Conceptual approach to the formation of the monitoring of socio-economic development of municipal entities in Russia’s regions

The study is relevant, because there is a necessity to improve approaches to and tools for monitoring the development of municipal entities in Russia, taking into account the current situation concerning statistics in the context of municipalities and the tasks to be addressed at the municipal level of management in modern conditions. The aim of the work is to provide a scientific and methodological substantiation for an approach to the formation and implementation of a comparative monitoring of socio-economic development of municipalities at the intraregional and interregional levels. To achieve the goal, we use scientific methods such as economic and statistical analysis, generalization, and expert survey (questionnaire survey of Vologda Oblast municipalities’ heads). Scientific novelty of our research consists in the development of a unified approach to organizing municipal monitoring in Russia’s constituent entities. The approach should take into account the current situation concerning municipal statistics and help to compare local territories of different regions. We describe a methodological approach to organizing the monitoring of Vologda Oblast municipalities; the results of the monitoring are reflected in the annual information and analytical bulletin “Socio-Economic Development of Municipal Districts”, issued by Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 2014. Based on the calculations of the integral indicator of the level of development of municipalities in the Vologda and Leningrad oblasts and the Komi Republic according to our own methodology, we reveal that statistical information presented in the Rosstat database containing indicators for Russia’s municipalities does not allow us to form an objective interregional typology of municipalities by development level. In this regard, we substantiate the ways to improve municipal monitoring and the expediency of using the indicators presented in statistics collections “Socio-Economic Development of Municipalities” published annually by territorial offices of Rosstat in constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The findings of our research can be used by federal, regional public authorities, local self-government bodies, scientific and educational organizations in analyzing the development of municipalities, as well as serve as a basis for further research on the subject under consideration.