The purpose of the article is to identify the determinants of cryptocurrency returns. To achieve this goal, the article presents an attempt to create factors that reflect the characteristics of the cryptocurrency market, and uses Fama–French type multifactor models for analyzing the returns of cryptocurrencies. Standard factors based on capitalization indicators, cryptocurrency trading volumes and the third momentum were built. The paper also presents an estimation of the impact of these factors on various groups, or portfolios, of cryptocurrencies in certain periods of time (the period of market formation and the period of high price volatility of the market, including its division into two sub-periods: before the coronavirus pandemic and during the pandemic), which allows us to consider the heterogeneity of data both in time and for certain indicators. As a result of estimating regressions on daily data, empirical evidence in favor of a positive relationship between the excess return of cryptocurrency groups with the constructed factors was obtained. In addition, the paper checks the relationship between the cryptocurrency market and the stock market. Prior to the beginning of high volatility period, cryptocurrencies could be considered as an asset for the diversification of market risk, but later there could be found co-movement of the cryptocurrency market and the stock market, seen from the appearance of the statistical significance of the coefficient before a variable reflecting the market risk premium. In addition, it was shown that the frequency of data can affect the estimates of the coefficients but does not affect the fundamental conclusions of the analysis. The findings indicate the need for further analysis of the cryptocurrency return factors on more homogeneous samples. 

Economies of scale, or the reduction of the average costs as a result of the organization’s growth, can be observed not only in for-profit but also in non-profit organizations. Non-profit organizations have certain characteristics that can influence their decisions on expanding their scale of services. Numerous studies point at the presence of economies of scale in NPOs. Today, economies of scale are changing under the influence of digital technologies. Researchers in Russia who study economies of scale, first of all, analyze their effect on various spheres of the economy, and also show the possibilities of their application. Economies of scale and the impact of digitalization on this effect in Russian NPOs have not yet been investigated enough. This article intends to fill in these gaps. For the analysis, data from the Monitoring the Status of Civil Society research conducted by the Centre for Studies of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector (HSE) in 2017 and 2018 were used. The analysis elucidates the widespread use of digital technologies by non-profit organizations. The results of the logarithmic model evaluation with the least squares method and robust regression method show that there are significant economies of scale in NPOs. There are no connections between economies of scale and digitalization in NPOs. The author did not obtain any evidence of the existence of economies of learning—i.e., the reduction of the average costs as a result of gaining experience in providing services over time—in Russian NPOs. The results emphasize the importance of supporting small non-profit organizations and assisting non-profit organizations in the process of mastering digital technologies. 

The aim of the research is to assess the level of development of Russia’s scientific and technological complex in a comparative analysis of achieved parameters against the results of the world level. The relevance of the work is in determining the emerging trend of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation for the subsequent development of managerial decisions in the areas requiring close attention of the state. The study is based on the available information resources that publish open data on international statistics for the period 2010–2019. The first stage involved a detailed analysis of the most significant indicators characterizing the level of resource endowment and efficiency of scientific activity in the countries and partners of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. At the second stage, based on the developed and applied methodology of point estimation, the final index of development of the scientific and technological complex was found for the countries at two time intervals. The results achieved in the Russian Federation were evaluated, and the factors that determined its position among the studied countries were given. According to the results of the study, the leaders in the final index of scientific and technological development are Switzerland, Sweden, South Korea and the Netherlands; the outsiders are India, Brazil and South Africa. The Russian Federation is included in the list of countries with a low level of scientific and technological development. A direct correlation between the level of resource provision and performance has been established, with a number of countries having a “deferred effect” due to the created reserve to build the resource potential in the past period, which later allowed them to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of scientific activity while reducing the resource base. It is revealed that the change in the amount of funding and availability of labor resources primarily affects the possibility of and return in obtaining a practical result, expressed by patent activity, and does not have a significant impact on publication. The solution to the problem of low efficiency of scientific activity in the Russian Federation and lagging behind the leading countries in scientific and technological development, in the opinion of the authors, lies in the reorientation of state policy to stimulate scientific organizations and researchers in obtaining demanded results of scientific activity from society and enterprises, with a decrease in the role of publication activity as the main criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of organizations subordinated to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. 

Transport infrastructure development can be an important factor both for the competitiveness of the economy and for individual enterprises. Its improvement ensures the reduction of transport and logistics costs, increasing the connectivity of factor markets and productivity in the economy. Modern Russian studies of the effects of transport infrastructure development are more likely focused on higher-level analysis, and when trying to move to the micro level they still use aggregated indicators of transport infrastructure development without taking into consideration the actual configuration of routes and location of infrastructure facilities. Because of this, the differentiation of effects between territories—in particular in cities and outside them—may remain unaccounted for. The development of transport infrastructure stimulates agglomeration effects and productivity growth. The article presents an analysis of the impact of transport infrastructure development on enterprises’ total factor productivity (TFP) with the focus on Russian cities. It is the urban infrastructure that provides a significant share of short- and medium-distance transportation, including door-to-door delivery, and a major share of transportation for small and medium-sized firms in cities. Other modes of transportation (rail, water, and air) provide transportation over longer distances outside of cities. The use of microdata (financial statements of more than 230 thousand Russian companies and estimates of the level of transport infrastructure development based on the actual configuration of the road network) made it possible to focus on urban specifics. It is shown that the positive impact of more accessible transport infrastructure on TFP is more pronounced in cities than outside of them. Furthermore, the impact of transportation infrastructure is differentiated across sizes of cities and firms located in them. 

The oil refining industry is one of the most important structures of the Russian economy. Consumption of oil products provides revenues to the regional and federal budgets through different types of taxes. Increases in excise tax rates carried out in Russia in recent years do not appropriately take into account the impact of this measure on the demand for oil products, thus enabling a decrease in the effectiveness of fiscal policy. Nevertheless, neither are the determinants of oil products consumption properly investigated, nor have science-based estimates of the corresponding elasticities of consumption been submitted in publicly available sources. This article provides a specification of the model of demand for oil products by motor vehicles. Estimation of the model is performed using a detailed monthly panel data set for the subjects of the Russian Federation over the period 2010–2016. The short-term price elasticity constitutes –1.1, while the long-term price elasticity is –2.3. Estimates of the short- and long-term elasticities with respect to income and the number of cars per capita are also found. The obtained results allow one to conclude that in Russia there is elastic demand for oil products and, under existing economic conditions, the current increase in the excise tax rates (by about 0.4 rubles per liter) may lead to a decrease in gasoline consumption in the short and long terms by 0.93% and 2% per car respectively, being neutral for the budget in the short run and negative in the long run.