Measuring the Value Added by Money in Trade

The paper tests the proposition that money generates value in trade. It examines the data for 5,746 Russian companies for 1997 and finds that money accounts for 24.6 percent of their value-added. The functional form of the return on money in trade is determined to be positive and marginally declining. The paper imputes that Russian GDP lost 8.1 percent in 1997 because of diminished use of money in trade. It hypothesizes that the severity of the Great Depression in the USA of 1930s could have been significantly reduced if the proposed barter networks were implemented at the time.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40021/2/wp635.pd

Asymptotically Optimal Estimator of the Parameter of Semi-Linear Autoregression

The difference equations $\xi_{k}=af(\xi_{k-1})+\epsilon_{k}$, where $(\epsilon_k)$ is a square integrable difference martingale, and the differential equation ${\rm d}\xi=-af(\xi){\rm d}t+{\rm d}\eta$, where $\eta$ is a square integrable martingale, are considered. A family of estimators depending, besides the sample size $n$ (or the observation period, if time is continuous) on some random Lipschitz functions is constructed. Asymptotic optimality of this estimators is investigated.Comment: 10 page

Effective Tax Rates in Transition

The paper addresses the question of effective tax rates for Russian economic sectors in transition. It presents a detailed account of fiscal environment for 1995 and compares statutory obligations with reported tax liabilities. The paper finds that taxation did not contribute to recession, as some observors believed at the time. It extends research by questioning the role that inflation played distorting revenue structure. When the costs of intermediate inputs are adjusted for inflation, many sectors have negative residual revenue, which is indicative of recession. Yet, modeling tax changes to correct the situation does not produce positive results, for the tax share in the cost structure of many sectors is small and cannot compensate for inflationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39762/3/wp378.pd

Non-monetary Trade and Differential Access to Credit in the Russian Transition

The unusual rise and fall of non-monetary trade (NMT) in the Russian transition has been a subject of heated debates. Yet, this phenomenon is often viewed as a peculiarity that one cannot explain by economic considerations alone. In this paper we show that the resort to NMT was a rational, albeit spontaneous, reaction of industrial enterprises to the outflow of liquidity, which in turn was precipitated by the combination of persistent budgetary deficit and strict monetary policy. The IMF pledge to stand by if the government became insolvent made this policy credible. Several mechanisms contributed to the development of credit rationing of enterprises. First, the abandonment of implicit guarantees on loans extended to enterprises by the Central Bank of Russia prompted commercial banks to shift credit to other groups of borrowers. Second, when the Federal Government moved to finance its budgetary deficit through open-market operations, it crowded out commercial credit. Third, public money was transferred predominantly to households who partially lent it back to the government. Fourth, the policy of low exchange rate kept the balance of payment close to zero, which prevented the monetary base from growing. The default of August 1998 constituted a clear structural break. It prompted modifications in monetary and fiscal policies. The collapse of the market for state securities led to widespread bank failures. The CBR abandoned its policy of non-intervention in fiscal affairs and cleared debts that the governments and enterprises accumulated. In addition, money supply expanded because increased inflows of foreign currency were incompletely sterilized. The combination of a lesser government presence at credit markets, clearance of debts, and increase in money supply injected liquidity in domestic producers and they abandoned NMT. Statistical evidence supports the claim that NMT was caused by credit rationing experienced by enterprises. A GLS model with four explanatory variables (and dummies accounting for a structural break of August 1998) explains more than 90% of monthly changes in NMT for the period of February 1992 – December 2001. The collapse of the market for government loans appears to be the most significant event accountable for the structural break.Non-monetary trade, structural break, Russian transition

Measuring the Value Added by Money in Trade

The paper tests the proposition that money generates value in trade. It examines the data for 5,746 Russian companies for 1997 and finds that money accounts for 24.6 percent of their value-added. The functional form of the return on money in trade is determined to be positive and marginally declining. The paper imputes that Russian GDP lost 8.1 percent in 1997 because of diminished use of money in trade. It hypothesizes that the severity of the Great Depression in the USA of 1930s could have been significantly reduced if the proposed barter networks were implemented at the time.Money, Value-added, Empirical econometrics

Effective Tax Rates in Transition

The paper addresses the question of effective tax rates for Russian economic sectors in transition. It presents a detailed account of fiscal environment for 1995 and compares statutory obligations with reported tax liabilities. The paper finds that taxation did not contribute to recession, as some observors believed at the time. It extends research by questioning the role that inflation played distorting revenue structure. When the costs of intermediate inputs are adjusted for inflation, many sectors have negative residual revenue, which is indicative of recession. Yet, modeling tax changes to correct the situation does not produce positive results, for the tax share in the cost structure of many sectors is small and cannot compensate for inflationTaxation in transition, Russian fiscal system

Mechanism of mass transfer in the formation of hydrothermal deposits of sulphides [Translation from: Trudy Inst.Geol.rudn.Mesterozh. 16, 80 [pages 44-46 ”Solubility of sulphides of iron” only], 1958]

This partial translation of the original paper provides the summary of this study of the mechanism of mass transfer in the formation of hydrothermal deposits of sulphides. For determining the solubility of sulphides of iron, the radioactive isotope Fe59 was used. The solubility of two sulphides was determined