Corporate social responsibility across Middle East and North Africa

This paper attempts to synthesise the reports prepared by various authors, who live and work in their homeland in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), on the notion of “corporate social responsibility” (“CSR”). The reports are prepared as a prologue for a workshop organised by New Jordanian Research Centre (URJC) on strengthening “CSR” in the businesses of the region. The authors come from different backgrounds. They were invited not to engage in an academic exercise but to capture and reflect upon the “realities” of the debate in their countries on the basis of their role as proactive participants. The objective was to detect common elements and patterns in the issues of and approaches to “CSR” in the MENA region. The authors were asked to use a common format for their reports, but left free in their approach

Vouchers, tests, loans, privatization: Will they help (fight) higher education corruption in Russia?

Russian higher education is in the process of reforming. Introduction of the standardized computer-graded test and educational vouchers was intended to increase accessibility of higher education, make its funding more effective, and reduce corruption in admissions to public colleges. The idea of vouchers failed while the test faces furious opposition and crises. This paper considers vouchers, standardized tests, educational loans, and privatization as related to educational corruption. The test is criticized by many for being a cause of the further increase in educational corruption. However, the test is needed to replace the outdated admissions policy based on the entry examinations. This paper considers the growing de facto privatization of the nation’s higher education as a fundamental process that should be legalized and formalized. It suggests further restructuring of the higher education industry, its decentralization and privatization, and sees educational loans as a necessary part of the future system of educational funding.corruption, education, loans, privatization, reform, Russia, vouchers

Reform of Economic Instruction in the Former Soviet Bloc

This article suggests that the reform of economic instruction in the Former Soviet Union should focus on both learning and action. The incorporation of mathematical methods into the new economic curriculum will occur based on close cooperation among mathematicians and economists. The new economic instruction will have an interdisciplinary character and a multidisciplinary setting. There are several second order organizational changes that need to be made. Bachelor and Master’s Degrees should replace the five-year degree. Changes in the curriculum should include separation of core courses and electives including those from other majors, detail-oriented content of the courses, a decreased number of classes per semester and increased time for each class. Faculty retraining should be coordinated both within and between the universities. Financial incentives should be created to encourage the instructors to participate in retraining, to change the content and method of the instruction, and to work effectively in the classroom.economics, economic instruction, education, reform, transition, former Soviet Bloc

Corruption in Russia’s Doctoral Education

Doctorates have long attracted attention of those aspiring to scholarship and research, but also those seeking verbal distinctions and a documented knowledge. Doctoral degrees are considered as signs of a high level expertise and authority in a given filed. The growing number of dissertation defenses does not necessarily translate into a higher quality of dissertations or qualifications of newly produced doctorates. Such a trend may in part be a result of the growing corruption in higher education, including doctoral education. This paper addresses the issue of “dissertations for sale” in the Russian Federation. It describes corruption in conferring doctoral degrees in its most explicit forms and focuses on possible solutions for this problem. It searches to answer the questions: Why people buy doctorates? Whether this practice is harmful? Is corruption in doctoral education really a bad thing? Is it possible to stop such a practice and how? Answering these questions helps develop a conceptual approach to the problem of doctorates for sale, on the basis of which it will be possible to build future theoretical and empirical work.corruption, dissertation, doctoral degrees, higher education, Russia

Measurements of inequalities in access to higher education: Case of the Russian Federation

This paper focuses on the systematic investigation of the influence of the quasi-experimental projects on possible changes in inequality in access to higher education in Russia. While intuition points toward a positive effect of introduction of the standardized tests and educational vouchers on the decrease in inequality in access to higher education and more effective, efficient, and fairer distribution of the state funds in higher education, empirical evidence on this issue has yet to be found. This paper presents evaluation techniques for the experiments including introduction of the distribution index (DI) to measure income and education inequalities. The DI, the weighted DI, and the share weighted DI allow capturing changes in inequalities in income distribution, concentration of wealth, or access to higher education more precisely than does the Gini coefficient.access, higher education, inequalities, measurements, Russia

