Academician Shahin Mustafayev: "The activity of the Institute of Economics of ANAS can be an example for other institutes"
On December 11, 2020, online with the "Zoom" program held the next meeting of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Economics of ANAS. A number of issues were discussed at the online event, which was chaired by the director of the institute, Doctor of Economics, Professor Nazim Muzaffarli (Imanov). Academician Shahin Mustafayev also attended the meeting
First, the director congratulated the members of the Scientific Council on the glorious victory of the Azerbaijani army in the Great Patriotic War, the liberation of our lands from occupation and the Victory Parade, and commemorated the souls of the martyrs.
Then listened the report on the scientific-research activity of the Institute of Economics of ANAS in 2020. Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs of the Institute Ph.D, in Economics, assoc.prof., Allahyar Muradov made a presentation and said that the staff of the Institute voluntarily transferred 13,063 manat and 1,000 manat by the Trade Union Committee to the Azerbaijan Armed Forces Assistance Fund in support of the Azerbaijani Army. Well-known foreign economists also supported Azerbaijan's cause of justice in the Karabakh war.
A.Muradov noted as an important event in the life of the Institute that by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan (October 3, 2020) "2021-2024 in the Institute of Economics of ANAS in connection with the application of a new mechanism for financing research at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Procedure for implementation of the pilot project, in order to contribute to the systematic activities of the Government of Azerbaijan to develop programs for the restoration of the liberated territories, the "Scientific Center for the Reconstruction of Post-Conflict Areas" was established by the decision of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Economics of ANAS.
The Deputy Director said that in 2020, the Institute of Economics of ANAS conducted research on "Socio-economic development of Azerbaijan and directions for further improvement of its position in international comparative rankings" (2019-2021). The research took into account the proposals received from 20 government agencies - 11 ministries and 9 state committees and agencies. The survey was conducted on 21 international rankings. Also, the Institute has its own 4 ratings - IL(R)E - 2019 (prepared annually since 2014. Final report: Opportunities for choosing an economic development strategy); Socio-economic development in Azerbaijan - 2020 (rating of economic regions, republican cities and administrative regions on socio-economic development); Research was conducted on the realization of economic potential in Azerbaijan - 2020 (rating on realization of economic potential of economic regions, republican cities and administrative regions) and quality of life in Azerbaijan (rating of economic regions, republican cities and administrative regions on the quality of life).
According to the important scientific results obtained on the Index of Leftness (Rightness) of the Economy, each country depending on the scale and depth of modeling forms of state intervention in the economy tends to be more or less left-wing (right-wing) over a period of time. The analysis and results obtained using IL(R)E allow us to determine the strategic direction of economic reforms in the country - whether it is necessary to "turn" the economy to the left or to the right.
The study on the model of the shadow economy through hidden profitability considered the development of an integrated tax burden model based on the coefficient of utilization of the production potential and the shadow economy, and a model for quantifying the shadow economy based on the Von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function. On this basis, a methodology is proposed to assess the real turnover, loss of budget revenues and the negative impact of the shadow economy on economic growth, formed as a result of non-declaration of a certain part of real profitability by economic entities. The research shows that the proposed approach accurately reflects the process of formation of the shadow economy and is enough effective to quantify it.
The Institute of Economics of ANAS was closely involved in the development and implementation of a number of state programs in 2020. The Institute is represented in 8 of the 18 working groups established to implement the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on improving the position of our country in international rankings. He also participates in working groups on the implementation of Strategic Roadmaps for the National Economic Prospects (under the Ministry of Economy) and the development of a long-term strategy for the development of the energy sector. During the year, the staff of the Institute participated in more than 10 online international conferences and forums, mass media. About 50 employees of the institute attended near 15 video conferences at the national level. In generally, in 2020s, published 230 scientific works, including 1 textbook, 8 monographs, 31 articles in journals included in the international databases. The number of doctoral students at the Institute of Economics is 22, and the number of doctoral and Ph.D. students at the Institute of Economics is 49.
Then there were extensive discussions on the work done in 2020. Members of the Scientific Council shared their views on the research to be conducted the next year. Director of the Institute, Doctor of Economics, Professor N.Muzaffarli gave detailed information about the new mechanism of financing the Institute in 2021, by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, scientific research to be conducted on the basis of state orders, future activities of the Scientific Center for Post-Conflict Territories.
Academician Shahin Mustafayev spoke about the responsibilities of economists in the development of the country's economy after the Great Patriotic War, the importance of establishing the Post-Conflict Territorial Rehabilitation Scientific Center and expectations for future activities. The academician praised the activity of the Institute of Economics of ANAS, and even stressed that it could be an example for other institutes of ANAS. He noted that as a new practice the funding of the Institute of Economics as a pilot project is important for other institutes of ANAS.
In the end, by the decision of the Scientific Council, recommended for publication the monographs by head of the department "Socio-economic problems of living standards", Ph.D. in Economics, assoc. prof., Rasmiyya Abdullayeva "Social security: in liberal and dirigism economic systems" and by Ph.D. in Economics, assoc.prof., Leyli Allahverdiyeva "Network Readiness Index - 2019: development of e-services in Azerbaijan" (economics.com.az).
