Suchergebnisse

This study uses theories on trust and opportunism to investigate the economic behaviour and business practices of enterprises in the Republic of Karelia, one of Russia's northern territories. Three enterprise types that have emerged during transition period in the Republic ("passives", "realists" and "innovators") have been identified on the basis of this analysis. Furthermore, both formal and informal market institutions in the Republic of Karelia were found to be underdeveloped, which creates numerous possibilities for opportunistic behaviour, both by authorities and by business actors. This, in turn, stimulates the creation of informal business networks and the use of particularly cautious business practices. The study is largely based on the results of a standardised survey and in-depth interviews conducted with the heads of 100 enterprises operating in the Republic of Karelia. The interviews were conducted in June and July of 2004 by the Institute of Economics research group in the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Using the data from the representative sociological survey of households, which was conducted in the Republic of Karelia in 2019, an analysis of the population's demand for commercial services was carried out. The services under consideration include housing and communal services, communications, transport, medical, sanatorium and wellness, veterinary, legal, educational, cultural, tourism, sport and physical activities social services for the elderly and disabled. The heterogeneity of households in terms of the demand for paid services was revealed. Assessment of the consumption behavior showed that active users of commercial socially significant services range from 50% to 80% of households in the region, depending on the service type. A special attention is paid to assessment of consumer behavior in the medical services market. Here, a typology of consumer activity in the paid medical services market is proposed. More specifically, four types of such services are identified. It is concluded that low-income households living in small towns and rural settlements are characterized by a large consumption of paid medical services. An increase in per capita income is associated with a decrease in the share of households with high consumer activity. Consumption activity below or significantly below the average for the region was revealed in groups of wealthy households. The results of the study showed that currently paid medical services are important for the population. During the pandemic, because the existing healthcare system could not provide guaranteed high-quality free timely treatment, the developed paid medical services market provided timely examination and treatment for a part of the population.