The article is devoted to the analysis of changes due to the influence of digitalisation in the sphere of employment and socio-labour relations. The author considered various estimates of the size of technological unemployment as a result of automation and robotisation of the production of goods and services. Also, the author presented the strategic development goals of the Russian Federation and developed by the government the national projects in 12 areas. In particular, the author analysed the project “Productivity and employment support”, which fully or partially reflect most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) adopted at the UN General Assembly. The article presents the possible directions of the government’s activity and the main actions that will contribute to economic growth. The article emphasises the need to accelerate the adaptation of Russian education to the changes taking place in the economy, the use of new training technologies and best teaching practices, the introduction of new forms of cooperation between the state and business in the field of training and retraining of personnel.

The article deals with the disposition of countries in the world system of labour productivity and the place of the Russian Federation in the current country hierarchy. It is noted that Russia is a typical representative of the semi-periphery (in the terminology of Wallerstein). Calculations show that in the period 1995–2005 the increase in labour productivity in Russia was 15% due to the factor of extensive growth in hours worked, i. e. due to the growth of labour exploitation. This process was reversed in the period 2006–2018 and ended in 2019 with the official proclamation by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of the workweek reform in the direction of its reduction to four days. It opens an era of the socially oriented doctrine of productivity growth. However, the main problem of Russia is the slowed of technological progress and the slowdown in productivity growth. The analysis showed that the implementation of the target standards for labour productivity, indicated in the official regulations, will reduce the backlog of Russia from the core countries. Forecast calculations show that even under the most favourable circumstances, the country can become a full participant in the world market of advanced technologies only by 2038. Thus, we substantiated the thesis about the impossibility of rapid results in the implementation of Russia’s catch-up development strategy due to the extremely low level of its current technological base, which involves a strategy of step-by-step reforms of the process of technological re-equipment of the Russian economy.

The survey objective is to analyse the implementation of BRICS summits decisions and to identify emerging problems. It was carried out using the deductive method as well as the methods of comparative analysis, expert assessments, historical analogies. Support of the WTO, cooperation development in the areas of energy, transport, agriculture, environmental protection, culture, innovative processes stimulation, the global financial security strengthening are traditionally in the focus of summits’ attention. The new cooperation area is the enjoyment of opportunities associated with the use of information and communication technologies. However, the practice of implementing decisions taken is too bureaucratic, and the assessment of its effectiveness is formalised due to the lack of reliable business contacts between research teams, schools of thought or universities. Even with the allocation of funds for a specific task, it is difficult to find a team to complete it effectively. Therefore, even a clearly defined mechanism does not ensure the objective to be implemented, and consultations and meetings held at the working groups level are reduced to an exchange of views. It is essential to name in the BRICS documents specific organisations responsible for the implementation of decisions. It is advisable to advise national news agencies to enhance coverage of the BRICS partnership.

Taking into account the results of the study outlined in the 2017 World Bank Group’s Global Value Chains Development Report, the authors considered the main factors of the growth in the share of services in international trade and defined the concepts of direct and indirect value-added services in exports. Further, the authors calculated the indicators of international trade statistics for value-added for Russia and other countries. A method for estimating the share of services in exports according to the national standard for inter-sectoral balance, as well as approaches to the description of national value chains of services, is proposed. International comparisons are carried out in the context of these indicators. Indicators (the share of direct and indirect services in exports, the share of IT services in intermediate consumption of services) prove that Russia is approaching the world average. However, investment in the intellectual property of Russia is much lower than in other countries of comparable size. It can lead to underproduction of intellectual services. The growth in the share of services is a global trend and is not the result of de-industrialisation. Information and communications services help accelerate the growth of manufacturing industries, including machinery and equipment.

Today the globalisation of the world market leads to the necessity of constructive interaction in the international market and forming common standards of accounting. Transnational corporations as a phenomenon of worldwide integration are businesses with units in different countries of the world. Special issues of information support of management in agricultural organisations have become very important in the conditions of the market economy. Clear and transparent accounting in such enterprises requires the existence of common international standards. Such standards could become International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). They are designed to provide an understanding of financial processes in different countries for the interaction between investors and potential investment projects located in different national accounting systems. The standard “Agriculture” has great importance for the Russian Federation. Agriculture is one of the leading sectors of our country, supplying products for both domestic and foreign market. Accordingly, the adoption of this standard and the implementation of its provisions is an important and urgent issue of today’s economic reality. Introduction of this standard leads to the formation of fundamentally new methodological bases of the accounting of agricultural activities based on the market value of assets because paragraphs 12–13 of this Standard states that during the initial and subsequent valuation of biological assets will be measured at their fair value fewer costs to selling. Thus, the need to allocate biological assets in the separate account-economic category, their reflection in the accounting at fair value by the provisions of IAS 41 has determined the relevance of the topic, goal, objectives and logic of the article.

