Regional Budget Research Articles

Results of 2023 for Regional Budgets. Is the Restructuring of the Economy Visible?

The generally favorable situation with the implementation of the consolidated budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation in 2023 is a result of the positive dynamics of key macroeconomic indicators, expressed in an increase in tax revenues of budgets. In the context of generally high growth rates of tax revenues, the federal transfers showed a slight nominal increase. In most regions, there has been a reduction in federal transfer recеipts, which may indirectly indicate an emerging revision of the existing model of inter-budgetary relations. There is a certain dependence of the dynamics of transfers on the dynamics of tax revenues and the availability of funds (last year’s surpluses) in the budget accounts of the subjects of the Russian Federation. The structure of tax revenues by type of economic activity has not yet shown significant changes. There is a pronounced decrease in the share of wholesale and retail trade, against the background of an increase in the share of the financial sector and extractive activities. Expenditures of regional budgets in 2 023 grew more actively than revenues, which led to the formation of a deficit in the consolidated budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation. The differing growth rates of budget expenditures have the consequence of the continued concentration of regional-level expenditures in a relatively narrow group of the most powerful regions in terms of economic potential. The increase in the volume of accumulated state subfederal debt occurs in conditions of active substitution of market forms of debt obligations with loans from the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.

The Impact of Wage Levels on the Quality of Employment and Economic Sustainability of Households

The problem of compliance of the wage level of employees with social standards of living standards, having undoubted regional features, is relevant for all subjects of the Russian Federation. When determining the wage of organizations funded from regional budgets, we believe they should proceed from the general methodological basis for determining its size. In the article is analyzed the situation with the wage level of employees in the sector of organizations, which is the main segment of Russian employment. It has been revealed that the level of wages most strongly affects its quality and is one of the main indicators of precarious employment. The peculiarities of the distribution of employees by wage level are revealed, depending on the level of qualification of employees and their working conditions, taking into account the forms of ownership and the size of organizations. Based on the author’s tools, the analysis of the impact of wage levels on the economic sustainability of households due to (not) achieving socially acceptable and higher standards of living is carried out. It is shown that for more than 80% of employees, the wage level currently does not allow to ensure such standards. A radical increase in the wage level is proposed based on the development of industry-specific social wage standards. This will improve the quality of employment: reduce the scale of precarious employment, link the level of wages with the qualifications of employees and their working conditions, taking into account the characteristics of sectors of the Russian economy, as well as significantly increase the economic sustainability of households.

Peculiarities of regional development under martial law: State and administrative aspects

Considering the conduct of state policy in the conditions of the protracted Russian-Ukrainian war, it is important to characterize the main aspects of its development through the prism of the peculiarities of sustainable regional development. The purpose of the research is to determine the peculiarities of regional development in the realities of wartime based on the study of state-management aspects. The study is based on the analysis of modern works and reports of international organizations. Data collection was carried out in stages: first, a search was made for the main documents and reports of international organizations, then a search for scientific literature for the study was carried out. In general, such research methods as thematic analysis, categorization, comparative analysis, and graphic method were used. The results of the study demonstrated the effectiveness of the use of digital systems in regional development strategies improving the level of intellectual security, identified the peculiarities of planning and operation of regional budgets under martial law. Digital systems have proven effective in enhancing regional development strategies and improving intellectual security. They enable better planning and operation of regional budgets, even under martial law, by providing real-time data and facilitating communication among stakeholders. In the conclusions, it was noted that the military operations had a significant impact on the system of public administration and needed further adjustment in connection with overcoming the consequences of the military operations.

The Influence of Local Own Source Revenue, Fiscal Balance Transfer and Regional Budget Expenditure on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Social Aspects in Palangka Raya City

This study examines the impact of Regional Revenue Local Own Source Revenue and Balancing Funds on the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in social aspects in Palangka Raya City, mediated by Regional Expenditure. Utilizing secondary data from 2010 to 2022, the study employs path analysis to explore the relationships between Regional Original Revenue Local Own Source Revenue, Regional Expenditure, and SDGs. The results indicate that Local Own Source Revenuehas a positive but non-significant influence on Regional Expenditure, whereas Balancing Funds show a significant positive impact on Regional Expenditure. In the context of social SDGs, Local Own Source Revenue demonstrates a significant positive effect, but the impact of Balancing Funds on social SDGs is not significant. Furthermore, both Local Own Source Revenue and Balancing Funds, when mediated by Regional Expenditure, exhibit a negative and non-significant effect on social SDGs. These findings underline the challenges of using fiscal levers to achieve social development goals within the framework of fiscal decentralization.

