Russian Regions In Terms Research Articles

Development of the Far Eastern Territories of Russia: from the Origins to Modern Realities

Relevance. In the conditions of the new world order, issues of state migration policy are of particular importance. The rapid development of the Far Eastern Federal District in the 21st century is determined by “absolute priority”. Therefore, the problems and prospects for technological and infrastructural development of the Far East require scientific understanding and social correction from all levels of state and municipal government. As prospects for minimizing the consequences of population outflow, a set of management measures is proposed, primarily at the federal level, which involves: providing a package of social preferences to all socio-demographic groups of residents of the Far Eastern Federal District; attracting human resources within the framework of the annually held competition “Leaders of Russia” and implementing in-depth scientific research on all socially significant projects. The purpose is to identify promising areas of managerial influence to minimize the outflow of population from the Far Eastern territories of modern Russia. Objectives: characterize the historical retrospective of the development of the Far Eastern territories; reveal cause-and-effect relationships, conditions and factors of population outflow; outline directions for minimizing negative migration consequences. Methodology. Research procedures are based on a synthesis of theoretical principles of the sociology of management and economics, using general scientific methods of comparison, analysis and synthesis. Results. A set of quantitative and qualitative sociological measurements was carried out, which made it possible to determine the "pain points" of migration policy in the Far East and the prospects for their resolution. Conclusions. Stratification differences between Russian regions in terms of basic socio-economic indicators require the federal level of government to take specific measures to minimize their consequences. Underfunding of technological and infrastructure projects in the Far Eastern territories leads to fragmentation of their implementation. Deep scientific expertise and public approval are necessary when developing federal and regional development programs for the Far Eastern territories.

Interregional inequality in budget revenues per capita and its decomposition by source: the case of pre-pandemic Russia

ABSTRACT The study identifies the sources of convergence/divergence of Russian regions in per capita budget revenues in the period 2010–19. Budget inequality is assessed using the Theil–Bernoulli index and then decomposed by stages of budgeting and sources. The research shows that inequality, initially formed at the production stage, more than doubles at the stage of tax collection due to the progressiveness of the tax rate in relation to the tax base in the Russian regions. The tax distribution system makes the largest contribution to the convergence of Russian regions in terms of per capita budget revenues, while the contribution of the budget transfer system decreases over time due to its ever growing deviation from the real position of the regions.

Assessment of spatial heterogeneity of employment in Russian regions

The article studies the problem of spatial heterogeneity of employment in Russian regions. Despite the rather high indicators for Russia and their positive dynamics, the situation in the regions is strikingly different. Heterogeneity of employment distribution between regions can be intensified as a result of the influence of some territories on others. The purpose of the study is to assess spatial heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation effects between Russian regions in terms of employment. As the main research method, the paper applies Moran’s methodology to calculate local and global spatial autocorrelation indices and Anselin’s methodology to form a spatial matrix. The results of the study demonstrate that among Russian regions there is a high potential for clustering by the number of employed people. At the same time, a group of western regions is clearly distinguished, which have greater territorial cohesion characterized by pronounced spatial mutual influence. The results of the study can be used in formulating strategies for Russian regions development, in particular, the Far Eastern regions, as well as in determining priority development goals.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ НОВОЙ МОДЕЛИ ВНЕШНЕЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИХ СВЯЗЕЙ СЕВЕРО-ЗАПАДНОГО РЕГИОНА

The development of any national economy is impossible without the active participation of the regions in this process. An important factor in strengthening and expanding the regional economy is foreign economic activity. Its role is especially great for the border regions. These regions include the Northwestern Federal District. Its geographical proximity to the countries of the Baltic-Scandinavian region, transport and industrial potential provided it with a leading position among Russian regions in terms of the degree of involvement in foreign economic relations. In the changed economic reality, conducting foreign economic activity in the previous model has become impossible. Therefore, there is a need to build a new model of foreign economic relations. In the article, the author analyzes the main directions in which the transformation of the region’s foreign economic activity and its prospects will take place.

