"Sustainability and efficiency in the period of turmoil": Economy & Management Conference 2024 at St Petersburg University

This year, the conference brought together educators from 12 Russia’s universities and universities from China, Colombia, Serbia, Malaysia, Turkmenistan, and South Africa to name just a few. The EMC 2024 business programme was the most extensive in its history. 

During three days, five round tables were held within 16 scientific tracks and more than 200 sectional reports were presented, all united by the theme of ‘Economy, management, finance: sustainability and efficiency in the period of turmoil’. During the opening ceremony, Elena Rogova, Director of the Centre for Market Efficiency Research at the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University, reported that the conference’s geography covers all of Russia: from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, and other countries around the world.

EMC is a unique dialogue between representatives of business and higher education, resulting in the evolution of methods and knowledge in the field of management, finance, and marketing.

Elena Rogova, Director of the Centre for Market Efficiency Research at the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University

"Over the years, the conference has acquired a solid reputation as a platform where you can present your research projects and receive friendly and constructive feedback to improve your research results and publish them in highly rated journals," said Elena Rogova. 

The key event of the EMC conference was the plenary discussion on the topic "Navigating crises: a holistic approach to international diversification, climate risk, and economic value dynamics" with leading global experts from Russia, China, and Serbia.

The Economy & Management Conference is a traditional large-scale scientific event at the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University. Over the years, the conference has brought together more than 2,500 researchers and experts from all over the world.

Sun Qian, Professor of the School of Management at Fudan University, presented a study that focuses on the process of deprivatisation of Chinese companies. According to him, transferring a controlling stake to the government in China is not always under order of the government; entrepreneurs often sell their businesses to the government when it can bring some benefit. 

"When compared to companies that sell a significant share of their assets to other private entities, deprivatisation is largely due to seeking the means of how to obtain government protection or support," said Professor Sun Qian. "Deprivatisation and selling assets to private entities can be substitutable. It does not necessarily lead to significantly better or worse performance than its counterparts in subsequent years."

Published by St Petersburg University since 2003, the Russian Management Journal (RMJ) is a peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal, dedicated to exchanging the findings of scholars and practitioners in all aspects of management of organisations. 

The key sections of the conference included a wide range of issues relating to modern business. Among them were the following: human capital and sustainable development, strategic finance, professional communication, marketing, and public sector issues to name just a few. Several tracks were organised jointly with the School of Finance at the Higher School of Economics.

Weihua Fan, Professor of Beijing Normal University, focused on catastrophe modelling for climate risk pressure testing. So far, China has collected data on typhoons for 100 years. Yet, scientists have just learned how to predict possible financial losses from natural disasters, which annually causes damage to the country’s economy that can equal to millions of yuan. 

Zoran Grubišić, Dean of the Faculty of Banking, Insurance and Finance at Belgrade Banking Academy, presented a paper titled "Diversification in a crisis: ss there a safe haven?" 

"In the case of gold, despite extreme volatility, there is no clear evidence of a specific impact of the crisis. This may indicate that it can still partially play a role of a safe haven in conditions of global turbulence," said Zoran Grubišić. 

For the first time, the conference featured a school of the author of the Russian Management Journal by the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University. It aimed to expand the audience of the publication’s authors and share the secrets of how to write a good scientific article. According to Yuriy Fedotov, Associate Professor of St Petersburg University, the flow of manuscripts to the editorial office is on the rise. Currently, about 130 articles are received per year. Yet, the research quality should be improved, the researcher said.