Higher education corruption in the world media: Prevalence, patterns, and forms

Corruption in higher education is a newly emerging topic in the field of education research. There is a phenomenal growth in the number of media reports on corruption in higher education over the last decade. However, the rigorous systematic research on education corruption is virtually nonexistent. This paper considers corruption in higher education as reflected in the world media, including such aspects of corruption as its prevalence, patterns, and dominating forms. It follows publications in the specialized and the non-specialized media outlets in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation. The publications are grouped depending on the particular problem they address. This criterion has been chosen as best addressing the issue of corruption internationally. Socio-economic context of educational reforms and changes in each country leaves its print on major forms of corruption in higher education. The findings help to determine which aspects of corruption in higher education should be given more consideration in the future research and which ones might be prioritized, as well as how the national systems of higher education can be improved.corruption, higher education, media, Russia, UK, US

Role of Education in Economic Growth in the Russian Federation and Ukraine

This study analyses the role and impact of education on economic growth in the two largest economies of the former Soviet Bloc, namely, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. It attempts to estimate the significance of different educational levels, including secondary and tertiary education, for initiating substantial economic growth that now takes place in these two countries. This study estimates the model of endogenous economic growth and the system of linear and log-linear equations that account for different time lags in the possible impact of higher education on economic growth. The model estimation shows that there is no significant impact of educational attainment on economic growth. The results from the system of equations indicate that an increase in access of population to higher education brings positive results for the per capita GDP growth in the long term. Increasing the number of college-educated specialists leads to sustainable economic growth. The suggestion can be made that the ground for the 2000-2007 rapid economic growth in Ukraine and in the Russian Federation was laid down in early 1990s. This contradicts commonly accepted perception about the crisis decade of 1990s in the former Soviet Bloc.economic growth, education, Russia, Ukraine

Education Corruption, Reform, and Growth: Case of Post-Soviet Russia

This paper investigates a possible impact of education corruption on economic growth in Russia. It argues that high levels of education corruption may harm total factor productivity in the long run, primarily through lowering the level of human capital and slowing down the pace of its accumulation. Ethical standards learned in the process of training in universities can also affect the standards of practice in different professions. The growing level of productivity is not likely to reduce education corruption in the short run, but can eventually lead to implementation of higher ethical standards in the education sector.corruption, education, growth, reform, Russia, transition

Corruption of the Politicized University: Lessons from the Orange Revolution in Ukraine

This paper argues that corruption is used on a systematic basis as a mechanism of direct and indirect administrative control from the state level down to local authorities and administrations of public and private institutions. Informal approval of corrupt activities in exchange for loyalty and compliance with the regime is commonplace in many countries. This paper explains how corrupt regimes maximize their position in terms of loyalty and compliance by using the example of the 2004 presidential elections in Ukraine. It presents mechanisms by which political bureaucracies politicize universities in order to influence students and channel their electoral power during the Orange Revolution in Ukraine.corruption, elections, politicization, students, university, Ukraine

Facilitating economic development through the reform of economic instruction

Economic development in many ways depends on the level of human capital in the national economy, including that of economists. Market reforms in the former Soviet Bloc urged drastic changes in economic curriculum necessary to prepare the next generation of economic leaders. This paper states that the reform of economic instruction in the Former Soviet Union should focus on both learning and action. The incorporation of mathematical methods into the new economic curriculum will occur based on close cooperation among mathematicians and economists. The new economic instruction will have an interdisciplinary character and a multidisciplinary setting. There are several second order organizational changes that need to be made. Bachelor and Master’s Degrees should replace the five-year degree. Changes in the curriculum should include separation of core courses and electives including those from other majors, detail-oriented content of the courses, a decreased number of classes per semester and increased time for each class. Faculty retraining should be coordinated both within and between the universities. Financial incentives should be created to encourage the instructors to participate in retraining, to change the content and method of the instruction, and to work effectively in the classroom.economics, economic instruction, education, reform, transition