Financial journal № 2(8) April 2011

N. Nikiforova, L. Dontsova, E. Dontsov
Intellectual Data Analysis Methods used for Building Companies’ Financial Performance Models

The paper authors dwell on the use of a new instrument used for companies’ financial performance model building. The instrument used for intellectual data analysis is called support vector machines (SVM). Having examined company data collected from 150 companies based in Moscow, the article authors describe in detail how the SVM can be used in financial statement analysis.
Key words: financial performance analysis, intellectual data analysis, examination method, financial performance forecasting, data mining methodology, support vector machines (SVM), software

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Yu. Kharitonova
Modern Currency Wars: the Winners and the Losers

The author examines the methods of waging economic wars, their causes and types and offers her own definition for the term currency wars. The majority of such wars were going on when the Bretton-Woods system was operational and the national currency devaluation was used as the main regulatory tool. Today a special «verbal» method of waging a currency war is used by the leading economies. They cause changes in the market players’ expectations and, as a consequence, make an impact on the exchange rate. The currency war between the USA and the European Union was the key currency war of 2010 but the parties to the conflict can be seen as both the losers and the winners at the same time.
Key words: currency wars, world currency system, devaluation, exchange market players’ expectations

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O. Nikolaichuk
The Ground Rent — the Actual and «False» Social Values

The article author examines the concept of ground rent. The issue is becoming increasingly topical today. However, the authors of available publications do not provide sufficient reasoning for the concept. The article author examines today’s economists’ views of the ground rent and the definitions of the term given by the economists of the past. The reasoning is provided by the author for the argument that labor as a category found in any social and economic system is the basis upon which the ground rent is formed. The excessive revenue in this case is seen as a base rent. It is erroneous to see differential rent purely as a «false» social value. It is one of the key conclusions the author makes.
Key words: ground rent, differential rent, «false» social value, classical theory of ground rent, marginalist theory of ground rent, environment where a ground rent may emerge

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N. Rebrova, M. Smolyar
The Standards Set for the Services Rendered by the State (Municipal) Bodies in Russia

The article authors examine the evolution of the term services rendered by the state (municipal) bodies that is found in the Russian legislation. They examine the new financial mechanism that supports the service rendering process and identify the areas for improvement in the scheme used for financing the state service rendering institution. They also examine the international best practices related to the budget planning and public service rendering scheme formation.
Key words: services rendered by the state (municipal) bodies, state (municipal) order, public service portal, expenditure standards, functions of the government institutions

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N. Shash
Program-Based Budget Formation and Evaluation of Budget Program Efficiency

Program-based budgeting as an instrument of budget policy is used to improve the government institutions’ operational efficiency. The program-based budgeting scheme introduction entails substantial changes in the public financial policy. The article author examines the program-based budget structures that are found in France, Sweden and South Korea. She notes that a new budgeting scheme introduction does not lead to the whole budget system change. The important issue of the program efficiency evaluation still remains unresolved despite the fact that many evaluation methods and techniques can be used.
Key words: budget policy, budget reform, program-based budgeting, program-based budget structure, budget program, program efficiency evaluation, program efficiency indicators

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M. Yumayev
Mining Rent: the Distribution of Tax Burden between the Production Companies and Processing Companies

The article author examines the basic rent income amount determination principles used in the mining industry, the rent collection mechanism used and identifies the ways the tax burden can be redistributed between the processing companies and the production companies. He then describes the optimal way the mining sector players should be identified for the tax purposes.
Key words: mining rent, mineral production, mineral raw material, tax burden, Tax Code, mineral extraction tax, mineral processing, distribution of tax burden, rental income from production, rental income from processing, rent money, mineral extraction tax rates, tax on additional income

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D. Pospelov
New Safety Standards as a «Product» of Liberal Economy

The article author examines the Russian legislation related to technical standard elaboration and identifies the key issue that should be addressed today. The fact is that today the concept of safety that should be seen as an absolute is described in the safety requirements as a relative concept in terms of the probability theory. Thus, the safety requirements and standards actually turn into the “acceptable accident rate standards”. He then makes a conclusion that the high accident rate in this country is intertwined with the gaps in the relevant legislation.
Key words: technical objects and the accident rates, security, damage, technical standards

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M. Karev
Consensual Prognostic Model and the Forecasts Made by the Russian Government Institutions

The consensual prognostic model has been widely used by the international economists due to the fact that it is an efficient and easy-to-use tool that can help assess the results gained quickly. The Russian economists predominantly demonstrate negative attitudes when it comes to the model use. That is why the model is not widely used for the purposes of the budget parameters forecasting. The article author takes into account the fact that the real life and forecast Russian budget revenue figures differ from one another significantly and examines the prospects of using the model in Russia.
Key words: consensual prognostic model, forecasting, public budget, public revenue, taxation

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N. Sokolinskaya
Retail Portfolio Risk: the Forecasting Models

Forecasting the retail portfolio credit risk is necessary. It is a topical issue for the loan institutions that operate within the post-crisis Russian banking system where the number of credit risks associated with the retail portfolio is constantly going up. The article author examines the risk elimination methodologies used by the Russian and international experts. If the optimal forecasting method is chosen, the banks’ financial losses will be minimal.
Key words: forecasting models, risks, retail portfolio of a bank, loss reserve, default