Assessing tax payments in regional budgets formation

The article presents a study on assessing tax payments to budgets and the regional budgetary policy formation effectiveness related to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and sanctions on the revenue side of the budget. The review of economic papers studying the problem of forming regional budget policy has been presented, the goals and objectives of the study e formulated. The purpose of the study is to assess the formation of the budget revenue part at the regional level (on the example of the Orenburg region of the Russian Federation). The estimation of the filling of the budget revenue part at the expense of tax payments has been carried out, the analysis of domestic and foreign scientists, who participated in studying this problem, methodology has been carried out. The study pays attention to the indicators that characterize budget policy formation effectiveness in Russian regions. Logical and statistical methods and techniques have been used. Based on the assessment of the stable level of forming dynamic indicators of revenue and expenditure parts of the regional budget and their growth, the stable instability of tax revenues from the profit of organizations has been shown. Based on the research and scientific studies, the article concludes that in the future the transformation regional budget effective formation should continue. The budget forecast for the future period with high accuracy has been made. The impact of multidirectional factors on the Russian fiscal policy in the medium term increases the uncertainty of its implementation conditions.

Assessment of investments in education impact on the Russian regional economic stability

The study assesses the public and private investment in education impact on the economic stability level in the Russian regions. The paper is based on the hypothesis of the key role of educational infrastructure development in the sustainable regional economy formation. The direct correlation between the population’s educational level and the dynamics of gross regional product, investment activity and territorial innovative development has been analyzed. The influence degree of investments in the highly qualified personnel training on the unemployment reduction, growth of average per capita income of citizens, knowledge-intensive economy sectors development has been assessed. The study is based on the analysis of the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation data, review of regional budgets for 2020–2022 and expert surveys among economists and educational workers. The correlation and regression analysis methods were applied to determine the relationship between the investment in education volume and regional economic stability indicators. The preliminary study results indicate a significant investment in education impact on the regional economic stability. In particular, the regions with higher investments in the educational sphere have lower unemployment rates, higher average income per capita and higher level of enterprises’ innovative activity.

Ways to optimize income tax and their impact on income budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation

The relevance of the study is conditioned by the role and place of profit tax in the regional budgets revenues. Unlike other taxes, the profit tax provides for many methods of tax optimization, the use of which will reduce the tax burden on a taxpayer and at the same time reduce regional budgets tax revenues. The state recognizes and accepts tax optimization if it is based on the current tax legislation provisions. Tax optimization means a taxpayer’s activity aimed at reducing tax payments and leading to an increase in the financial result, including the use of all tax benefits, tax exemptions, and other legal advantages provided by the current legislation. The application of some optimization methods depends on a taxpayer themselves, and some other ones depend on the regional authorities, for example, investment tax deduction. The purpose of the study is to analyze the practice of profit tax optimization methods application and their impact on budget revenues and organizations income. Common research methods have been applied such as analysis and synthesis, generalization, grouping, tabular method, etc. The article is based on the official data of the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, and the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, which ensures the reliability of the data used in the study.

Catchment-Wide Groundwater Budget for the Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area in South Africa.

In South Africa, approximately 98% of the predicted total surface water resources are already being used up. Consequently, the National Water Resource Strategy considers groundwater to be important for the future planning and management of water resources. In this case, quantifying groundwater budgets is a prerequisite because they provide a means for evaluating the availability and sustainability of a water supply. This study estimated the regional groundwater budgets for the Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area (Usuthu, Komati, Sabie-Sand, and Crocodile) using the classical hydrological continuity equation. The equation was used to describe prevailing feedback loops between groundwater draft, recharge, baseflow, and storage change. The results were coarser scale estimates which, beforehand, were derived from the 2006 study. In the years to follow, groundwater reliance intensified and there was also the historic 2015/2016 drought. This inevitably led to an increased draft while the rest of the components of the groundwater budgets experienced decreases. Both Crocodile and Sabie-Sand experienced groundwater storage depletion which led to reduced baseflow and groundwater availability, while groundwater recharge contrarily increased due to capture. Conversely, the other two catchments experienced relatively lower drafts with correspondingly higher groundwater availability and recharge while storage change was positive. The results highlighted the need for adaptive water management whose effectiveness relies on predictive studies. Consequently, future models should be developed to capture the spatial and temporal dynamism of the natural groundwater budget due to climate change, water demands, and population growth predictions.

