Contemporary Issues in Business and Financial Management in Eastern Europe

Simon Grima, Eleftherios I. Thalassinos, Simon Grima, Eleftherios Thalassinos, Eleftherios I. Thalassinos

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781787564503
• eBook ISBN: 9781787564510
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Financial Risk Management
• Index: Business

This special 100th edition of the Emerald book series Contemporary Issues in Economic and Financial Analysis dedicates 14 chapters to contemporary issues in business and financial management in Eastern Europe by authors invited mainly from the Rostov State University of Economics. 

As the title suggests, the chapters are a mix of studies on economic and financial aspects in Eastern Europe. Two chapters are dedicated to the green economy and finance and others to information technology in banks and the treasury, problems of fund raising for accumulated damage repair, company business and individual entrepreneurship activity strategy, competency-based management, the economic coenosis theory, the fiscal mechanism, global interaction in the world economy, bank economic capital model, corporate reporting and the concept of alienation.

CHAPTER 1

GREEN ECONOMY: A PHENOMENON OF PROGRESS AND A CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY

A. U. Albekov, T. V. Parkhomenko and A. A. Polubotko

ABSTRACT

This chapter presents the development prospects of environmentally safe standards in the Russian Federation. It also addresses the imbalance between the natural, socio-economic, and scientific substantiation of green economy development.

The main idea of this chapter is based on the necessity of technological modernization, which would facilitate the reduction of environmentally unfriendly production methods, the decrease in natural resources depletion, and the increase in economy competitiveness by reducing the dependence on carbon energy.

The authors substantiate reasons and effective solutions for a green economy aimed at realization, implementation, and successful exploitation of innovation in the alternative energy production space.

Keywords: Green economy; logistics; concept of environmental security of the society; advanced solutions; energy; sustainable development

JEL classification: F01; O10; O40

INTRODUCTION

While understanding the scientific and methodological prospects of economic development, scientists assess new trends regarding the introduction of environmentally friendly logistics standards and organizational and functional mechanisms in their attempt to develop the social-economic system of Russia. They use the most effective domestic and world practices, determining the role of marketing and management in the development of green standards. They take into account the opportunities of environmental auditing, which allows adjusting energy dependence in the future, activating the processes of physical waste recycling by maintaining a balance between the infrastructure supply development and the availability of affordable environmental and hi-tech technologies. In this regard, they open up new horizons for the development of strategic industries, rational consumption of finite resources, and enhancing the role and significance of green logistics as a fundamental driver of eco-progress.

The development of global economic systems in Russia and the world is determined by the aggravation of the struggle for energy resources in the inter-country arena and the accessibility to new technologies. Changes in the standards of environmental legislation impose the need to apply the achievements and innovations of the “green” economy to the organizational and managerial structure of the domestic economic complex in the format of a scientifically applied doctrine (Albekov, 2016).

Every year, the problem of energy saving, which is directly related to general environmental issues, is becoming exacerbated, as consumption growth inevitably leads to environmental pollution, which portrays the problems of economic and environmental security. All these require theoretical substantiation and expansion of the methodological base used for the study of green economy and the development of methods and tools for its regulation by the state.

The area where humanity is involved in certain economic activities is limited on a global scale and it is the basis of the common system. This means that every action at a system level has specific boundaries and defined opportunities and risks. All borders, opportunities, and risks form and define the individual and collective ability to develop the green economy. The institutions of each subsystem are linked to the management systems that form them, which determines the priority of state regulation for the development of the “green” economy.

THEORETICAL, INFORMATIONAL, EMPIRICAL, AND METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH GROUNDS

The shift of the international community’s interests in the field of green technologies development assumes the improvement of global formats of communication access to the consumer and corrects the specifics of supplies. It also forms environmentally friendly channels and chains, and progresses the format of the most effective integrator of scientific solutions to strengthening social, economic, and environmental security of state interests (Shekhovtsov et al., 2017; Kosinova et al., 2016).

The current size of world production and consumption led to the catastrophic imbalance in the development of natural and socioeconomic systems, deteriorating the critical imbalance of their interaction. The concept of long-term sustainable development, based on the green economy, has acquired significance, which is aimed at the formation of new mechanisms of state regulation. This regulation is favorable to the development of environmentally friendly industries and technologies and helps in the creation of green infrastructure and the transformation of key institutions of a society based on environmentally safe standards. However, the foregoing Concept requires detailed theoretical grounds and methodological basis of the green economy study as well as its methods and tools of sustainable development and public management.

Prospects for the development of environmentally safe standards open new horizons for the socioeconomic stability of the society such as:

• equality and justice both within one generation and among generations;
• compliance with the principles of sustainable development;
• application of precautionary measures with respect to potential impacts on the society and environment;
• adequate consideration of natural and social capital and rationality of costs throughout the production life cycle;
• improvement and integration of management systems with the participation of all stakeholders;
• sustainable and efficient use of resources, efficient reproduction, and balanced consumption;
• contribution to the achievement of existing macroeconomic goals through the creation of “green” jobs;
• poverty elimination; and
• increase of competitiveness and guaranteed growth for the key sectors of the economy.

Restrictions in the application of the green economy imperatives can be identified in the inertia of the institutional and technological base, differences in the level of development of green economy standards among different countries, country differences in the scale and effectiveness of state support to the green economy and clean energy, and limited influence of the state to green investments and manufacturing subsidies. For the regulation of the green economy, financial centers have been established, green bonds have been issued, green insurance institutions have been introduced, green banks are being established, etc. (Albekov et al., 2017).

