Search results

Monsters, from ghouls and zombies to shoggoths and Cthulhu, have always fascinated humans and have a prominent presence in cultural production. This is made clear by how much people enjoy Halloween events and dressing up as their favourite monster or the most recent trend of horror themed escape rooms, that include haunted houses, a zombie apocalypse or Lovecraftian monsters. Monstrous creatures represent the fears and desires of society and often embody the allure of danger, transgression and power. Monsters have long been used to construct certain images of the different/unconventional and thus represent anything diverse as the Other. Monsters, however, can be employed to invert or even overturn this relationship by empowering the Other and thus provide us with a more critical view on society in regard to our values, fears and attitudes. The stories and folklore about monsters and the monstrous that incite fear and remind us to always check under our beds before we sleep have also found their way into our everyday lives. Within the mainstream media, criminality is indicative of moral corruption, and is attributed with notions of monstrosity. These monsters do not have claws, instead, they are unpredictable, different and deviate from social and cultural norms. Like the mythical creatures in folklore, monstrosity in its human form reminds us to fear the future, the unknown, Others and society. The monstrous is centrally defined by its unfixedness, its resistance to conformity or to convenient schematic identification. It is somatically and intellectually uneasy, a restless disturbing embodied thought that unsettles, and whose greatest value to us is its very indeterminacy. This chapter illustrates the shifting shapes of the monstrous, their makers, and offers insight about what we can learn from studying these cautionary noetic chimeras. Drawing on the diversity of our academic backgrounds, ideological perspectives and the research from our individual chapters, we address the contemporary narrative of the figure of the monster. Rather than an essay style examination, our chapter explores this narrative through a question and answer format. The flexibility of this format allows readers an intimate glimpse into the ways in which the monstrous can be conceptualised and understood in various frameworks.

The purpose of this research is to substantiate the processes of implementing the electronic forms of business integration under the conditions of digital transformation by market players.

The methods used in this research include cooperative game theory, systemic analysis and statistical analysis.

This research presents the substantiation of the processes of implementing the electronic forms of business integration under the conditions of digital transformation by market players. The proprietary methodology of evaluation of the set problems includes three procedures: analysis of the electronic forms of business integration that are used in the digital economy in the world, which envisages their systematisation; evaluation of the effectiveness of implementing the processes of business integration with the use of such forms and their forecast estimation under the condition of individual development of the market environment's players, as well as determination of advantages; and development of the practical implications for managing the electronic forms of business integration for the national companies of developing countries (with forecasting based on the cooperative game theory). The modern electronic forms of business integration include electronic cash (e-cash), electronic data interchange, electronic banking (e-banking), electronic marketing (e-marketing), electronic insurance (e-insurance) and electronic trade (e-trade). Analysis of the effectiveness of implementing the processes of business integration with the use of the electronic forms is performed based on electronic trade, which is used under the conditions of the functioning of digital trade platforms (Internet stores). Such digital trade platforms, as the forms of business strategies, are Amazon and eBay Inc. These two American companies were selected because the United States has the leading position in this sphere. The comparative analysis showed the advantages of participation of players in partnership with the use of electronic trade within two digital platforms, connected to cost saving on advertising and organisation of trade. The practical implications of implementing the electronic forms of business integration for the national companies of developing countries are also presented; they are formed based on the practice of implementing the advantages revealed in the activities of the digital trade platforms Amazon and eBay Inc.

The originality and value of this research are due to the further development of provisions on the specifics of the process of implementing the electronic forms of business integration under the conditions of digital transformation by market players.

The purpose of this work consists in formulating the game strategy of business integration in special economic zones and its advantages for the sustainable development of regions of Russia.

The following methods are used in this work: comparative analysis, statistical method and the game method of business simulation.

The game strategy of business integration in special economic zones and its advantages for the sustainable development of regions of Russia are formulated. The government's requirements (within investing) and benefits in the context of taxation of income and property of the subjects of the economy and citizens, which exist within special economic zones of the Russian Federation, are analysed. The case advantages of activity (draft formulas of development) of the subjects of the economy within special economic zones of the Russian Federation are described compared to their possible individual development. The effects of implementing special economic zones, which are characteristic of the regions of their location, are revealed. A perspective formula for the development of participating enterprises of a special economic zone of the industrial type is formulated, and the directions for the optimisation of socio-economic and ecological development for a depressive region are given.

The novel aspect of this research consists in determining the specific features of the game strategy of business integration in special economic zones and its advantages for the sustainable development of regions of Russia.

The purpose of this research is to reveal the specific features of the behaviour of market players in the collaboration of universities and business structures in the context of the digital economy's development. The traditional processes of collaboration of science and business are compared to the partnership under the conditions of open science.