In the modern world, value-added reproduction chains (VARC) are among the most important economic structures that have a mostly decisive impact on the production use and development of digital technologies (DT). This article analyses the features of their application, related problems and opportunities for their solution. The study showed that within the framework of different types of organisational and economic models of VARC, effective use of DT has its limits. They are driven by the specific nature of these models and require specific targeted actions to overcome and/or expand these limits. Mandatory participants in such processes include both the VARC and the state. The measures taken in this regard are integral complexes and should be carried out within the framework of the state policy of technological development in cooperation with the participants of the chains. Neglecting model features in the development and implementation of such actions is fraught with a reduction in the effectiveness of the efforts made and unjustified expenditure of resources. Taking into account the features of different models of DT use in the VARC is vital for the implementation of the economic policy of technological development of Russia. It makes it possible to increase the effectiveness of efforts to achieve the goals set by the President and the Government of the Russian Federation to ensure the transition of our country to the digital economy and accelerate this process. In this regard, the promising areas are the allocation of various organizational and economic models of the use of DT in the VARC of our country and/or in the international VARC with the participation of Russian entrepreneurs, as well as the formation in relation to them of particular sets of measures from different levels of government.

The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the possibility of realisation of the concept “Smart city” in Russia. The purpose of the work is to study the problems and prospects of digitalisation of urban management on the example of such a project in Moscow. The research methodology includes neo-institutional and system approaches, as well as analysis of statistics and social research data. The paper deals equally with theoretical and applied aspects of the presented topic. Initially, the author revealed the content of the concept, the possibility of using technologies of “smart” city for purposes of territorial management and socio-economic development. The author showed that the central role for the successful realisation of the concept is played by human capital and readiness of society for changes, infrastructure base, sustainable interaction of state structures, scientific and technical institutions and business. From now on, the author investigated the possibility of digitalisation of urban management in Moscow, such aspects as experience and preparation for implementation of programs of “smart” city, the level of digital infrastructure development, the necessary institutional base for innovation, the level of human capital, the characteristics of the technological solutions are analyzed. Despite the existence of the institutional and infrastructure base for the implementation of the concept “Smart city”, for the city administration in the future, it will be a relevant activity to build sufficient communication with the population to study the readiness of the latter to the large-scale introduction of artificial intelligence technologies and data collection. It is also necessary to develop the urban digital infrastructure. For “Smart city” projects are considered to be megaprojects, there will also be a demand for competent project management, the interaction between political institutions, scientific and technology organisations. The results of this study can be applied to the analysis of various problems related to the development and implementation of digital technologies.

The worldwide process of digital transformation (DT) in the economy, which is currently affecting almost all spheres of contemporary business is somewhat controversial. On the one hand, according to the estimates of International Data Corporation (IDC), by the end of 2019 DT spending will reach $ 1.7 trillion globally and by 2021 more than half of world GDP will be related to digitalisation. On the other hand, while most business leaders acknowledge DT as crucial, just about half of them have some understanding of DT and its implementation. Even in developed countries, the real quality shifts are visible just over the last 2–3 years, and the companies are at different stages of “digital maturity”. That’s why this issue attracts more and more attention of researchers, experts and business people, especially in terms of not just technology implementation but preferably in terms of organisation and management. The purpose of this paper is to reveal these managerial issues and problems with particular focus on 3 points: first — on the attitude of business to DT and digital maturity; second — on key management issues facing business; third — on further research options and perspectives. The paper is based on the significant outcomes of several wide-scale types of research done in the USA and Russia over the last 2–3 years, which can reveal major management problems and challenges. Since currently at this stage of DT development, the research of this topic is at the beginning and just over the last several years the relatively big empirical data and best practices have been collected and analysed further in-depth research of operational, organisational, behavioural, strategic and social issues of DT is necessary. Besides its practical business side, it will allow better and more sophisticated understanding of the new 21st -century management paradigm as well as the inclusion of the findings and practices into the educational process.

The article examines trends, problems and prospects for broader involvement in entrepreneurship of women as the most professionally educated part of the country’s manpower, which could, on the one hand, impart the necessary dynamics to the business development process, and, on the other hand, expand opportunities and flexibility of professional employment of women themselves. The purpose of the article is to analyse the existing gender asymmetry of the parameters of Russian entrepreneurship and their characteristics in the capital, to identify gender differences in the barriers that entrepreneurs face in their work, to assess the possibilities and conditions for expanding employment of women in small and medium businesses. The work is based on data from Rosstat, obtained in the framework of projects “Population survey on employment problems” and “Comprehensive monitoring of living conditions of the population”, as well as from a survey of Moscow population engaged in small business, which was conducted by the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2015. The author showed that barriers faced by entrepreneurs in their activities are not discriminatory, and the differences in expectations for government support, demonstrated by male and female entrepreneurs, mainly reflect the difference in the size of their business and segregation of the business by economic activity.

The authors analyse the environment and its current state of academic research in the field of economics formed in Russia. We considered the publication activity over the past six years of Russian economic, educational organisations as well as the results of the leading Russian universities in the QS and THE subject rankings. Further, we also revealed the connections between the formed conditions in which Russian economics researchers have to work and the results of universities in these rankings. The authors presume the need for expanding approaches to promote Russian economic science on the world stage. Therefore, we discussed current ways of stimulation and evaluation of the activities of Russian economic researchers and proposed that educational system governors use now need to be evaluated and perhaps improved.