Holistic Evaluation of the National Health Insurance Program in the Local Context of Indonesia

This article reviews the evaluation of the National Health Insurance policy, exploring various aspects such as effectiveness, efficiency, adequacy, leveling, responsiveness, and accuracy in its implementation. Researchers use the case study method with a qualitative approach to describe and analyze phenomena, events, attitudes, social activities, and perceptions of individuals and groups related to the National Health Insurance program. This study analyses the effectiveness, efficiency, adequacy, leveling, responsiveness, and accuracy of National Health Insurance program policies in a region. The results showed that 1) The effectiveness of the National Health Insurance policy is still not optimal due to the lack of employee commitment in implementing the work agreement mechanism between the Regional Government and BPJS Kesehatan Boroko Branch. 2) In terms of efficiency, the implementation of standard operating procedures has shown optimality, but there are still obstacles related to administrative requirements for eligible prospective National Health Insurance policy participants. 3) The adequacy of the National Health Insurance policies have not been effective due to an increase in new participants, that is, not balanced with the available budget, resulting in delays in service claims for health workers. 4) The leveling of the National Health Insurance policy has not been effective due to constraints in recipient data, which resulted in a reduction in the quota from BPJS Kesehatan, leaving deserving community groups without assistance. 5) The responsiveness of this policy is disrupted by the validation of the criteria for recipients of contribution assistance which is not synchronized with the regional budget and the lack of direct data submission when applicants submit a poor statement letter at the village level. 6) The accuracy of this policy is still limited by the limitations of the regional budget in reaching all communities covered by this program in North Bolaang Mongondow Regency.
 Keywords: policy, evaluation, national health insurance

Resolving heterogeneous fluxes from tundra halves the growing season carbon budget

Abstract. Landscapes are often assumed to be homogeneous when interpreting eddy covariance fluxes, which can lead to biases when gap-filling and scaling up observations to determine regional carbon budgets. Tundra ecosystems are heterogeneous at multiple scales. Plant functional types, soil moisture, thaw depth, and microtopography, for example, vary across the landscape and influence net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes. With warming temperatures, Arctic ecosystems are changing from a net sink to a net source of carbon to the atmosphere in some locations, but the Arctic's carbon balance remains highly uncertain. In this study we report results from growing season NEE and CH4 fluxes from an eddy covariance tower in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska. We used footprint models and Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to unmix eddy covariance observations into constituent land-cover fluxes based on high-resolution land-cover maps of the region. We compared three types of footprint models and used two land-cover maps with varying complexity to determine the effects of these choices on derived ecosystem fluxes. We used artificially created gaps of withheld observations to compare gap-filling performance using our derived land-cover-specific fluxes and traditional gap-filling methods that assume homogeneous landscapes. We also compared resulting regional carbon budgets when scaling up observations using heterogeneous and homogeneous approaches. Traditional gap-filling methods performed worse at predicting artificially withheld gaps in NEE than those that accounted for heterogeneous landscapes, while there were only slight differences between footprint models and land-cover maps. We identified and quantified hot spots of carbon fluxes in the landscape (e.g., late growing season emissions from wetlands and small ponds). We resolved distinct seasonality in tundra growing season NEE fluxes. Scaling while assuming a homogeneous landscape overestimated the growing season CO2 sink by a factor of 2 and underestimated CH4 emissions by a factor of 2 when compared to scaling with any method that accounts for landscape heterogeneity. We show how Bayesian MCMC, analytical footprint models, and high-resolution land-cover maps can be leveraged to derive detailed land-cover carbon fluxes from eddy covariance time series. These results demonstrate the importance of landscape heterogeneity when scaling carbon emissions across the Arctic.

