There is a paucity of knowledge on research commercialization by university scientists worldwide. The objective of this paper is to identify the role that Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) and direct Industrial Funding play in university research commercialization in transition economies of Azerbaijan, Belarus and Kazakhstan during 2015–2017.

International rankings are the second important source after mass media which investors use to learn about business climate in a foreign country. Today Belarus is represented only in the ratings with free participation.

A chapter by Kateryna Bornukova and Igor Livshits titled The Impact of the Russian crisis on the Belarusian economy: the trade channel is published in a book The Russian Economy under Putin edited by Torbjörn Becker and Susanne Oxenstierna.

The paper presents a study of waste statistics in Belarus based on the examination of Belarusian and European legislation, statistical reporting forms, and databases. The study reveals that the Belarusian statistics on waste faces three types of problems: those associated with the methodology, recording and coverage, and insufficient degree of international comparability of data, in particular, with the European Union countries.

This policy paper looks at who are women in Belarus’ business, are there any gender differences that impact on the effectiveness and successfulness of business. The study also analyses the external and internal factors that impede business development and motives to enter business. The main barriers that face women entrepreneurs are related to the quality of the functioning entrepreneurial ecosystem. However, equally important role is played by the preservation of the traditional division of social roles in terms of household work and childcare sharing. As the results show, the majority of female business owners no longer perceive as a norm the current state of affairs.

We present new causal estimates of firm-value benefits generated by political connections. Our identification strategy uses sudden deaths of U.S. Representatives and Senators as a source of exogenous variation.