What can and should be done to decrease the pressure law enforcement authorities exerton business? Should the whole law enforcement system be changed or the legal penalties for entrepreneurs softened? Highlights from a discussion club session of the Association of Independent Centers of Economic Analysis on the topic of ‘The Law Enforcement System and Business in Russia: Direct and Indirect Costs’are described below. The session featured special experts Ella Paneyakh and Andrey Nazarov.

Traditionally, the falsification of an election involves filling ballot boxes with fake ballot papers. International researchers at the HSE analyzed another mechanism which can be used to distort the election process: pressure on employers and employees. The following is a review of apaper by Timothy Frye, Ora John Reuter, and David Szakonyi

Russians are more concerned about material success than self-realization, in spite of a global shift from survival values to self-expression values. ‘Happiness in Russia in Comparative Perspective’, is a paper by Edouard Ponarin, Director of the HSE Laboratory for Comparative Social Research (LCSR)

Compared with large companies, small and medium-sized businesses in Russia find it easier to avoid complying with the country’s strict labor legislation because they are able to skirt its regulations. Meanwhile, large companies, which ensure they abide by the law, offset their extra costs by paying lower wages. Here are some findings from “Employment Legislation as a Factor of Employer Behaviour”, a research paper by Olga Mironenko

Religion, social welfare, and the quantityof orphanages are the most important factors influencing the number of orphans in Russian provinces. “Regional Differences in the Number of Orphans in Today's Russia” is a report authored by Sergei Vinkov.

Official statistics fail to capture – in fact, they simply ignore – the development of Russia’s high-tech industry. This distorts macroeconomic indicators and negatively impacts the quality of the government's decisions. Vladimir Bessonov has authored the report: “In Search of Information and Communication Technologies: The Quirks of Russian Statistics and Economic Measurements”