Quantitative Analysis of Russian Protests: Regional Authorities and Regions of Authority (2018–2021)

ABSTRACT The authors offer an original dataset of 4,909 protests across Russia in 2018–2021. The study shows that political and pro-democratic protests do not constitute the majority of protests in Russia, their agenda being mainly concentrated on social and economic issues at the local level. Second, the agenda, not geographic proximity, determines the spread of protests, and a political agenda results in faster dissemination. Third, the main organizer of protests is the Communist Party and not non-systemic parties. Fourth, Moscow and Saint Petersburg lag behind at least three other Russian regions in terms of the strength of local protest activity.

Assessing the Impact of Rural Development for the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Russian Federation

Assessing the Impact of Rural Development for the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Russian Federation

Регионы с низкой финансовой устойчивостью: анализ и активизация развития

This article presents an analysis of the socio-economic development and fiscal position of the subjects of the Russian Federation with low financial sustainability. The existing domestic and foreign approaches to understanding the concept of "financial sustainability of territory" are analyzed. It is proved that the regions with low financial sustainability include the subjects of the Russian Federation with a high level of gratuitous receipts in the structure of the regional budget and lagging behind the average Russian regions in terms of basic economic parameters. The relevance of the study lies in identifying problems that hinder the economic growth of such regions, as well as in developing measures to improve interbudget relations. ITo carry out the analysis and identify the specifics of management of these territories, the authors identify a group of regions with low financial sustainability, having different geographical location and degree of intensity of this problem (the Republics of Mordovia and Tyva, the Trans-Baikal Territory, the Pskov and Oryol Regions, the Jewish Autonomous Region), and apply an original methodological approach based on the assessment of the socio-economic situation and the fiscal position. As a result, both general socio-economic (depopulation, low wages, unemployment, depreciation of fixed assets, low investment and innovation activity) and fiscal (budget imbalance, low level of financial independence, debt burden) problems of these subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as problems specific to each of them, are identified. Measures to enhance economic development and growth of the income base of regions with low financial sustainability are proposed, and suggestions for improving regulatory legal acts in the field of state regional management are formulated.

Цифровая трансформация и ее влияние на социально-экономическое развитие российских регионов

The modern world economy is transforming into the digital economy. Digital transformation can be a driver of socio-economic and technological development of various states and regions. As shown by the experience of developed countries, digital transformation contributes to the creation of new business opportunities, emergence of new markets and niches, and consequently affects regional socio-economic development. However, this process is uneven across countries, leading to significant differences between regions. Additionally, the connection between digital transformation and regional sustainable development should be considered. The paper presents the authors’ perspective on digital transformation and analyses the impact of digital transformation on the socio-economic development of Russian regions in terms of sustainable development priorities. The research aims to develop and verify a multilevel multiple regression model, which illustrates regional digital transformation through integral indicators and describes its impact on regional sustainable development. In particular, the study examined the integral indicator of digital transformation and integral indicator of sustainable development, revealing a correlation between them for Russian regions. The regions were clustered according these indicators. Panel data econometric models for different clusters showed that such factors as digital labour and digital capital greatly influence socio-economic indicators of Russian regions. The direct correlation between the share of manufacturing in gross regional product and regional digital transformation was established. The calculation of integral indicators for all Russian regions identified significant spatial heterogeneity of Russian regions in terms of their sustainable development and digital transformation. At the same time, an increase in the share of manufacturing share in gross regional product causes a decrease in regional sustainable development.

Agroindastrial complex of the Chuvash Republic: intra-regional and All-Russian significance

This paper reveals the current state of various areas of the agro-industrial complex of the Russian region of the Chuvash Republic. Particular attention was paid to comparing a number of parameters characterizing the agro-industrial production of the republic with the corresponding parameters of other areas of the economy of the region, the role of the agro-industrial complex of Chuvashia in the all-Russian agro-industrial production. In the Chuvash Republic, the importance of the agro-industrial complex for the regional economy is often emphasized. Moreover, in the typology of Russian regions in terms of the level and type of economic development, the Chuvash Republic is quite often referred to the category of agro-industrial regions. The paper describes the absence of exceptional natural and climatic advantages for the development of the agro-industrial complex of the region, the relative weakness of the agricultural and agro-industrial sectors of the republic against the background of a number of other regions of Russia. The share of the industry in the structure of GRP and employment in the region is analyzed, while its importance is highlighted against the background of manufacturing industries and the service sector. It also stands out that the modern agro-industrial complex of the Chuvash Republic is of great importance for the socio-economic development of the region and the prospects for further development. However, it is not possible to classify Chuvashia as an agrarian and even agro-industrial region. The most important in the republic is not the agro-industrial complex, but the social infrastructure, industrial infrastructure and industry.

