Research & Expertise news at HSE University

Researchers from HSE University have conducted a study among graduate students to identify which life choice they consider the most important. All respondents linked their successes and failures to education. Decisions in other significant areas, such as relationships with loved ones or choosing a place to live, were often viewed through the lens of education. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

How are digital platforms contributing to sustainable development? How is international cooperation progressing in Eurasia? How should the Russia-India business dialogue proceed? HSE University's scientists presented their answers during expert discussions at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

HSE University economists have proposed a novel approach to modelling monopolistic competition with heterogeneous firms and consumers. The results of collaborative research carried out by Alexander Tarasov from Moscow, his co-authors from HSE University–St Petersburg, together with the Norwegian School of Economics, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Free University of Brussels, have been published in American Economic Journal: Microeconomics.

A new study by researchers at the HSE Language and Brain Centre and the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences can change the current understanding of language acquisition in young children, revealing that the boundaries between typical performance and developmental disorders are not as clear-cut as previously believed. Having tested more than 100 Russian-speaking children between the ages of 4 and 7, the researchers discovered that some children diagnosed with developmental language disorders (DLD) performed on par with their peers who did not have speech and language diagnoses. The study has been published in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

Researchers at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences examined the level of effort that professional football players are willing to exert during a match in absence of financial incentives. It appears that the primary factors driving players to strive harder for victory are the strength of the opponent and the significance of the match for the club. This is particularly noticeable in derby matches between teams from the same city, such as the Moscow derby between CSKA and Spartak on April 25, 2024. The study has been published in the Journal of the New Economic Association. 

Although the North Caucasus played a crucial role in the ancient colonisation of Eurasia and the shaping of its cultural and genetic heritage, the genetic history of its indigenous cultures has not yet been fully explored. Scientists have, for the first time, conducted deep sequencing of ancient DNA from members of the Koban culture that emerged in the late Bronze Age in the North Caucasus and compared this genetic data with that of modern populations of the Caucasus. Their findings confirm the role of Koban culture carriers as an ancient genetic bridge between the Bronze and Iron Ages in the North Caucasus. The study has been published in the European Journal of Human Genetics.

Backers of projects on crowdfunding platforms can expect rewards from their pledges. For example, funding someone's idea on Kickstarter can result in an average annual return of 11.5%, with design projects known to deliver returns as high as 70%. However, it is important to note that these returns do not come in the form of direct cash payments but rather as savings on the purchase of the product once it hits the market. This has been demonstrated in a study by researchers at the HSE Faculty of Economics published in Economic Analysis Letters.

At the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russian President Vladimir Putin participated alongside the Presidents of Bolivia and Zimbabwe, Luis Alberto Arce Catacora and Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa. For the first time, a representative from HSE University—Sergey Karaganov, Academic Supervisor of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs and HSE’s distinguished professor—served as the moderator of the plenary session.