Spatial Competition and Transport Infrastructure: The Case of Moscow Office Rental Market

This paper studies the geography of competition on Moscow commercial real estate market. We estimate the elasticity of office rental price to the prices of competing objects as a function of the geographical distance. We found that office real estate market in Moscow, although saturated, is surprisingly local. The evidence of price competition exists primarily at a walking distance, and dies down quickly at a distances beyond one kilometer. However, if competing objects are connected by a subway line, the geographical radius of competition extends to up to three kilometers. Thus, in the case of Moscow real estate transportation infrastructure works to integrate local markets and promote competition, although the magnitude of these effects are modest

LOOKING FOR MULTIPLE EQUILIBRIA IN RUSSIAN URBAN SYSTEM

This paper studies the effect of forced labor relocation in GULAG, and the losses during the WWII on the long-term dynamics of city growth in the USSR. The main goal is to test whether the impact of Stalinist policies and the WWII on economic geography of the USSR persists in long run, and whether, in response to these policies, the long-term dynamics of the Soviet city growth shows evidence of multiple equilibria. I find that WWII does not have a statistically significant long-term effect on city growth, controlling for other factors, while GULAG system does. The growth of an average city in 1960s exhibits partial mean-reversion after the shocks of 1930s-1950s. The dynamics is consistent with multiple equilibria hypothesis: cities that received a lot of investment (as measured by the GULAG population) in the 1930s-1950s, have a higher chance not to revert to the previous trajectory, but to continue growing, while neglected cities are more likely to decline.Эта статья изучает влияние принудительного труда в ГУЛАГе, переселения, и потерь во Второй мировой войне на долгосрочную динамику роста города в СССР. Основная цель заключается в проверке, сохранилось ли влияние сталинской политики и Второй мировой войны на экономическую географию СССР в долгосрочной перспективе, и показывала ли, в ответ на эти политики, долгосрочная динамика роста советского города свидетельство множественного равновесия , Я считаю, что Вторая мировая война не оказывает статистически значимого долгосрочного влияния на рост города, при учете других факторов, в то время как система ГУЛАГа - оказывает. Рост среднего города в 1960-е годы проявляет частичное возвращение к норме после потрясений 1930-1950. Динамика согласуется с гипотезы множественного равновесия: города, которые получили много инвестиций (измеренных в населении ГУЛАГа) в 1930-1950, имеют более высокий шанс не вернуться к прежней траектории, а продолжать расти, в то время как рост оставшихся в стороне городов, вероятно, снизится

Issues in Attribution and Expert Assessment of the Decorative Porcelain Objects

This paper explores the main issues in professional attribution and methodology for the expert assessment of decorative porcelain works. Expert assessment of such works consists of a range of examinations, including studies of technological peculiarities, marking of items, stylistic, heraldic and epigraphic analysis. The history of Russian porcelain is heavily influenced by various trends in European art, as well as events in Russian history. In each stage of development of locally produced porcelain, marks on the items were used in different way and presented a different range of information. Interpretation of these marks provides an important source of attribution and establishment of provenance and, therefore, is of vital importance for any professional working with Russian porcelain. This article provides information on the porcelain markings from the establishment of first porcelain factories in eighteenth-century Russia during the imperial period, before discussing markings on Soviet porcelain and, finally, giving examples of contemporary marks used by modern Russian factories. Keywords: attribution, expertise, porcelain, decorative plastic, sculpture, decoration, brand names, hallmarks, author’s signature

USING THE POTENTIAL OF A TOY BOOK IN THE PREPARATION OF BACHELOR STUDENTS IN THE FIELD OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The article outlines the problem of using the potential of toy books in preparing bachelor students for purposeful work on the formation of mathematical concepts in preschool children and suggests the idea of organizing the creative activity of students to design toy books with mathematical content.The article contains an overview of classifications of toy books, pedagogically characterized and methodically described examples-constructs of various types of toy books created by bachelor students. The pedagogical potential of these constructs allows us in this work to consider a toy book as a means of mathematical education for preschool children.The purpose of the study is a theoretical description and empirical understanding of the advantages of using the potential of a toy book with mathematical content in the educational activities of a university for the development of creative thinking of future preschool teachers. To achieve the goal, the following methods were used: theoretical analysis of literary sources, Internet resources, analysis of statistical data and a pedagogical experiment.The results of the study showed difficulties in mastering the method of designing a toy book with mathematical content, revealed the preferences of future educators-educators in choosing one or another type of toy book that dominates in its content a mathematical topic and methodological features of its implementation in the presented design form.The conducted research and analysis of the results allowed us to obtain data on the importance of including in the process of training future teachers-educators a creative technique - the design of toy books with mathematical content.

