establishment of two new multilateral development banks — the New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) — was a result of efforts by the BRICS grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. To become fully operational, the new institutions drew on the solid experience of the national development banks of BRICS members. National and new multilateral development banks can use each other’s experience and coordinate their work to achieve the development goals of the BRICS countries through the creation of an appropriate financing model that better meets the needs of developing countries and emerging economies than models offered by traditional development banks

The aim of this article is to identify the experience of national development banks in order to find ways to increase the effectiveness of existing institutions or create new ones in the area of development financing. The article also assesses the potential role of national development banks in ensuring sustainable development in their respective countries, primarily by facilitating the creation and upgrading of infrastructure. Finally, the author identifies the potential for cooperation among BRICS national development banks and between those banks and the NDB and AIIB.

This analysis shows that the provision of sustainable infrastructure financing is impossible without an effective combination of various sources of funds at a low cost on a long-term basis by development banks. At the same time, the most obvious source — direct financing from national budgets — is not optimal for the BRICS countries, as confirmed by the growing role of financial markets in providing resources they need. Still, countries should maintain certain regulatory preferences for national development banks, allowing them to address the growing level of competition from other financial institutions. The author also concludes that several factors limit the effectiveness of national development banks’ participation in foreign projects. These factors may act as incentives to forge closer partnerships among national banks and with multilateral banks.

This article presents a methodology for the selection of priorities for science and technology (S&T) cooperation among the BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa based on an analysis of international and national strategic documents of BRICS countries and a bibliometric analysis of joint publications by researchers from BRICS countries indexed in the Scopus database. The national S&T priorities for countries are systemized and a comparative assessment of capacities for S&T development in BRICS countries is developed.

 Indicators of publication activity of all BRICS countries have significantly increased since 2000. Analysis shows that Russia must pay particular attention to the development of cooperation with China, which is already one of the leaders on the global S&T stage. Cooperation with India, Brazil and, in some research areas, with South Africa could also have a positive impact on the performance of research and development in Russia.

 A list of 14 thematic priorities for S&T cooperation for BRICS countries is presented in the paper based on the analysis of a set of national, bilateral and multilateral strategic and forward-looking documents. Priorities of S&T development create a basis for more efficient and mutually beneficial cooperation between BRICS countries and allows individual scientists to broaden the range of research, use new tools for S&T cooperation and share best practices.

In this article we consider the issue of debt, which became a global concern, within another global concept – in the context of sustainable development and economic growth. More and more attention is paid to this concept due to urgent necessity for coordination of policies at both national and global levels. The predominant theoretical thinking tends to underestimate the risks. Although a lot have been made towards improving global financial stability after the recent crisis, the risks remain high as new threats and challenges emerge, and the global financial system is still unable to respond to them adequately. Having considered the banking regulation innovations from the perspective of financial security and inclusiveness, we come to conclusion that the global financial reforms are being conducted in the right direction, and the system became more secure, however, not yet sufficiently sustainable. The other idea we come up with is that implementation of financial transaction tax as a tool to discourage excessive speculation without impeding other economic activities, which is the argument opponents of the tax appeal to, seems to be socially responsible measure working for financial stability at the same time. Finally, we also assume that steadily increasing nonfinancial sector debt of the leading economies presents a serious challenge to global financial stability and to sustainable growth. Estimates of the threats to the world economy from unprecedented debt at all levels of economic system are largely inadequate. Effective and inclusive measures to reduce it have not been yet developed. Therefore, the issue of increasing indebtedness should be tackled accordingly. Otherwise, the world economic system appears to become very fragile and unsustainable under the burden of financial imbalances and emerging risks.

The article is devoted to studying problems associated with the development and integration of the securities market in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. The article examines the present state, possibilities and problems pertaining to the development of the securities market and, in particular, the regulated market. The development and integration of the securities market is an important factor affecting the potential for economic development and sustainable economic growth in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. The subject of this study is the development and integration problems affecting the securities market in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The securities market in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union has sufficient integration opportunities. Potential exists in all segments of the securities market, but more opportunities exist in the debt securities market. The deepening of the integration processes in the securities market of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union could have a positive impact on increasing the investment opportunities of the economies of these countries. This, in turn, can have a positive impact on the growth of the gross domestic product, reducing unemployment and improving the social status of the population. However, the creation of a single or integrated exchange market should be accompanied by the integration of depository processes as well as the settlement and clearing systems, and the synchronizing of the regulatory and legal framework governing the securities market. Particular attention is required to study the problems associated with fixing and transferring property rights to the securities and protecting the interests of investors. The integration processes of depository, settlement and clearing systems may include the introduction of a nominee holder for central depositories and the establishment of correspondent relations between the central depositories of the securities of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. For the development of integration processes both in the regulated market and between depository, settlement and clearing systems, the most important prerequisite is synchronization and, in the future, will be the unification of the regulatory and legal framework governing the securities market.