Labour market and educational potential in Russia’s regions under the conditions of an innovative development vector

The paper analyses static data showing improvement in the labor market in all federal districts of Russia in the post-pandemic period, with unemployment rates declining annually. Regarding the leaders among Russian industries in terms of average wages, only two federal districts have changed. In the Northwestern Federal District, information and communication activities have become the most lucrative among other sectors since 2021. In the North Caucasian Federal District, people employed in public administration, military security, and social security have higher average salaries than others do. The winner of the rating of Russian regions in terms of the level of implementation of educational potential in science, mathematics and engineering was Moscow, with St Petersburg coming in second and the Republic of Tatarstan in third place.

Зависимость неформальной занятости от уровня доходов населения российских регионов: уроки пандемии

The coronavirus spread transformed the economy and social order, and dealt a crushing blow to the labour market. Considering the worsening unemployment, it becomes important to reduce informal employment, which leads to an increase in the shadow economy. It is hypothesised that the decline in official income is accompanied by an increase in informal employment differentiated across Russian region. The study aims to theoretically justify and empirically confirm the relationship between the consequences of the pandemic, decline in population income and dynamics of informal employment in regions, as well as to develop ways to reduce their negative impact on the labour market. The study utilised an approach of the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) to determining employment criteria; additionally, expert and analytical methods, analysis of statistical series, clustering and cartography were applied. The regions were clustered according to Ward’s hierarchical method based on weighted standardised data. To this end, official data from Rosstat, the United Nations, and the World Bank were examined. As a result, the analysis of informal employment in Russian regions during the pandemic did not confirm the hypothesis, showing that informal employment actually decreased in most constituent entities; the largest decrease was observed in the North Caucasus republics. The performed clustering revealed groups of Russian regions in terms of the dependence of informal employment on average per capita income and gross regional product per capita. The obtained findings can be used to develop standard solutions for establishing long- and short-term support measures for employees at the national, regional and micro-level aimed at reducing the negative impact of the identified reasons for the growth of informal employment.

Расходы на здравоохранение и качество жизни населения в регионах Дальнего Востока России: сравнительный анализ

The study carried out an economic grouping of 30 regions of the Russian Federation, on the basis of which a comparative analysis of cost indicators of the level of healthcare and indicators of the quality of life of the population in 2021 was carried out. Based on the univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey – Kramer a priori test, it was determined that the regions of the Far East are statistically significantly different from the rest economically similar Russian regions in terms of government spending on health care, average salaries of doctors and life expectancy. It has been established that the level of healthcare financing in regions with similar levels of economic development is statistically significantly associated with this level. It is concluded that state medicine is less effective in the Far East compared to the rest of Russia. The thesis about the general underfunding of state and commercial medicine is substantiated. It is shown that in terms of the quality of life of the population, regions with an average income, but a relatively developed economic structure, are significantly ahead of both rich, but poorly developed, and poor, depressed regions

Current state of innovative activities in the Russian regions

Introduction. At the current stage of economic development, Russia’s focus on competitive performance and technological leadership in international markets has boosted the role of innovations. In recent years, a number of policy documents have been adopted; they outline the ways to ensure the transition of the Russian economy to an innovative development path and list the indicators of attainment of pre-defined priorities. The paper presents a comparative study of the Russian regions in terms of their attainment of innovative development targets aimed at the achievement of national strategic goals.
 
 Materials and methods. The authors used open statistical data on innovations in the Russian Federation, published by the Federal State Statistics Service for 2015 and 2020. Statistical methods and cluster analysis were employed to make a comparative analysis using Statistica and MS Excel software.
 