Carbon wet deposition flux and river carbon output in a forest watershed in permafrost region of the Da Xing'an Mountains.

Carbon wet deposition and river carbon output in river basins are important components of global carbon cycle. The assessment of both properties is of great significance for regional carbon budget. However, research on these topics in high-latitude permafrost regions in China is still lacking. We conducted dynamic monitoring of carbon wet deposition and carbon output in the river from May 28th to October 30th, 2022, in Laoyeling watershed, a typical forested watershed in the Da Xing'an Mountains permafrost region. We analyzed the variations of carbon component concentrations and fluxes in precipitation and river water, and estimated the contribution of carbon wet deposition to carbon output in the watershed. The results showed that wet deposition fluxes of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and total dissolved carbon (TDC) in the Laoyeling watershed were 1354.86, 684.59, and 2039.45 kg·km-2, respectively. The fluxes of DOC, DIC, TDC, particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate inorganic carbon (PIC), and total carbon (TC) in the river were 601.75, 1977.30, 2579.05, 125.13, 21.99, and 2726.17 kg·km-2, respectively. The contribution of TDC wet deposition to the river TDC output was 9941.89 kg, accounting for 17.6% of total output. The DIC concentration in the river showed significant seasonal differences, with increased runoff resulting from precipitation leading to a decrease in DIC concentration in the river and showing a clear dilution effect, while the concentrations of DOC, POC, and PIC increased, mainly due to erosion effect. In conclusion, carbon wet deposition flux in the Laoyeling watershed was mainly determined by precipitation, and its contribution to river carbon output was relatively small compared to other factor. Runoff was the dominant factor affecting river carbon output. The results would provide important insights into carbon cycling and carbon budget balance in permafrost regions under climate change.

Regional Inversion Shows Promise in Capturing Extreme‐Event‐Driven CO2 Flux Anomalies but Is Limited by Atmospheric CO2 Observational Coverage

AbstractExtreme climate events are becoming more frequent, with poorly understood implications for carbon sequestration by terrestrial ecosystems. A better understanding will critically depend on accurate and precise quantification of ecosystems responses to these events. Taking the 2019 US Midwest floods as a case study, we investigate current capabilities for tracking regional flux anomalies with “top‐down” inversion analyses that assimilate atmospheric CO2 observations. For this analysis, we develop a regionally nested version of the NASA Carbon Monitoring System‐Flux system for North America (CMS‐Flux‐NA) that allows high resolution atmospheric transport (0.5° × 0.625°). Relative to a 2018 baseline, we find the 2019 US Midwest growing season net carbon uptake is reduced by 11–57 TgC (3%–16%, range across assimilated CO2 data sets). These estimates are found to be consistent with independent “bottom‐up” estimates of carbon uptake based on vegetation remote sensing (15–78 TgC). We then investigate current limitations in tracking regional carbon budgets using “top‐down” methods. In a set of observing system simulation experiments, we show that the ability of atmospheric CO2 inversions to capture regional carbon flux anomalies is still limited by observational coverage gaps for both in situ and satellite observations. Future space‐based missions that allow for daily observational coverage across North America would largely mitigate these observational gaps, allowing for improved top‐down estimates of ecosystem responses to extreme climate events.

Executive Political Communication in Drafting Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budgets in North Sumatra Province, Indonesia

The political process of drafting the Regional Budget often raises debates about the collaborative relationship between the legislature and the executive. This research aims to show the political communication of regional heads in North Sumatra Province in preparing the Draft Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget in collaboration with the Regional House of Representatives. This research uses a descriptive qualitative research method combined with a literature study approach. Data were collected from literature studies through journals, online media, and document reports to identify cases and problems. Data were analyzed to reduce, present, and conclude. The research findings show that executive and legislative political communication in North Sumatra Province has led to the possibility of conflict in the preparation of regional revenue and expenditure budgets. This condition is motivated by differences in perceptions caused by the need for more confidence and trust in the transparency of all work plans and programs. Actors in the Legislature and Executive tend to adhere to widely held interpretations of the public interest. It is crucial to eliminate sectoral egos and be mutually helpful to each actor to build a political communication network between the Executive and Legislature that does not perceive hierarchical networks. Moreover, prioritizing work awareness is essential in developing a shared commitment to regional development.