This paper analyzes the future occupational structure of the labour force in European members of the Organisation for Co-operation and Development (OECD). Occupational structure forecasts allow researchers to evaluate the quality of job openings and, consequently, overall future labour market performance. Identification of demand for certain occupations in Europe can facilitate assessment of whether processes occurring in the Russian labour market are consistent with global trends.

The paper discusses the methodology of labour force forecasting and basic research approaches to the prediction of occupational structure changes. It emphasizes the dynamics of demand for representatives of certain occupations in Europe by identifying the fastest growing and declining occupations and suggests possible reasons for changing demand. The paper demonstrates that the main occupational trend over the next decade will consist in the increasing importance of professionals, as well as technicians and associate professionals. The increase in demand for health professionals and representatives of occupations providing scientific and technological innovation will be most significant. At the same time, it is expected that demand for elementary occupations will also rise. This process will evolve simultaneously with the decrease in the total number of skilled and semi-skilled blue-collar occupations due to globalization and the reduction of industrial production in developed economies. The ongoing “mechanization” of many job functions will not eliminate the need for occupations such as cleaners, labourers, domestic servants or personal workers. The need for these jobs allow employees with low levels of education to enter the labour market rather than depending on the social benefit system. Another tendency for all countries with developed economies will be reduced demand for many white-collar occupations as modern computer technologies and the automation of many routine functions previously performed by office workers becomes more prevalent.

Two main issues are considered in this article. The first is the changing historical and legal status of private military companies (PMCs). Emerging after the end of World War II, the PMC phenomenon became well-established by the mid-1990s. In the first decade of the 21st century, PMCs not only engaged in military activity in different regions of the world but also participated as independent economic actors capable of occupying a certain niche in the military segment of the world economy. Following this review, the article examines the practical activities of PMCs drawing on the example of the conflict in Ukraine during the civil war that began there after the coup d’etat of February 2014 and which saw the removal of the legally elected president V. Yanukovych and the rise of nationalist radicals to power. It should be noted that the Ukrainian crisis is only one of many examples of the use of PMCs. Moreover, as demonstrated in this study, the most powerful PMCs in the world are represented in the territory of Ukraine, pointing to the extreme importance of the processes occurring in Ukraine from the view point of the interests of the dominant actors in the modern international system involved in Ukrainian affairs.

Recently electronic commerce has been developing rapidly. Global B2C (business to consumers) market, one of the key elements of e-commerce, shows impressive growth. In 2015 its value reached 1 billion USD, in 2018 it may exceed 1,5 billion USD. EMarketer analysts estimated, global B2C market volume could reach 1,7 billion USD which equals to 7,4% of global retail in 2015. According to eMarketer, China gained 35,4% of the market. It has been estimated, that in 2018 China’s share of global electronic retail market will exceed 50%, which equals to 3 billion USD.

Recently China has been playing more significant role in e-commerce both in domestic and global market. Under these circumstances, China’s government faces the need to articulate comprehensive regulation of e-commerce in accordance with international norms and standards.

It has to be noted, that the recent changes in such areas as trade facilitation, specific recommendations in tax policy, cybersecurity regulatory changes may lead to additional costs and risks for foreign companies, operating and entering Chinese market.

In some cases, the current changes of China’s e-commerce regulation may bring benefits for foreign companies. First of all it deals with intellectual property (IP) rights protection in digital space, measures aimed to ensure secure transactions, expansion of the electronic trading platforms legal responsibilities, measures aimed to protect consumer rights, ensure the formation of secure, stable and efficient channels of cross-border e-commerce.

Recent decades have seen a rapid digital transformation resulting in important and sometimes crucial changes in business, society and the global economy. After the global crisis of 2008–2009, digital industries have been the most dynamic and promising in the global economy. Still, the world has not yet found a balance between the benefits and risks of a digital economy and thus global governance in this sphere is required.

 This article analyses the role and unique characteristics of the Group of 20 (G20) in the sphere of global governance in the digital economy. The authors review the definitions of digital economy and identify the key characteristics of this sector.  They highlight the challenges the digital economy poses for international cooperation, analyse digital strategies of G20 countries and study the G20’s participation in global digital economy governance. Following on this, the authors analyse the potential for Chinese and Russian leadership and make recommendations concerning the participation of the G20 in the global governance of the digital economy.