 Results. The Russian regions were clustered in the course of the study, and each cluster was characterized by various aspects of innovative activities. Primary statistics were used to calculate relative indicators of effectiveness of innovative activities. Various statistical charts were used to visualize the results. The studies allow assessing changes in the composition and structure of clusters during the period under review. Calculations were made to assess the degree of achievement of goals set in the “Strategy for Innovative Development of the Russian Federation”. The authors also consider current approaches to innovative activity rankings made for the Russian regions.
 
 Conclusions. The results acknowledge that the level of innovative development is low in the majority of the Russian regions, that have inadequate systems of indicators and calculation methods, used to characterize innovative activities. Development of innovative activity evaluation methods, aimed at promoting innovative activities in the regions and rising the efficiency of investments in innovations, are proposed as promising areas of further research.

The Fiscal Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Subnational Governments: The Case of Russia

This paper examines the fiscal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for subnational governments. In particular, we study how the pandemic affected the Russian regions in terms of budget revenues, expenditures, and federal transfers. We use a novel dataset and compare various monthly fiscal measures in 2020 prior to and during the pandemic to the corresponding measures in 2019, conditioning on regional actions in response to the pandemic, the health impact of the pandemic, and the potentially relevant regional characteristics. We document that small business tax collections declined the most in response to the pandemic-related restrictions, while unconditional discretionary transfers and health care expenditures rose the most. Also, we find that tax collections are positively associated with population mobility, controlling for the restrictions, suggesting that tax revenues were inversely affected by the degree of compliance with the restrictions. Finally, we outline some policy implications for the design of fiscal federalism and directions for future research.

National tourist rating of Russian regions: Typological diversity

In the context of increasing interest in the development of the tourist and recreational sphere of activity, the rating of Russian regions, which makes it possible to identify leaders and outsiders in the development of domestic and international inbound tourism, is one of the effective tools for strategic planning and management at the federal and regional levels of government, at the same time contributing to the formation of preferences of Russian citizens about the possibilities of leisure and recreation. The aim of the study is to identify typological groups of Russian regions and the main trends in the development of their tourist attractiveness based on the dynamics of the values of the National Tourist Rating for the period 2016-2020. The approach based on the dynamics of the values of the National Tourism Rating for the period 2016-2020 and their medians allows us to identify typological groups of the regions of the Russian Federation in terms of tourist attractiveness, oftourist potential and popularity among domestic and foreign tourists, as well as to determine the main trends in its development.The open data of the official website of the National Tourism Rating for the period 2016-2020 as well as scientific developments on the issues under study by Russian researchers are used. The analysis revealed five typological groups of Russian regions in terms of the level of tourist attractiveness: high (12.9%), increased (16.5%), medium (18.8%), insufficient (32.9%) and low (18.8%). In addition, three main trends in the development of regional tourist attractiveness have been identified. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourist development of Russian regions is different. The part of the regions of the Russian Federation received benefits and strengthened their positions with varying degrees of growth in the National Tourism Rating (38.8%), a large share reduced their values (47%), the fifth part of the regions retained their positions in the ranking (21.2%). The material is of interest to researchers focusing on the tourist competitiveness and tourist attractiveness of Russia in general and in the regional context, to regional authorities, specialists as well as students of specialized institutions.

ПОТЕНЦИАЛ РЕГИОНОВ РОССИИ ДЛЯ РАЗВИТИЯ ТРАНСПОРТНОЙ ИНФРАСТРУКТУРЫ НА ПРИНЦИПАХ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННО-ЧАСТНОГО ПАРТНЕРСТВА

Like many other countries of the world, Russia is experiencing a deficit of infrastructure investment. One of the main ways to overcome this deficit is to attract private investment using public-private partnership (PPP) mechanisms. However, a significant part of decisions on the implementation of PPP projects are made without taking into account the specifics of a particular territory, which can decrease the project’s effectiveness. Similarly, the methods for assessing the development of PPP in the regions are solely based on factors that are not directly related to their socio-economic indicators, and only consider the quality of management and the experience of implementation of PPP projects. Using the example of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the author develops an integral index that takes into account institutional, budgetary, and socio-economic indicators reflecting the region's readiness to implement PPP projects as well as the need for such projects. The results of calculating this integral index for transport infrastructure projects reflect a significant differentiation of Russian regions in terms of the potential for the PPP development. Generally, regions with a high level of socio-economic development (including Moscow, St. Petersburg and most of the leading industrial regions) have a more significant potential for using PPPs in the infrastructure development. Regions possessing a favorable transport and geographical location, as well as an institutional environment conducive to attracting private investment, also have high potential.