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K. Luchenko
Loan Issuing to Small Enterprises and the Banks’ Cashflow: A Mathematical Model

The article author examines the sources of financing used by the small enterprises, their performance indicators, the methods used to decrease the credit risks and the various types of costs associated with the maintenance of the bank deposit accounts. The author then develops a mathematical model of the banks’ cashflow observed when the loans to the small enterprises are issued. The model shows the banks’ goals (i. e. to get revenue from loans (current account expenditure and other banks’ expenses excluded)), loan amount restrictions and restrictions in the banks’ share of revenue gained from the borrower’s money.
Key words: credit risk, interest rate, discounts, statutory reserve requirements, optimization model

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A. Snegiryev
Key State Innovation Program Implementation Process: the Regulations

The article author identifies the issues related to the commercial application of the innovative research findings in Russia. The author uses a regression model to show how much this country lags behind the innovation-oriented countries and uses the cluster analysis method to identify the ways that can be used to bridge the gap between those countries and Russia. He maintains that to do this, the key state innovative programs implementation mechanism should be improved and describes the ways the public financing schemes developed to finance the programs can be streamlined.
Key words: innovation introduction process, commercialization

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Ye. Bushmin
The Federal Budget Revenue: the Structure and the Changes in the Volume

The article author examines the way the federal budget was executed in 2010. He examines the budget structure and the way the budget revenue volume has changed over the last years. He stresses that the main budget policy-makers’ goal in the medium-term is to secure the budget balance by building an efficient budget structure and streamlining the revenue gained from the non-oil and non-gas sectors.
Key words: Federal budget, budget policy, Federal budget revenue, revenue structure, changes in the revenue volume, Federal budget expenditure, budget balance

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M. Samarsky, E. Sorokina
Taxation System Improvement and the Innovation Development Process

The article authors look into the way the taxation mechanism that is used for the Russian innovative companies’ taxation purposes can be improved. They examine the best practices gained by the international community in creating tax incentives for the innovative companies and science-intensive solution finders to increase production volume. They note that the technology cities capable of operating on the international level should become the key drivers of the research development and technology development in this country, and to build them, the tax breaks system is needed. They conclude that one of the main goals of the tax policy in Russia is to build a favorable environment for the innovative companies to operate.
Key words: innovations, R&D, innovation center, taxation, tax preferences, tax breaks

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R. Khusnetdinov
Direct Taxation of Foreign e-Businessmen

Electronic business is one of the sectors where the most active development is observed. The article author examines the sector-related tax administration issues. He is of the opinion that the taxation scheme developed for the foreign e-businessmen taxation purposes should be based upon the use of the permanent representative concept. It is necessary to make amendments to the term permanent representative found in the tax legislation in order to determine the tax jurisdictions in this case.
Key words: taxation, permanent representative, e-business, e-commerce, e-services

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I. Kostin
Public Financing of the Social Sector: the Regional Differences

The article author dwells on the Russian social sector development issues. He examines the differences observed in the level of budget revenue and budget expenditure found in various constituent territories of the Russian Federation. He takes the Kaluga region as an example, examines the way the municipal bodies get financing from the public budget and suggests the measures that should be taken to cope with the regional budget financing schemes’ inconsistency.
Key words: gross regional product, fiscal capacity, differences observed in the level of budget revenue and budget expenditure, social sector

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A. Leipi
Accounts Receivable Analysis as a Tool Used in the Accounts Receivable Control Procedure

The article author examines the accounts receivable control procedure efficiency evaluation methods used by the agricultural sector companies. He uses the methods of correlation and regression analysis to prove that it is appropriate to use indicators of the structural differences when doing the research. It is shown how the accounts receivable correlate with the structural changes in the entities’ financing sources.
Key words: accounts receivable, control procedure, structure variability, financing sources, agricultural sector companies

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L. Stakhovich, E. Galishnikova, L. Ryzhanovskaya
Public Strategies of Financial Education Program Management: the Best Practices

The article authors examine the national strategies of public financial literacy level improvement using the examples of Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, and the USA and identify the common properties and the differences between the strategies examined. They also look into the issue of public financing and management of such programs. Special attention is paid to the identification of channels used to gather information used in public education. The article authors suggest their own way to find a solution to the financial product evaluation issue.
Key words: financial literacy, public policy, public strategy, state program, financial education, information channels, financial products

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N. Voskresenskaya
M. Lomonosov’s Thoughts on Reform Seen from the Modern Economic Futurology Perspective

The article author examines Mikhail Lomonosov’s thoughts on reform and describes the way they are seen from the modern futurology perspective. She stresses that the renowned Russian scientist and researcher uses a comprehensive approach which is widely used by futurologists in all his works where he examines the issues that should be addressed on the national level. She examines in detail M. Lomonosov’s ideas and forecasts made by him in the field of politics, economics, social studies, sciences and other fields which have been later developed by other generations of scientists.
Key words: Mikhail Lomonosov, economic thought, economic policy, mercantilism, reformers’ activities, forecasting, designing the future, futurology, interdisciplinary approach, education, science

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