The authors offer several conclusions based on their analysis. First, international society has to govern the digital economy properly to eliminate distortions between developed and developing countries, ensure cyber security and achieve a higher quality of life for all. Second, the G20 has very limited experience in the sphere of digital economy governance, but as a leader with soft power and as an organization with members who have developed their digital sectors and those that that lag behind, it may play a lead role in the global governance of the digital economy. Third, while the U.S. has historically dominated the information technology (IT) sector and the digital economy, China has improved its position enough to warrant a greater role in global governance. Russia may also play a greater (though not a leading) role, taking into account its experience and potential.

 The authors also conclude that the G20 should pay more attention to cooperation with African countries and promote tools to encourage voluntary cooperation, first and foremost with developing countries. The G20 should also work to improve international cyber security and involve the nongovernmental sector in the process of the global digital governance more often. Finally, the G20 should position itself properly and actively in the sphere of digital governance to optimize its functions as the hub of global governance.

The Paris Agreement, which was adopted in December 2015 and entered into force less than a year later, is the newest instrument to be adopted in the United Nations-sponsored global climate regime.  The Paris Agreement takes its place under the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change and next to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and 2012 Doha Amendment.  After describing the historical evolution of the UN climate regime employing the tools of international law, this Article explores the structural, institutional, and legal relationships between the new Paris Agreement and the prior development and content of UN-sponsored efforts on climate protection under the auspices of the 1992 Framework Convention.  The need for such an analysis is particularly urgent because the new instrument was purposely not identified as a “protocol,” and its relationship to the prior Kyoto Protocol is unclear.

This Article consequently traces the development of the universal, UN-anchored climate regime from its origins in the 1990s to the present moment, with particular attention to the structural relationship among its various components and historical junctures.  The Article then examines the text and structure of the Paris Agreement, along with its context, against this background.  The significance of the Agreement’s status as an instrument other than a “protocol,” and its uncertain textual and institutional relationship to the prior Kyoto Protocol, receive particular scrutiny.  The Article concludes that the Paris Agreement, from a structural and institutional point of view, represents both a break with the past designed to initiate a new, globally-inclusive multilateral approach to climate protection, but also contains indications of continuity with prior questions of global climate policy. 

In June 2017, President Trump announced the USA’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, which had been ratified for less than a year, thanks in large part to the USA. That drastic shift followed the change in residency at the White House. Withdrawing from the Paris Accord presents an interesting topic for analysis. There’s the practical side of the withdrawal procedure as set out in Article 28 of the agreement, not to mention the consequences of US non-participation in addressing international climate issues. There are other international forums (Such as G8 and G20), which also have an interest in climate related topics.

The Article analyses the U.S. position in negotiations and its commitments assumed the moment the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) came into effect until now: the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, financial aid and reporting. It also provides general analysis of national legal obligations under the Paris Accord, ratification of that agreement in general and in particularly another that took place in the USA, it focuses on the specifics of withdrawal. The specified three-year period from the Agreement becoming active, after which any party may withdraw from it (2019), is a noteworthy detail.

It is well-known that the Paris Agreement provides a framework that does not impose individual national commitments or a commitment to a compliance system. In essence, and from a legal point of view, it is non-binding. This was what allowed the USA to accept the terms of the accord relatively quickly and to use the simplified procedure, which by-passed Congress. In the opinion of the authors, President Trump’s resolution to withdraw should, possibly, be considered as a simple continuation of his election discourse and the fulfilment of a campaign promise. Additionally, President Trump’s declared intent to review the Paris Accord has legal grounds on which to launch further international negotiations, consequently that will never come to pass.

The Article was been written based on the analysis of resolutions passed at conferences attended by parties to the UNFCCC, other UN documents and international forums, the laws and regulations of the Russian Federation, information published by international legal experts and mass media coverage of the topic.

The Article sums up the consequences of US withdrawal from the Paris Accord, noting that the Agreement’s status will not change after the USA withdraws. The Accord will remain in force having become effective in 2016 and the US will remain a party to the fundamental UN Climate Convention. The reduction in contributions to the Green Climate Fund will undoubtedly limit the project’s potential in developing economies. A ‘domino effect’ is not inconceivable – with similar resolutions following the U.S. example, Turkey for example has announced the likelihood that it too will suspend ratification. There is though still time before 2019 for the U.S. to change its position.