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Since I came to Russia for the first time, about 10 years ago, I was wondering how this vast country is really working.

Michael Rochlitz, Research Fellow of International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development (HSE) told about his work and life in Russia.

Since I came to Russia for the first time, about 10 years ago, I was wondering how this vast country is really working.

Michael Rochlitz, Research Fellow of International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development (HSE) told about his work and life in Russia. 

 – Why did y
ou choose Russia and the Higher School of Economics as the place to do your research?

 – Russia is a country that is very different from all the other places I have been to. I’ve always been fascinated by the country’s vastness, its history and culture. In a way, for me there exists a strange attraction of all things Russian, that makes you always want to come back to Russia once you haven’t been here for some time. Since I came to Russia for the first time, about 10 years ago, I was wondering how this vast country is really working. Who is really taking the decisions in politics and the economy, how the country’s regions are administrated, how Russia is coping with the ongoing changes in its politics, economy and society. For a social scientist, Russia is a huge laboratory that invites one to study all these questions. And I don’t know any place in Russia or elsewhere in the world that would be better suited for this kind of research than the Higher School of Economics.

– What is currently the subject of your research?

– Currently,  we are working on a comparative project studying regional administrations in Russia and China. What are the incentives and career trajectories for regional officials in both countries? How much leeway to Russian and Chinese provincial governors have, respectively, to experiment with new economic policies and promote economic growth in their regions? We are also carrying out a survey of foreign business associations based in Russia and China, to look how foreign investors evaluate the investment climate and the work done by regional administrations in both countries. Then I’m also involved in various other projects – for example, we try to measure how the security of property rights differs across Russian regions, and how this might affect firm entry, investment levels, or the degree to which firms prefer to not declare their activities officially.  

– Why did you choose these topics?


– A comparison of China and Russia might sound a bit far-fetched at a first glance, as both countries are very different in many respects. But at a closer look, both Russian and Chinese regional administrations face a couple of challenges that are surprisingly similar, for example with respect to reforming the pension or the socialist social security systems, where benefits were often provided by big state-owned firms. From an administrative point of view, in both countries we have a strong federal center that is watching over regional administrations, while regional administrations have varying degrees of autonomy to implement the kind of policies they judge important. To see how and why incentives for local bureaucrats differ in both contexts can provide us with interesting insights about how both systems really work.    

– What kind of research do you plan to carry out in the future?

– I’m interested in how the way a bureaucracy or federal-regional relations in a federation are organized is influencing economic outcomes. What is the role played by specific organizational features in this respect? And what role is played by politics, and by the interplay between various political and economic actors? In the future, I’ll probably extend my research to other contexts outside China and Russia. India for example might be a really interesting case to study. 

– You are in Russia for almost half a year. Do you have practical advice for foreign colleagues who are going to do research in Russia?

– If you don’t speak Russian, it’s helpful to learn the Cyrillic alphabet before coming to Moscow, to find your way around in the metro in the morning. But otherwise, don’t worry too much – although the administrative system at HSE is still a bit cumbersome at times, people are always friendly and willing to help, and one gets a lot of support to carry out the kind of research you’re interested in.