Statistical analysis of the differentiation of regions of the Russian Federation by tax revenues of consolidated budgets using the R language

The subject area of this article is the application of descriptive statistics and multidimensional classification methods to describe the regional features of the formation of tax components of revenues of consolidated budgets of the Russian Federation. The aim of the work is to demonstrate the simplicity and effectiveness of using mathematical and statistical methods and the functionality of the open source language R to solve problems of structural analysis of tax revenues, identify regional specifics, and comparative analysis of regions from the point of view of tax revenues. The apparatus of mathematical statistics implemented in the R language, in particular, opens up wide opportunities for classifying tax subjects, including multidimensional ones, significantly facilitating the procedures of analysis, ranking and planning. The functionality described in the article can be used in the process of forming and adjusting tax policy at different levels. The possibilities of the mathematical statistics apparatus in combination with the instrumental methods of the R language are revealed by the example of the classification analysis of the regions of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the absolute and relative values of tax revenues in the revenues of regional budgets are selected as classification features. The classification by belonging to the federal district and the study of the "natural" stratification by the method of cluster analysis are considered. The apparatus of mathematical statistics and, especially, the tools of the R language are used unreasonably rarely in research of this kind, despite the ease of use and the absence of the need for special training, these circumstances determine the relevance of this article. Aggregation by federal districts made it possible to identify: the Ural Federal District as the leader in terms of the average regional share of tax revenues in the revenue part of the budget and the North Caucasus Federal District, characterized by the lowest average regional contributions of tax payments to regional budgets. The analysis of the natural stratification of the regions of the Russian Federation by their relative tax contributions to consolidated budgets made it possible to identify groups: the most typical regions, subsidized regions, donor regions and regions in which the most expensive assets of enterprises of the Russian Federation are concentrated

Sustainable Development of Mining Regions in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation

The Arctic’s specific conditions require increased attention to natural and human capital. Therefore, implementing the principles of the sustainable development concept, balancing economic, social, and environmental goals is of paramount importance. Mining is at the heart of the strategy for the socio-economic development of Russia’s Arctic territories. This study’s objective is topical: to justify measures lifting the restrictions on sustainable development of AZRF (the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation) mining regions. The authors propose a method to identify AZRF regions where mining determines the socio-economic development level (Komi Republic, Nenets Autonomous District, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Yakutia, and Chukotka Autonomous District). The multi-factor regression analysis conducted confirms the hypothesis that living standards and achievement of social standards in the AZRF mining regions depend on the income and fiscal capacity levels, which makes the state more responsible for the region’s development. The authors prove the expediency of reconsidering the proportions of rental income redistributed between the budgets of the AZRF mining regions and the federal budget in favor of the former, until migration and natural population growth become positive and reach the target indicators of strategies of socio-economic development. The study’s results can be used to justify the state policy while elaborating strategies for AZRF development.

A river runs through it: Robust automated mapping of riparian woodlands and land surface phenology across dryland regions

Riparian woodlands in drylands are critically important to human society, global biodiversity, and regional water and energy budgets. These sensitive ecosystems have experienced substantial degradation over the last several decades from climatic change and direct human activity. Nevertheless, quantifying long-term change in dryland riparian woodlands remains a major challenge, and much uncertainty exists in their remaining extent, historical breadth, and likely future trajectories. Dryland landscapes show large, fine-scale spatial heterogeneity in seasonal greenness patterns, driven in part by spatial variation in water availability. Riparian woodlands occur where water is concentrated in the landscape, either as aboveground streamflow or subsurface groundwater. In arid and semi-arid climates, this renders them phenologically distinctive from upland ecosystems. However, despite their importance and distinctiveness, there are currently no automated methods for delineating dryland riparian woodlands across regional extents in the cloud. Here we designed and implemented a cloud-based algorithm to retrieve dryland land surface phenology patterns from multispectral satellite imagery and conducted sensitivity analyses using real and simulated data to demonstrate that the approach is robust for MODIS, Sentinel-2, and Landsat over realistic ranges of noise and cloud cover. We then designed a series of random forest vegetation classifiers that integrate phenological and spectral information, vegetative structure from LiDAR, and topography from LiDAR or the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. We implemented classifiers for three local study sites and then generalized our model to run regionally across the southwestern United States, with balanced accuracy for the riparian woodland class ranging from 94.5% to 97.5% when validated with local to regional datasets. Generally, phenological information proved more important than any other data source for mapping riparian woodlands, which showed more stability in interannual phenology than did upland vegetation types. To our knowledge, ours is the first regional, annual, automatically-generated and updated approach for mapping dryland riparian woodlands in the southwestern United States, paving the way for improved modeling and management efforts on watershed to regional scales. We also provide one of the first operational, exclusively cloud-based methods to extract dryland land surface phenology patterns using Landsat, Sentinel-2, MODIS, or other sensors, providing a framework for future studies investigating other aspects of long-term or spatial variation in dryland vegetative seasonality across the globe.

