The humanities and social science

This article examines the origins and development of the public history movement in America. Special attention is paid to analysing ideas and approaches dominant at different stages of its development and identifying factors behind changes in major trends. It is shown that pubic history has undergone significant transformations abandoning the idea of professionalising non-academic history for that of collaborative structuring of the past by historians and the general public.

Within a polemic with B. Willems's article, the author analyses the size of civilian population of Königsberg remaining in the city during the siege of 1945. The article considers approaches of Soviet and German command to evaluating the role of civilians in defending the fortress during the siege.

This article presents primary sources for studying the siege and battle of Königsberg of 1945. The work aims to distinguish between the civilian population remaining in the city and combatants defending it. It is shown that the inflated Soviet estimate of the garrison strength, which was uncritically reproduced by Prof G. V. Kretinin, should be revised as a result of Soviet memory distortion.

This article considers preconditions for, factors behind, and incidence of malaria in the Kaliningrad region as compared to general infectious disease incidence. Another focus is the results of Soviet epidemiological research on the regional ‘malaria threat’. It is concluded that malaria was prevalent in the region until the late 1940s. It is stressed that cases of malaria and anti-malaria measures were spread unevenly.

This article focuses on the powers of regional constitutional courts relating to the legal responsibility of regional officials and public authorities in the Russian Federation. The author analyses possible participation of constitutional courts in providing a mechanism for legal responsibility of public authorities in regions of the Russian Federation. Attention is paid to the stages of regional legislation development and current trends. The author suggests avenues of legislation improvement.

This article considers the system and structure of sources of Russian corporate law. Research approaches to the notion and legal nature of sources of corporate law and their place in the system of civil law sources are analysed. The authors address the legal nature of corporate regulations, including the rules and standards of self-regulatory organisations as sources of corporate law.

This article addresses the legal consequences of adjudicating an individual entrepreneur bankrupt. The author considers particularities of repayment of liabilities as compared to legal entities and examines relevant changes in the legislation. Legal consequences are divided into short-term ones effective during the bankruptcy procedure and long-term ones.

This paper focuses on the status of shipbuilding and ship repair enterprises under international maritime security regimes. The author analyses amendments to SOLAS 74/78 convention, including the ISPS Code, which were adopted in December 2002 in the aftermath of September 11 attacks. Although the shipbuilding industry requires heightened security, the reasonability of equating shipyards with port facilities remains a matter of consideration by the contracting government.

This article considers the transferability of highways in the system of objects of civil rights. Based on a differentiated approach, the author examines the transferability of highways in view of their purpose and permitted use in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. Avenues of improvement of current highways legislation are suggested.

This article focuses on the imposition and enforcement of criminal penalties of material nature – fines and community services. Special attention is paid to a low effectiveness of fine enforcement, in particular, due to the inflexibility of the legislative norm. The author presents several suggestions, in particular, reducing the minimum level of progressive fines. It is stressed that imposition of community service penalties is complicated by the possible unemployment of the sentenced person.

In 2016, the Kaliningrad region economy is entering a new stage of development. It is important to establish whether the new investment mechanism proposed in the framework of amended SEZ legislation can ensure the development of regional economy. In recent years, investment performance has deteriorated in almost all areas, since the expected abolition of customs preferences brought about dramatic changes in the business environment. The investment mechanism proposed in the new SEZ law could not create a new model for the sustainable development of regional economy.

This article provides a sectoral and regional analyses of innovative activities of Russian enterprises. The authors consider the evolution and characteristics of innovative activities in individual industries. Characteristics of innovative activities in 2010-2014 are considered in the cases of Russian federal districts and regions. Special attention is drawn to innovative activities of small innovative enterprises in the Kaliningrad region.

This article stresses the importance of a management analysis of operating activities for decision-making at a furniture enterprise. In particular, the possibility of using tools of management accounting — marginal analysis and operational leverage – is considered. The author emphasises technical, organisational, and methodological problems of cost accounting at furniture factories in the Kaliningrad region. The author provides recommendations for conducting a management analysis and developing management account aimed at an effective reduction in costs and labour intensity.

This article considers achievements in forensic situational studies at IKBFU to define the notion of a school of thought and examine the ways of receiving recognition as such. Key methods for presenting research achievements to the scientific community are analysed.