French-Russian University

An ambitious research project in the field of international business and international trade is being developed in FRU.

Following the meeting of academics from RANEPA, UNS and The National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) of France on June 1, 2018 in Nice, France, three working groups have been created to undertake collaborative research in the prominent fields of economics today:

• Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

This research field is relatively new, which is why the unavailability of data for analysis will be the main challenge for researchers. At this point this is arguably a phenomenology: we are monitoring the condition of and movements in the new market and attempt to forecast its behaviour. 

The main questions that researchers raise also focus on the current state of affairs. Is cryptocurrency equivalent to money, and do the same value measurement principles apply to it? What should be done when the flow of funds is increasingly uncontrolled? What are the prospects for the use of blockchain? The research is proposed to be focused on the analysis of individual cases. 

• Empirical aspects of the modern international trade theory

The data from the RUSLANA database and Enquête annuelle d’entreprises (the Annual Corporate Survey) is proposed to be used in the research.

RUSLANA database contains the fullest information about companies in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. This simple and easy to navigate database is a universal software solution for research, including detailed financial analysis and credit risk assessment, studies of corporate finance, venture capital and M&A, investigation of the effectiveness of sales and marketing, conducting techno-economic evaluation.

Therefore, the research will be based on both Russian and French statistics. However, the level of transparency of the information is a major limitation, since the databases do not contain information about Russian companies past 2016 and French companies – past 2007.

A comparative analysis as well as the analysis of the dynamics of the Russian import from and export to France, and the analysis of direct foreign investments and the role of intermediation in international trade will be conducted as part of the research.

• Sustainable cities and communities

The analysis of large volumes of regulatory frameworks both national and international will be conducted as part of this research. Making cities and communities sustainable is the 11^th Goal of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015. The analysis of the data on cities in Russia and France is proposed to be conducted; it will be used as a basis to determine success factors and development strategies.

Working groups work separately from each other, but share results on a regular basis. This is an excellent example of an effective network collaboration in scientific and technical research.

As a result of this project a number of collaborative research papers are expected to be published.