This research is based on the totality of concepts and theories, founded on the theory of non-linearity of innovations, which allows defining them as a bilateral process that is open to other players. The list of market players, which participate in the process of collaboration, and the character of their interaction are considered from the position of the triple innovation spiral. The specifics of the collaboration of scientific and business structures are considered from the position of knowledge exchange, and the means of their organisation – from the position of the theory of university-industry collaboration. This methodology allows determining the key aspects of collaboration as a process of knowledge exchange and systematising the range of tools and channels of innovation transfer. The evolutionary game theory is used for the empirical evaluation of the specifics of the market players' behaviour in the process of collaboration. The context of the support of the digital economy is considered within the concepts of open innovations, organisation of scientific digital networks and Open Science. The methods used allow for the systemic reflection of the processes related to the behaviour of market players in the collaboration of universities and business structures and the determination of the key advantages that are achieved by them for the support of the digital economy.

It is determined that the digital economy is a result of innovative development and its trigger at the same time. Based on this, the behaviour of market players uses digital potential, on the one hand, and creates conditions for its support, on the other hand. Collaboration is one of the formal tools of the transfer of innovations, which partially covers the interaction with such tools and channels as intellectual property, academic spin-offs, research mobility and labour mobility. Based on the theory of the triple spiral of innovative development, it is stated that business structures and universities are the key elements of innovations. Their interaction is increased by the influence of the government policy and allows creating effective forms of collaboration, which facilitate the knowledge exchange within the system. At this, the business performs the functions of investing and provision of collaboration, universities implement the key processes connected to fundamental research, and government expands the innovative capabilities, stimulating the growth of competitiveness and resolution of social problems. The important problems of the market players' behaviour in the process of scientific and research collaboration are the organisation of the process of knowledge exchange, which is related to intellectual rights, and the difference between the goals of market players at the initial stages of cooperation. Resolution of the above problems allows raising the level of mutual trust and facilitates the processes of knowledge exchange.

We systematise the tools and channels of collaboration of universities and business structures, substantiate the principles and terms of the market players' behaviour in the process of knowledge exchange, and determine the role of each player. In the context of modern tendencies of the digital economy's development, we determine the specifics of the market players' behaviour in the context of using digital technologies and providing a high level of openness of the scientific and production partnership.

With the development of tourism industry, online travel agencies (OTA) have gradually become an important channel for tourism product supplies and sales. Some OTAs provide consumers with a platform for tourism guidance and online travel sharing. They not only satisfy some tourists’ desire to share their experiences but also provide reference for more consumers to choose travel products. This process is the process of value co-creation by customers and online travel companies. This study is conducted under DART theory, a theoretical framework of value co-creation composed of four dimensions, namely dialog, access, risk-assessment, and transparency. Brand equity is divided into four aspects: brand loyalty, brand awareness, customer perceived value, and brand image. This study uses the structural equation model to investigate the impact of customer value co-creation behavior on brand equity of online travel enterprises and interprets the process and mechanism of customer value co-creation behaviors for online travel business brand equity, which provides more efficient strategies and methods for platform interaction and value co-creation.

This chapter elaborates on the perspectives of financial development of countries of Central Asia and China through cooperation with Russia. The authors determine financial resources for the development of the countries of Central Asia and China and figure out possible scenarios for attracting additional financial resources and conclude that financial resources have a decisive role in socioeconomic development. It is substantiated that the increase and expansion of cooperation with Russia are the preferable scenario for attracting additional financial resources. The authors recommend expanding cooperation with Russia within the implementation of the selected optimal scenario are given.

From the 1990s to the present, decision-makers around the world have sought to identify the most appropriate legal framework to support the energy transition. This research aims to analyze the institutional dynamics of renewable energy promotion, focusing on regulatory aspects at the European and national level and emphasizing the case of Romania through several comparative approaches. In the context of the conflict in Ukraine, we focused on the issue of coal, which was reconsidered given the dependence of some European countries on this resource. The main research methods used in this study are comparative analysis and analysis of chronological information in a historical context, with correlations being made. The study was structured in three stages, the first from the 1990s until the European Energy Union formation, the second during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the third from the emergence of the conflict in Ukraine, which determined the recalibration of previously adopted measures. Starting from the hypotheses formulated and considering the regulatory scenario conducive to the transfer of public funds to achieve climate neutrality, the results of the study show the fact that, at this stage of the research, the states of the European continent are determined to fight for zero carbon by 2050. One result we found interesting is that almost a year after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, less than a quarter of European states have moved past their assumed deadline for phasing out coal in the national mix.

There is a long-going discussion in Russia focusing on finding new stimulus for economic growth. Being very rich with natural recourses, Russia has enjoyed extensive economic growth model for many centuries. The world is changing. Russia as any country which is to keep up with the dynamics and the quality of the world economic growth must find some new technologies and economic triggers. Green investment can be regarded as the key instrument to achieve faster economic growth and to make technological gap narrower. The chapter focuses on state policy and business practice in green investment in Russia.