Gulag, WWII and the Long-run Patterns of Soviet City Growth

This paper analyzes the geographical patterns of city growth in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation in relation to the Stalinist policies of the 1930s to 1950s, and WWII. Using a unique data set on the locations of Gulag camps, and on the evacuation of industrial enterprises during WWII, I estimate the effect of these factors on city growth throughout the Soviet and post-Soviet period. The cities where Gulag camps were located grew significantly faster than similar cities without camps. WWII events (location of the frontlines, evacuation) also affected local population growth, but their impact diminished with time and disappeared completely after 25 years. In contrast, the effect of Gulag camps has been permanent

Where russians should live: a counterfactual alternative to Soviet location policy

This paper investigates the extent of distortions in Russia's spatial economy that are inherited from the Soviet system. Using Canada as a benchmark for spatial dynamics of economic activity in a market economy, I construct the spatial allocation of population that would result in Russia, given its initial conditions and existing regional endowments, in the absence of Soviet location policy. The results show that Siberia and the Far East were overpopulated by about 14.5 million people by the end of the Soviet period. Overdevelopment of Siberia comes at the expense of the European area of the country. This discrepancy persists, even after adjusting the simulated counterfactual allocation for WWII

The Book of Judith: from a symbolic story to a historical mystery

The Apocryphal tale of Judith describes the story of the encounter between the Assyrians and the Jews, who managed to overcome the enemy through the faith and strength of Judith. The Book is rich in historical and geographical details but the general historical stage is false or more likely intentionally modified. The reason of this modification may be the creation of a pseudo-historical reality with the purpose to make an impression of a timeless lesson. But with the course of time this symbolic role of this artistical device is slackening so that the process of decoding advances to the forefront

Where Russians Should Live: a Counterfactual Alternative to Soviet Location Policy

This paper investigates the extent of distortions in Russia's spatial economy that are inherited from the Soviet system. Using Canada as a benchmark for spatial dynamics of economic activity in a market economy, I construct the spatial allocation of population that would result in Russia, given its initial conditions and existing regional endowments, in the absence of Soviet location policy. The results show that Siberia and the Far East were overpopulated by about 14.5 million people by the end of the Soviet period. Overdevelopment of Siberia comes at the expense of the European area of the country. This discrepancy persists, even after adjusting the simulated counterfactual allocation for WWII

Gulag, WWII and the Long-run Patterns of Soviet City Growth

This paper analyzes the geographical patterns of city growth in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation in relation to the Stalinist policies of the 1930s to 1950s, and WWII. Using a unique data set on the locations of Gulag camps, and on the evacuation of industrial enterprises during WWII, I estimate the effect of these factors on city growth throughout the Soviet and post-Soviet period. The cities where Gulag camps were located grew significantly faster than similar cities without camps. WWII events (location of the frontlines, evacuation) also affected local population growth, but their impact diminished with time and disappeared completely after 25 years. In contrast, the effect of Gulag camps has been permanent

Inland lake temperature initialization via coupled cycling with atmospheric data assimilation

Application of lake models coupled within earth-system prediction models, especially for predictions from days to weeks, requires accurate initialization of lake temperatures. Commonly used methods to initialize lake temperatures include interpolation of global sea-surface temperature (SST) analyses to inland lakes, daily satellite-based observations, or model-based reanalyses. However, each of these methods have limitations in capturing the temporal characteristics of lake temperatures (e.g., effects of anomalously warm or cold weather) for all lakes within a geographic region and/or during extended cloudy periods. An alternative lake-initialization method was developed which uses two-way-coupled cycling of a small-lake model within an hourly data assimilation system of a weather prediction model. The lake model simulated lake temperatures were compared with other estimates from satellite and in situ observations and interpolated-SST data for a multi-month period in 2021. The lake cycling initialization, now applied to two operational US NOAA weather models, was found to decrease errors in lake surface temperature from as much as 5&ndash;10&thinsp;K vs. interpolated-SST data to about 1&ndash;2&thinsp;K compared to available in situ and satellite observations.</p