Research & Expertise news at HSE University

The greatest fear of young women living in big cities is that of sexual violence. It is not necessarily based on the actual crime rate in the city but often instilled by family and society. As a result, women tend to carefully pre-plan their behaviour and movements in 'suspicious' places based on safety concerns. HSE researchers interviewed a group of young women about certain aspects of their fears and strategies they use to deal with it.

Moscow, Tatarstan and St. Petersburg are the leaders of the new ranking. Based on 53 indicators, the ranking can be used by regional governments to develop and optimize their innovation policy. The ranking presentation was held on October 31 at a press conference hosted by the TASS news agency.

This September, HSE – St. Petersburg hosted the 3^rd IZA/HSE University Workshop on Skills and Preferences and Labor Market Outcomes in Post-Transition and Emerging Economies. HSE News Service spoke with Professor Lehmann, co-organizer of the workshop, about human capital, the importance of cognitive and noncognitive skills, and the challenges empirical labour economists encounter when studying these issues in post-transition and emerging economies.

What can modern genetics do? Can a robot learn how to write poetry? How can big data be used to predict crime? The ubiquity of digital technology in our everyday lives and in sciencewas the main theme of a festival organized by HSE University at the Digital October platform.

Couples with three or more children often feel that others judge or refuse to understand them. Their decision to have many children seems to annoy their extended family, neighbours, colleagues, health professionals and government bureaucrats. Very often, other large families are the only one who offer them support. Based on findings from in-depth interviews, HSE researchers describe the effect that social interactions can have on fertility.

In 2013, Russia banned smoking in public places such as cafes, restaurants and nightclubs, as well as on trains, in playgrounds, etc. Statistical analysis has revealed, however, that 26% of male and 28% of female smokers do not always comply with these smoking bans. A full report from a study by Ludmila Zasimova, Assistant Professor at the HSE Department of Applied Economics, has been published in the International Journal of Public Health.

The tenth International Russian Higher Education Conference (RHEC) has commenced in Moscow this week and will last until October 25. This year’s conference focuses on ‘Contributions of Higher Education to Society and Economy: Global, National and Local Perspectives.’

HSE University, together with Intexpertise LLС, Russian foreign economy research centre, will create a Centre for African Studies. The Centre will be based at the HSE Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs and will be a leading analytical platform in support of Russian-African relations. The founding of the Centre will be announced at the Russia-Africa Economic Forum, which begins in Sochi on October 23.