The idea to set up the Institute for Financial Studies (IFS) came to me in 1994, when financial markets in Russia were only beginning to be built. Rigorous research in the field of highly organized financial markets required professionals with fundamental knowledge. The Institute was founded in 1996, and we managed to hire graduates from Russia's leading higher educational institutions: Moscow State University, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, the New Economic School, and HSE University.
Initially, our primary focus was on analyzing securities and corporate finance markets. Later, the activities of the Institute covered macroeconomic issues related to monetary and fiscal policy. One of our focus areas was the topic of public debt management, which was key for Russia in the 1990s and 2000s. My principled approach was that the long-term financial policy of the state must be focused on addressing strategic challenges of economic development, rather than closing gaps in the budget. For example, relying on this type of approach, in the late 1990s, we conducted a comparative analysis of the pension reform options in Russia. Our scenarios suggested that the funded pension scheme should be built using a progressive debt policy with a reduction in the obligations of the unfunded system to those of retirement age. The results of the studies were published in the Voprosy Ekonomiki journal in 1999.
Employees of the Institute published analytical materials on the Institute's website and in business publications, as well as research papers in both national and international academic journals. In addition, they developed recommendations for general governance and carried out research activities for state-owned and private companies. And, during my time as Chief Research Officer, the IFS even published several books, including The Russian Public Debt and Financial Meltdowns
The Institute analyzed the financial situations of sectors of the Russian economy, such as banking, telecommunications, power, and oil and gas. For several years, the IFS collaborated with the Department of Economics at Pennsylvania State University in the U.S. in conducting empirical studies on auctions and tenders for the purchasing of licenses by oil and gas companies. As part of these collaboration efforts that included joint conferences and workshops, we also carried out research into energy security and gas markets in Europe, which resulted in a joint monograph.
Gazprom: An Energy Giant and Its Challenges in Europe. Edited by Andrey Vavilov. Palgrave Macmillan. 2015
Gazprom: An Energy Giant and Its Challenges in Europe. Edited by Andrey Vavilov. Palgrave Macmillan. 2015
Further, our efforts in that area focused on the fundamental theoretical studies in natural resource economics, including the issues of climate change and energy transit. In partnership with other authors, I prepared for publication the following paper on this topic:
Natural Resource Pricing and Rents: an Economic Analysis. Springer Nature.
The topic of energy transit interfaces with my academic research paper on superconductivity, which can be used for developing alternative energy sources.
Natural Resource Pricing and Rents: an Economic Analysis. Springer Nature.
The topic of energy transit interfaces with my academic research paper on superconductivity, which can be used for developing alternative energy sources.
News
Contacts