Search results

This chapter’s goal is to determine the essence and causal connections of the emergence of conflicts at the level of economic systems (countries) due to technological inequality and to find the perspectives of overcoming these conflicts. The chapter models the economic and political conflict of modern time under the conditions of high-tech development based on the methods of variation analysis and regression analysis. It is proven that the scale of technological inequality in the world economy is very large. It is the economic and political conflict of modern time, the essence of which is as follows: the differentiation of economic systems amid digital development predetermines the opportunities for their entering the world markets. This chapter contributes to the development of the theory of economic and political conflicts, proving the existence of technological inequality as a new form of differentiation of economic systems amid digital development and defining this inequality as a new economic and political conflict of modern time. The chapter also contributes to the development of the theory of international trade, disproving – for the first time – the action of the principle of freedom of international trade. The authors describe technological barriers of the world markets, which limit the presence of countries that are behind the leading countries by digital development. Three key factors that determine the level of technological development of the economy are given: knowledge-intensive employment, venture investments and financing of innovations in business. Due to the above, the chapter provides opportunities for technological conflict management.

This chapter is aimed at reflecting technologies as the key resources of modern regions, identifying the essence and modelling the digital inequality of Russian regions, as well as forming the methodological foundation for the consistent resolution of conflicts in the regional economy of Russia. Through the example of the regional economy of modern Russia, the method of the variation analysis is used for the analysis of differences between regions that are individually investigated in relation to the level of digitalization, and their regression dependence on the level of technological development is determined. As a result, it has been found that Russian regions are characterized by a number of conflicts due to their multi-aspect inequality; these include innovation conflicts, investment conflicts and quality of life conflicts. The abovementioned conflicts are mainly caused by differences in the provision of technological resources to regions (in their digitalization). The novelty and fundamental significance of this chapter consist in the clarification of the cause of spatial inequality through differences in the provision of technological resources to regions. The unique character of this chapter consists in justification of the technology factor of the emergence of inequality and conflicts of regions. This chapter proves that technological inequality exacerbates other aspects of inequality and conflicts of regions. Originality and practical relevance of this chapter consist in the evaluation of the prospects and development of recommendations for conflict management in Russian regions through overcoming differences in their technological support and accelerating the pace of their digitalization.

The purpose of the article is to study the recent tendencies of growth of Russia’s agro-industrial complex (AIC), determine the optimal scenario of its development, and develop recommendations in the sphere of state regulation for its practical implementation. While there are tendencies of growing production and increase in Russia’s export, against this background, there is a tendency of quicker increase of import of food – if it continues, positive balance of foreign trade of food products in 2018 will turn into negative balance in 2020–2024. Though efficiency of crop farming is peculiar for a tendency of quick growth, efficiency of animal breeding is stable, which does not allow overcoming the growing deficit of food in Russia, which grows under the influence of the tendency of wear of fixed funds and slow implementation of new fixed funds due to insufficient financing. Scenarios of mid-term (i.e., until 2024) growth of Russia’s AIC are compiled, of which the most optimal is scenario that requires technological advancements, due to which increase in the value of index of food security up to 85.00 points (27%) will be achieved and the set goals of growth and development of Russia’s AIC will be reached. For a successful optimal scenario of the growth of Russia’s AIC, we offer recommendations in the sphere of state regulation of its digital modernization: adoption of the national strategy of transition to AIC 4.0 within the program “Digital economy of the RF,” development of import substitution in the AIC with emphasis on B2B markets, preparation of the technological platform for transition to AIC 4.0, and sufficient financing for digital modernization of the AIC.

Purpose: This chapter aims to address the problem and explore the process of creating the new ‘markets of tomorrow’ from the perspective of the technological inequalities arising in this context and leading to conflicts in international trade, thus prompting the creation of promising areas of conflict management.

Design/methodology/approach: The study is carried out using the comparative analysis methods through the review of analytical data, as well as using the qualitative structural and logical analysis method.

Findings: This chapter reviews the factors that determine the benefits and limits of participating in the creation of the new ‘markets of tomorrow’ in some of the world’s countries. Prospects and recommendations are identified to prevent or partially mitigate the technological inequalities constituting a barrier to the creation of new ‘markets of tomorrow’, provoking conflict in international trade and promoting the development of promising areas of conflict management.

Originality/value: The results of the study generally supported the assumption that recovery from the economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic requires a comprehensive and sustained economic transformation capable of delivering economic growth that would contribute to the broader social and environmental goals to be achieved over the coming decade. Implementing such a transformation will require the active creation of ‘markets of tomorrow’ through a creative combination of disruptive technological and socio-institutional innovations. The aim is not only to produce more or in a better way but also to transform economies by creating new technological and institutional systems that can address some of today’s most pressing social problems, in particular to mitigate technological inequalities and prevent conflicts from developing.

