A BOFIT research paper has been awarded the Russian “National Award for Applied Economics”. The awarded paper, examining the behaviour of Russia’s business lobbies, is written by Adviser Laura Solanko (BOFIT) and Professor William Pyle (Middlebury College)[1]. The prize was published in connection with the annual conference of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow on Wednesday 2 April 2014.
The prize was awarded by four Russian universities (Higher School of Economics, New Economic School, Ural State University and Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences IMEMO), the association of Russian economic research institutes ANTSEA and the business magazine Ekspert. This biennial award established in 2009 for the best economic study on Russia is aimed at encouraging and making known high-level academic research on the Russian economy and economic policy. The prize was now awarded for the first time to a study by authors with non-Russian backgrounds.
The study by Solanko and Pyle examines the approaches of business lobbies in the light of Olson’s hypothesis. The main finding is that there is a clear difference between the attitudes of more-encompassing and less-encompassing lobby groups and lobby members with regard to various forms of government subsidies that are harmful to the economy as a whole. The study is based on surveys of firms and business associations in Russia, which were analysed while William Pyle was a Visiting Researcher at BOFIT in summer 2009 and 2011.
For further information, please contact:
Advisor Laura Solanko, tel. +358 10 831 2291
Head of BOFIT Iikka Korhonen, tel. +358 10 831 2272