A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change

Abstract In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in low sea ice extent in the Southern Ocean, outside the 4σ envelope of the 1982–2011 daily time series. Earth’s net global energy imbalance (12 months up to September 2023) amounts to +1.9 W m−2 as part of a remarkably large upward trend, ensuring further heating of the ocean. However, the regional radiation budget over the North Atlantic does not show signs of a suggested significant step increase from less negative aerosol forcing since 2020. While the temperature in the top 100 m of the global ocean has been rising in all basins since about 1980, specifically the Atlantic basin has continued to further heat up since 2016, potentially contributing to the extreme SST. Similarly, salinity in the top 100 m of the ocean has increased in recent years specifically in the Atlantic basin, and in addition in about 2015 a substantial negative trend for sea ice extent in the Southern Ocean began. Analyzing climate and Earth system model simulations of the future, we find that the extreme SST in the North Atlantic and the extreme in Southern Ocean sea ice extent in 2023 lie at the fringe of the expected mean climate change for a global surface-air temperature warming level (GWL) of 1.5°C, and closer to the average at a 3.0°C GWL. Understanding the regional and global drivers of these extremes is indispensable for assessing frequency and impacts of similar events in the coming years.

Financial Autonomy of Local Self-Government: Analysis and Assessing

The article considers issues related to ensuring the financial autonomy of local self-government. The purpose of this study is to systematize the theoretical foundations and develop practical recommendations for assessing the financial autonomy of local self-government and the directions of its strengthening in the current conditions of sustainable development. The study of the theoretical foundations of local self-government is deepened, namely, the role of the financial basis of local self-government in achieving the autonomy of local budgets is determined, the features of medium-term planning of local budgets are revealed. A model for assessing the financial autonomy of local self-government is proposed, which takes into account the indicators of budgetary autonomy in terms of revenues, budgetary autonomy in terms of expenditures, budgetary autonomy in terms of transfers and tax autonomy. In fulfilling the goal of this study, we used various methods of scientific research: monographic method in the process of studying the essence of financial autonomy; analytical method in the analysis of revenues and expenditures of the Sumy region budget; statistical method for calculating the coefficients of financial autonomy. The article analyses and evaluates the indicators of financial autonomy on the example of the budget of Sumy region for the period of 2018-2022. The strengths and weaknesses of the financial autonomy of the budget of Sumy region are substantiated. Risks and opportunities in strengthening the financial autonomy of local self-government of the Sumy region budget are identified on the basis of SWOT analysis. Among the vectors for strengthening, the financial autonomy of local self-government is the intensification of the processes of interaction between local development stakeholders. Type of article is empirical.
 The article considers issues related to ensuring the financial autonomy of local self-government. The purpose of this study is to systematize the theoretical foundations and develop practical recommendations for assessing the financial autonomy of local self-government and the directions of its strengthening in the current conditions of sustainable development. The study of the theoretical foundations of local self-government is deepened, namely, the role of the financial basis of local self-government in achieving the autonomy of local budgets is determined, the features of medium-term planning of local budgets are revealed. A model for assessing the financial autonomy of local self-government is proposed, which takes into account the indicators of budgetary autonomy in terms of revenues, budgetary autonomy in terms of expenditures, budgetary autonomy in terms of transfers and tax autonomy. In fulfilling the goal of this study, we used various methods of scientific research: monographic method in the process of studying the essence of financial autonomy; analytical method in the analysis of revenues and expenditures of the Sumy region budget; statistical method for calculating the coefficients of financial autonomy. The article analyses and evaluates the indicators of financial autonomy on the example of the budget of Sumy region for the period of 2018-2022. The strengths and weaknesses of the financial autonomy of the budget of Sumy region are substantiated. Risks and opportunities in strengthening the financial autonomy of local self-government of the Sumy region budget are identified on the basis of SWOT analysis. Among the vectors for strengthening, the financial autonomy of local self-government is the intensification of the processes of interaction between local development stakeholders. Type of article is empirical.

