Globalization and Assessement of the Soft Power Potential of Belarus Using Econometric Instruments

Abstract

Research background: When it comes to conducting international events in a country with a small open economy, the issue of assessing the ratio of costs of the event to subsequent economic effects is relevant. If the evaluation of short-term revenues in the country is quite realistic, then quantifying the long-term effect on a country’s image is much more difficult, and directly related to the concept of soft power and its evaluation as a neutral instrument in international relations. The study was based on the concept of soft power and its instrument, such as the international image of the state, the improvement of which is possible by conducting various events of an international level. Purpose of the article: The opportunity was of interest to assess the effect of using one of the neutral tools of the so-called soft power, such as holding international sports events. Methods: To test hypotheses, time series models were used on the example of Belarus data. Also, for Belarus, the Soft Power Index was calculated according to the methodology of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo and the British audit and consulting company Ernst and Young. Findings & Value added: The conclusion is confirmed that the holding of sports events of an international scale directly affects the increase in indexing in the search queries of keywords characterizing the country, which in turn through the components of the globalization index positively affects its values for the country. Also, the holding of sports and cultural events has a positive effect on the influx of foreign tourists into the country.