It is important for Russia to implement a system of state regulation that relies on the following key priority areas such as:

• green taxation (fees);
• green government purchases (drivers of environmental innovation);
• environmental expertise of financial support for exports (for convergence of green standards);
• transition to green technologies and energy saving (from affordable to efficient);
• green small- and medium-sized enterprises; and
• green logistics.

The process of the innovative transformation of logistic technologies into ecologistics presupposes the implementation of green standards. This allows doing end-to-end monitoring of the scale changes in the negative impact on the production processes, transportation, and warehousing of products along the perimeter of the supply chain, confirming its effectiveness at a new turn of innovative scientifically sound economic growth and avoiding the risk – the loss of eco-parameters and damage to the environment. Today, logistics unwittingly attract a consumer into production processes.

Modern logistics are able to translate the dominant doctrine of optimization, with respect to environmentally friendly technologies, into production and distribution systems both at national and global scales. Modern logistics are minimizing and redistributing the high burden on the environment, which is attributed to the existing methods of production and distribution. Problems of environmental audit of logistical processes in the context of post-crisis growth come to a new significant level. They suggest a wide range of prospects and opportunities for environmentally sustainable development of socioeconomic systems, investment increase in programs for leveling environmental pressure on nature, and reconfiguration of the opportunity of multi-channel logistics.

It is necessary to modernize the technology that contributes to the reduction of environmental pollution and the depletion of natural resources, increase the competitiveness of the economy by reducing dependence on carbon stocks and its role in the cost of the final product, actively introduce green innovations that promote the technological renewal of a number of basic industries that have a large multiplier effect, and make a transition to a low-carbon economy and reduce carbon dependence, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help to fight climate changes more effectively.

RESULTS

Thus, the green economy is a field in economic science and practice, which justifies the dependence of economic development on the components of the natural environment. In terms of the scientific direction, it is the development of new technologies and clean industries and the adaptation of regulatory public frameworks regarding environmental management. In practical terms, these are activities that create and increase the natural capital of the earth and reduce environmental threats and risks (Albekov, 2016).

At the same time, the monitoring of the transition process to the “green” economy, by means of financial and economic indicators, will be aimed at creating institutional conditions for the operation of the “green” economy by stimulating investments in raising natural capital with innovative methods of state regulation.

The roadmap for the development of the “green” economy and the use of natural resources at a national level are relevant nowadays. The roadmap should envisage both the reduction of environmentally harmful emissions, as well as measures for land conservation, earth fertility, conservation of freshwater, and measures for financial and economic regulation (Parkhomenko et al., 2014).

The development of formal institutions in the context of the transition to the “green” economy requires an improved management system, by creating a specialized Council under the President of the Russian Federation that ensures coordination and control over the process of transition to the “green” economy in Russia by considering national interests.

The high school undoubtedly serves as the main link in environmental education, where the fundamental foundations of green culture are established, contributing to the radical modernization of specialists’ training.

Relying on the most promising researches in the field of logistics in Europe, it is interesting to mention the concept of “green” transport corridors (Green Transport Corridors Concept) and the transport corridor East–West (East–West Transport Corridor) (Medvedeva et al., 2016).

In Russia, there is no a regulatory framework for the creation of an open institution which would issue comprehensive environmental rules involving public and private interests as well as a system of state environmental supervision. The best practices and principles of regulatory policy are not implemented with the definition of costs for business and the overall effect from the introduction of eco-innovations. In addition, the fundamentals of “green” taxation and the system of “green” state orders have not been elaborated. Similarly, the financial support for exports at the initial stage of development of energy-efficient projects aiming to promote high ecological and inclusive growth is not formed yet.

The world community has moved from the division of territories to the clear sharing of resources. Historically, territorial wars have been replaced by clashes of interests relative to the resource base, sometimes concealed in other political and economic conflicts. The decisive factor for the protection of the environment is green logistics, integrated planning in supply chains, and interconnection of system elements in the energy complex. This development could significantly activate possible scenarios for the development of alternative energy generation.

There are a lot of successful examples in this respect, as evidenced by the wide scientific and applied practice of ef...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Chapter 1. Green Economy: A Phenomenon of Progress and a Concept of Environmental Security
• Chapter 2. Green Finance: Trends and Financial Regulation Prospects
• Chapter 3. Information and Financial Technologies in a System of Russian Banks’ Digitalization: A Competency-Based Approach
• Chapter 4. Problems of Fund Raising for Projects on Accumulated Damage Repair: Experience from Russian Regions
• Chapter 5. Justifying Companies’ Marketing Models for a Winning Business Strategy
• Chapter 6. Competency-Based Management in a System of Sustainable Development of Banks, Financial and Technology Companies
• Chapter 7. Economic Coenosis Stability: Methodology and Findings
• Chapter 8. Development of Treasury Technologies: Russian and Foreign Experience
• Chapter 9. Analysis of Individual Entrepreneurship Activity Strategies
• Chapter 10. The Fiscal Mechanism in Russia: Development and Trends
• Chapter 11. The Global Nature of Interaction in the World Economy
• Chapter 12. The Economic Capital Model in Bank’s Capital Assessment
• Chapter 13. Corporate Reporting Formation at Commercial Organizations
• Chapter 14. Scientific Projections of K. Marx’s “Concept of Alienation”
• Index