Modulation of Western South Atlantic Marine Heatwaves by Meridional Ocean Heat Transport

AbstractMarine heatwaves and cold spells are extreme surface temperature events that have been associated with adverse societal and ecosystem impacts in several regions around the globe. Predicting these events presents a challenge because of their generally short‐lived nature and dependence on air‐sea interactions, both locally and remotely. Here we analyze oceanic propagating features that promote the occurrence of marine heatwaves and cold spells in the western subtropical South Atlantic. The main interannual feature detected from satellite sea level data since 1993 shows a westward propagating zonal pattern with a periodicity of 3–5 years. The pattern has a significant in‐phase correlation with sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the western South Atlantic, explaining 82% of the daily extreme warm (90th percentile) and cold (10th percentile) SST anomalies and consequently modulating interannual variations in the intensity and duration of marine heatwave and cold spell events. It is found that meridional oceanic advection plays an important role in the regional heat budget associated with the westward‐propagating mode, modulating the meridional exchange of tropical (warm) and extratropical (cold) waters in the western subtropical South Atlantic region and thereby setting a baseline for temperature extremes on interannual timescales. This propagating mode is well correlated (r > 0.6) with the strength of the meridional overturning circulation at 25°S and 30°S with a lag of approximately 3–9 months. The lagged response provides a potential source of predictability of extreme events in the western South Atlantic.

Modelling mass accumulation rates and 210Pb rain rates in the Skagerrak: lateral sediment transport dominates the sediment input

Sediment fluxes to the seafloor govern the fate of elements and compounds in the ocean and serve as a prerequisite for research on elemental cycling, benthic processes and sediment management strategies. To quantify these fluxes over seafloor areas, it is necessary to scale up sediment mass accumulation rates (MAR) obtained from multiple sample stations. Conventional methods for spatial upscaling involve averaging of data or spatial interpolation. However, these approaches may not be sufficiently precise to account for spatial variations of MAR, leading to poorly constrained regional sediment budgets. Here, we utilize a machine learning approach to scale up porosity and 210Pb data from 145 and 65 stations, respectively, in the Skagerrak. The models predict the spatial distributions by considering several predictor variables that are assumed to control porosity and 210Pb rain rates. The spatial distribution of MAR is based on the predicted porosity and existing sedimentation rate data. Our findings reveal highest MAR and 210Pb rain rates to occur in two parallel belt structures that align with the general circulation pattern in the Skagerrak. While high 210Pb rain rates occur in intermediate water depths, the belt of high MAR is situated closer to the coastlines due to lower porosities at shallow water depths. Based on the spatial distributions, we calculate a total MAR of 34.7 Mt yr-1 and a 210Pb rain rate of 4.7 · 1014 dpm yr-1. By comparing atmospheric to total 210Pb rain rates, we further estimate that 24% of the 210Pb originates from the local atmospheric input, with the remaining 76% being transported laterally into the Skagerrak. The updated MAR in the Skagerrak is combined with literature data on other major sediment sources and sinks to present a tentative sediment budget for the North Sea, which reveals an imbalance with sediment outputs exceeding the inputs. Substantial uncertainties in the revised Skagerrak MAR and the literature data might close this imbalance. However, we further hypothesize that previous estimates of suspended sediment inputs into the North Sea might have been underestimated, considering recently revised and elevated estimates on coastal erosion rates in the surrounding region of the North Sea.