Thanks to a generous grant from the Higher School of Economics and the Russian government, the International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development (CSID) brings together Russian and foreign experts in economics and political science to conduct cutting edge research on development. The CSID is part of the Higher School of Economics’ (HSE) broader plans to create international research laboratories headed jointly by Russian and foreign scholars. Our main line of research examines the impact of institutions and legality on political and economic behavior.

We have three main projects for the period 2011-13:

1) Regional Governance in Russia

The first project examines promotion patterns among regional bureaucrats in Russia. One main line of research examines whether regional bureaucrats, including governors and vice governors are promoted based on meritocratic or cronyistic principles. Others lines of research examine the impact of governor turnover on foreign direct investments, public spending, and firm behavior. A key source of data for this project is a data-base included detailed biographic and occupational data on all governors in Russia from 1991 to the present and all vice-governors from 2000 to the present.

2) Experimental Studies of the Police

A second project examines relations between citizens and the police in Russia. Key to this effort is a series of lab experiments involving Moscow police officers who play a corruption game that forces tradeoffs between group solidarity and individual benefit.  Another important element of this project is a November 2011 survey of 1600 residents of Moscow that seeks to identify the conditions under citizens will trust in and cooperate with the police.   

3) Legality and Economic Behavior

A third project explores the influence of legality and violence on economic behavior.   This effort includes a survey of 1000 firms in 15 regions in Russia that probes how firms choose between formal and informal means for resolving disputes.  Another project uses data on crimes against entrepreneurs across regions to explore how political and economic factors shape relations between business and the police.

CSID researchers come from the Institute for Industrial and Market Studies (IIMS, Higher School of Economics), the Harriman Institute (Columbia University), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Center also cooperates closely with other HSE institutes and departments, including ICEF, the Department of Economics, and the Laboratory for the Institutional Analysis of Reforms.