Introduction: Today the ability of nations to develop and implement innovations is core for their international competitiveness. Ukraine is striving for innovation progress; however, its innovation performance is relatively low. The research problem is to find the bottlenecks, affecting Ukraine’s innovation capability.

Purpose: This study aims to research the national innovation capability profiles, based on cluster analysis, to develop an understanding of drivers and threats for the innovation capability of Ukraine.

Need of the study: The knowledge-based economy, which had already turned into one of the most efficient developmental models of the 21st century, became a key driver of international competitiveness for the leading developed countries due to their progressive structural shifts towards the growth of high-technology manufacturing and knowledge-intensive sectors. These trends are significant to capture for the sake of increasing the innovation capability of the economy of Ukraine.

Methodology: The study is based on the K-means clustering method, which is employed for identifying 10 country clusters based on the indicators of their R&D and innovation activities, which allowed us to assess the innovation capability of Ukraine in comparison with 140 countries of the world. Data selection and normalisation were based on the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report indicators.

Findings: The study showed that Ukraine’s innovation capability problems are typical for most developing countries and are prevalently connected to low R&D expenditures, patent applications, and international co-invention activities. Most countries, except for the technologically developed ones, follow the so-called ‘passive technological learning’ strategies, which usually result in low economic productivity.

Practical implications: Several innovation policy implications have been developed for the government of Ukraine based on the cluster analysis results and accounting for the problems of the national innovation system (NIS).

In this study, the authors use a country-level database covering 63 economies over the period 2014–2019 and employ a wide range of proxies to discuss new technological trends in finance, particularly in the banking sector. The authors also distinguish alternative technology-based business models that directly compete with banks [financial technology (fintech) and giant technology (bigtech) credit providers]. The results suggest that banks’ increased focus on technological innovation, as measured by market value and number of patents, is a possible response to the emerging technology-based nonbank competition, particularly from fintech and bigtech firms. Additionally, the results indicate that the emergence of financial innovation contributes negatively to the average value of bank patent, indicating significant competitive pressure on banks in the technological race. Thus, banks are countering the challenge of fintech and bigtech competition in the financial market by increasing their technology projects and patenting activities. These trends are crucial and may change the stability and sustainability perspectives of banks.

In this chapter, we propose a theoretical assessment of the relationship between unions and investments. We develop a simple model where a firm chooses its investment level anticipating the employee's effort choice and the outcome of wage bargaining. First, and consistently with the holdup view, we find that the union's bargaining power has a negative effect on the accumulation of fixed capital. Second, we show that this negative effect is mitigated by the voice ability of unions to ease the displeasure of exerting effort. Hence, when the voice ability of unions is strong vis-à-vis their bargaining power, the holdup view does not necessarily survive, and unionized firms invest more than their nonunionized competitors.

The intellectual and academic legitimacy of Comparative Education has been a critical issue in the international debate for a long time now. The fragility of the field is well known and understood. Despite frictions and misunderstandings, there are academic and professional structures robust enough to sustain the identity of the field in numerous countries on all continents. In Romania, there are no systematic concerns related to Comparative Education as an epistemologically autonomous field. Moreover, we cannot even argue for the existence of enough academic infrastructures to support Comparative Education as a research direction. But as countries in the world cannot afford to ignore global trends in terms of economy, technology, culture, Romania cannot disregard developments of educational policies and practices in Europe and throughout the world. Globalization and interconnections between contemporary societies raise common challenges for education systems in the world, and these are eventually reflected in national academic discourses. The major objectives of the present chapter are the following: (1) proposing an inventory of causes that led to the delay in establishing Comparative Education as an autonomous research field in Romania and (2) identifying progresses and accumulations that could lead to establishing Comparative Education as an explicit rather than tangential research field in Romania.

The objective of this chapter is to explain how an innovation-driven economic development model can help to mitigate corruption and facilitate competitiveness in Nigeria.

With the use of descriptive narratives, Nigeria was examined in comparison with other countries such as South Korea. The chapter argues that Nigeria has not experienced development as much as South Korea because of her primary dependence on crude oil for economic sustenance.

Evidence from the statistics showed that innovation-driven economies are more competitive and less corrupt compared to natural resource-driven economies such as Nigeria. Nigeria has performed poorly in terms of competitiveness, transparency, and governance owing to her dependence on natural resources as a major means for economic sustenance.

Helps to explain why an innovation-driven economic development model is the solution to mitigating corruption and facilitating competitiveness in Nigeria.

Disruptive digital technological innovation has the potential to dramatically alter the corporate landscape as we know it. The authors explore this premise by examining both industry practices and their conceptual bases in the digital age. The authors then describe cases and trends in the three main mediums of digital innovation – artificial intelligence, fintech, and blockchain. The authors focus on how these innovative technologies can impact the firms by creating values as part of corporate strategy, and by changing the way employees work. However, the impacts will likely go well beyond business and finance, and are likely to be adopted by healthcare, non-government organizations, and governments as well.