Growing Demand Revives Retail
A seasonal revival in consumer demand stimulated an increase inretail trade in Q2 2014. Food retail showed the best results, but intensified moods to save household earnings, a slowdown in income growth, high inflation, and difficulties in obtaining consumer credit might soon change the situation, according to experts from the Centre for Business Tendency Studies at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge at the Higher School of Economics in their latest monitoring of the retail business climate.
Informal Medicine Goes Where Formal Medicine Does Not
The markets for healing and witch doctors are often developed in smaller cities and also serve nearby rural areas as well. Such centres of 'informal healthcare' most commonly thrive among individuals who have become disappointed with traditional medicine or among those who do not have access to traditional medicine, Yulia Krasheninnikova, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Management’s Department of State and Municipal Management at HSE Perm campus, said in the study 'Beyond the Healthcare System: The Development of Alternative Health Services in Urban and Rural Areas.'
Teens Choose Their Future Career Independently
The impact of family, including its cultural aspects, on a pupil’s idea of his or her future work is significantly weaker than the influence of the student’s own personal qualities, such as dedication, perseverance and desire to learn, Alexandra Yuzhaninova concluded in an article published in HSE’s Journal of Educational Studies.
Fast Food Disrupts Family Ties
The family meal, a tradition which has for centuries helped strengthen family ties, is becoming a rare phenomenon, increasingly replaced by a fast food culture and various individual dietary strategies, according to Irina Sokhan, Associate Professor at the HSE's Department of Applied Political Science (St. Petersburg).
Academic Success Unaffected by Character
The personality traits of Russian students do not have an overall significant impact on academic performance at the university. In the West, those who are more responsible, open and inclined to take risks turn out to be better students, Ekaterina Kochergina and Ekaterina Orel said at an academic seminar of HSE’s Centre for Institutional Studies.
Commenting in the Blogosphere Has Elements of Being a Fan
Commenting on Live Journal is often concentrated around the most popular bloggers. Who authors the posts plays a more significant role in forming discussions than the subject matter. These are the conclusions of researchers at the HSE Laboratory of Internet Studies LINIS, Olessia Koltsova, Sergey Koltsov and Sergey Nikolenko.
'Big Data' Help Doctors Choose a Treatment Method
Over the course of 20 years, since the beginning of contemporary medicine’s transition into a digital format, a vast amount of largely unused data has amassed. The analysis of these data and the extraction of a new logic of control from them is one of the most popular areas of focus in applied mathematics, Oleg Pianykh, Professor in HSE’s Department of Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, said in a report. His report, 'Big Data in Medicine: How to Make them Work,' was presented at HSE’s academic seminar 'Mathematical Models of Information Technologies.'
The Natural Gas Deal with China Won't Help Russia's Economy
Russia's cooperation with China on a natural gas deal over the next few years will marginally improve Russia's economic performance and bring additional revenues, but is unlikely to offset the country’s sluggish economic growth rates, according to the recent issue of 'New Comments on the State and Business' published by the HSE Centre of Development Institute.
Russians Do Not Believe in Success without Connections
Education and professional experience in reaching success are not as important for Russians as useful connections. It is specifically connections in the majority of people’s perception that play the main role in climbing the social ladder. Such mind-sets of the population do not allow for the national economy to grow or develop, the head of the Institute of Humanitarian Development of the Megapolis’ Center for Scientific Research and Education, Elena Avraamova, concluded during a research study presented at the HSE.
Doctors Consider Informal Payments Normal
Many patients are dissatisfied with the health services they receive, but prepared to pay doctors extra for quality care. Doctors, in turn, consider it normal to receive cash or gifts from grateful patients. However, the line can be very thin between gratitude and extortion, according to a study by Alla Chirikova, Senior Research Fellow of the RAS Institute of Sociology, and Sergei Shishkin, Academic Supervisor of the HSE's Institute for Health Economics, published in the Universe of Russia journal.