Снижение дифференциации электровооруженности регионов и устойчивое развитие российской экономики

Differentiation in (per capita) electricity consumption (”PC) between developed and developing countries is decreasing in the world. However, the difference between Russian regions in terms of this indicator in 1990–2020 increased. It is shown that an increase in differentiation in the electric power supply leads to an increase in imbalances in socio-economic development. The relationship between the low profi tability of goods and services in the regions and low EPC was revealed. Unlike developing countries, where electricity consumption is limited by the possibilities of electricity production, in the Russian regions the limiting factor is the underdevelopment of electricity consumers. Under conditions of underdeveloped industry and low power supply, higher losses in power networks are characteristic, which causes a signifi cant increase in electricity prices for local industrial and agricultural consumers. Prerequisites are created for the transfer of industrial and agricultural production to regions with lower electricity supply costs. The mechanism aimed at preventing this negative trend is considered. As a result of its implementation, the modernization of production processes at electricity consumers will be initiated and conditions will be created for the emergence of new points of growth in these currently subsidized regions.

Electoral preferences of the youth of the Russian regions in terms of its political loyalty and protest potential

Electoral preferences of the youth of the Russian regions in terms of its political loyalty and protest potential

Assessing the Innovative Solvency of Regional Exports in the Russian Federation

Aim. The presented study aims to develop a methodology for assessing the innovative solvency of exports from Russian regions and to identify the leading exporting regions in the development of the country’s innovative exports. Tasks. The authors clarify the definition of ‘innovative solvency of regional exports’; develop a methodology for assessing the innovative component of regional exports; test methodological recommendations for assessing the innovative solvency of exports through the example of industrial regions. Methods. The approach to determining the innovative solvency of regional exports is based on a matrix measurement method using two-component evaluation tools. This method also makes it possible to compare the level of the region’s existing foreign economic relations with the level of the regional production system when considering the latter as a resource and a prerequisite for further increasing the level of innovation in exports; to assess the degree of regional potential realization through a separate comparison of the indicators of commodity production and exports of goods and indicators reflecting the level of production technologies and their exports. Results. A typology of exporting regions is proposed based on the synthesis of two criteria: the level of development of the innovative component in the exports of the region and the level of development of advanced innovative technologies in the region. The study confirms the hypothesis about the heterogeneity of Russian regions in terms of the innovative component of their exports, which has a direct impact on the development of the corresponding regional development strategies. Of the 34 exporting regions analyzed, only 16 regions can be identified as exporters of innovative goods. Conclusions. The methodology proposed by the authors makes it possible to qualitatively assess the innovative component of regional exports based on quantitative data, which reveals the potential of the regional production system for innovative production, and to compare it with the existing and projected levels of innovative exports. The practical significance of this study consists in the formation of a list of regions leading in innovative exports, which can be useful for public authorities when adjusting programs aimed at stimulating innovation activity and forming an export-oriented national economy.

The grain market of Russia

Russia is one of the world leaders in the production and export of grain. Wheat occupies the largest share among grain crops in Russia. Over the past twenty years, in Russia has been a steady increase in grain production, while reducing its dependence on natural and climatic conditions.The article provides an overview of the grain market in Russia, using data from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat).The dynamics of changes in sown areas and gross harvest of both grain and leguminous crops in general and wheat in particular are analyzed. The structure of the gross grain harvest in the Federal Districts of the Russian Federation is given. The rating of Russian regions in terms of gross wheat harvest is presented. The Russian export of grain is characterized. The classification of grain as a strategic export product of Russia is justified.The structure of the export of grain crops of the Russian Federation is presented. The dynamics of changes in the volume of imports of grain and leguminous crops in value terms, as well as the issue of tariff regulation of grain exports in Russia are considered.