In 1991, when Russia opened again, the world became a global world, where the regions organised by metropolises turned into global economic players. According to the newest research, a metropolis is an urban centre of not less than a million of inhabitants, concentrating upper service and control functions, disseminating prosperity to its hinterland and acting as "commutator" with the world economy. Empirical evidence shows that the existence of one or a few metropolises is the important condition of the wealth and competitiveness of countries. The paper investigates the question whether the overcentralised and non-metropolised post-Soviet economic space could become a mighty global economic player. The transformation of some Russian big cities besides Moscow into real metropolises is required in that respect.

Specifics of business education as an important element of business infrastructure is considered in the article. Various models of managerial education and current situation in Russia in this field are discussed. Perspectives of Russian business education development are presented in the context of social and economical reforms, as well as potential difficulties that it may face.

This paper is dedicated to the achievements of Robert Engle and Clive Granger which allowed to overcome a serious crisis in macroeconomics and financial market analysis. The main concepts of cointegration theory and different estimation methods of cointegration equations are considered in the first part of the paper. The areas of application of cointegration theory and possible extensions are briefly described as well. The financial time series model with conditional heteroskedastisity is analyzed in the second part of the paper. The main prerequisites of the method suggested by R. Engle are formulated and its extensions and areas of application are defined.

In the last few decades exchange rate economics has seen a number of important developments, with substantial contributions to both the theory and the empirics of exchange rate determination. This article presents a survey of exchange rate models from classical purchasing power parity to new open economy macroeconomics. Significant attention is given to five directions of analysis: goods market approach, optimum currency area theory, monetarist's approach, new developments into the open economy macroeconomic theory, and several empiric models of exchange rate.

This article analyses basic problems in financing of long-term technological and economic development in a market economy. The author demonstrates that the entire theoretical basis for transition from one wave of technological and economic development to another is now absent. In many investigations long-wave innovations in a financial system are considered as a complimentary mechanism that indirectly influences the economy and adds to already realized technological and economic innovations. The article maintains that innovations in a financial system precede and determine wide commercial success of a new technological and economic paradigm. This conclusion is based on historical and statistical data. The diffusion of new technological and economic principles is accompanied by special institutional change dynamics. The main characteristic of this process is a consequent change of phases: creation and destruction of informal relationships among innovators and their integration into a dominating institutional framework as the next step.

Russia's participation in the world investment process is quite original. With a very high savings rate the country spends a substantial part of savings on outward investment especially on capital flight which exceeds little inward investment. This situation is generated by defects of the national investment climate as well as by the previous accelerated privatization and liberal macroeconomic policy pursued so far.

Alternative variants of the united state financial control conception are analysed in the article. The authors consider the whole system of such control, interaction of its basic elements, its functions and mechanisms. Directions of accounting and realization of fiscal federalism of the Chamber of Accounts activity are argued. Mechanisms of its cooperation with law enforcement organs are indicated.

The present state of the banking systems in the post-Soviet countries is characterized by a low level of liquidity and the situation in the economy does not allow to rely upon attracting resources of foreign investors in meaningful volumes. That is why the main sources of monetary funds are the savings of citizens. The creation of governmental deposit insurance systems could overcome the situation of steady mistrust of population in depositing their savings with commercial banks and help return these funds into economic turnover.

The article is devoted to the analysis of economic and financial problems and contradictions accumulated in Latin America under conditions of globalization and market liberation. The originated unfavorable changes gave rise to the need of policy correction in big and small countries. The author analyses a new strategy of development adequate for Latin America with its specific geopolitical situation, demographic structure and history.

In 2001-2002 numerous scandals have occurred in developed countries in connection with financial reports' distortions and breaches of good corporate governance principles. As a result, regulatory bodies began to study the role of boards of directors in preventing such cases, putting an emphasis on the duties and powers of non-executive directors. Serious steps have been taken in United Kingdom, where the first corporate governance standards were established in the beginning of the 1990s. The article analyses the document published in January 2003 — the review of the role and effectiveness of non-executive directors prepared by D. Higgs team. The author considers the peculiarities of the British corporate governance system and examines most important provisions of the Higgs report.

The article focuses on the analysis of the process of convergence of outsider and insider models of corporate governance. Chief characteristics of basic and intermediate systems of corporate governance as well as the changing role of its main agents are under examination. Globalization of financial and commodity markets, convergence of legal systems, an open exchange of ideas and information are the driving forces of the convergence of basic systems of corporate governance. However the convergence does not imply the unification of institutional environment and national institutions of corporate governance.

The basis of discussion on antitrust policy — the property rights theory — is identified in the article. The author analyses both some aspects of the new institutional theory and value judgments that are used in defining goals of state economic policy. He concludes that the tasks of antitrust policy should be changed and proposes some directions for such correction.