Professor of the Department of Construction Economics and Housing and Utility Infrastructure Evgenia Guzhva is the author of more than 100 published scientific and educational works, including nine monographs and 40 textbooks and study guides. Evgenia Grigorievna focuses on theories of consumption and demand, socio-economic features of the Russian national consumption model and other important topics.

Professor Guzhva told us about her research and shared her thoughts on what a scientific view of the world is.

– A scientific view of the world is one of the ways to know it. Along with artistic, based on feelings and examples, or journalistic, based on a quick, momentary, possible right now, analysis of what you want to know. The scientific view requires time and reflection, comparing different explanations of the same phenomenon and choosing the most correct one. Again, not forever - but still for a long time, at least. Therefore, science is for the patient. I think I'm just like that, so I can do something.

– What difficulties did you have to face?

– The biggest difficulty for me has always been to find something new when you don't see anything new anymore. When you have mastered the subject, but still want to say something else. Something no one has said yet. I have had moments like this.

– What is your research about?

– The idea of my PhD thesis was to strengthen the role of the consumer sector. After all, the economy exists for the consumption of goods and services. In the era of socialism, this was underestimated. In the 90s, people "rushed" to the consumer society, and many of our economists began to criticize it with renewed vigor. And I tried to rehabilitate it in my doctoral dissertation. But the national consumption model of the Russian society was not the same as in Europe. The European standard did not suit us in everything both then and now.

Our model, on the one hand, depends on the natural-geographical, religious, social characteristics and historical path of Russia and its citizens. We have a peculiar attitude even towards ecology. On the other hand, we are going through those stages, including in the sphere of consumption, which are typical for all peoples. For example, during the transition fr om an industrial to a post-industrial information society. Back in the late 90s, I tried to highlight his features. The last 20 years, in my opinion, only confirmed my hypotheses.

Later, I became interested in the theory of entrepreneurship. I was the supervisor of PhD theses on this theory. For example, on the forms of integration of small and large businesses. Then I became interested in institutional economics. This is my last scientific "love". I teach this discipline among other disciplines, and all my articles of recent years are about it. There are textbooks on this subject.

– What is the essence of this theory?

– The economic behavior of people is influenced both by their internal norms and rules, and those to which they are forced by society from the outside. It is aimed at searching for economic technologies - sets of rules in the economy, according to which people carry out their rational behavior. Quite a complicated theory that needs to be comprehended. Even in the West, today it is the most important direction of economic theory. Has many supporters.

This view presents the economy as a set of market, hierarchical and contractual relations. Only a part of its issues is resolved on market conditions. The economy is becoming a place of social interactions between people, wh ere the concept of "benefit" is no longer only obtaining the maximum result. There are other results that are also beneficial, although they are not the maximum.

I am planning to continue this work.