Active labor market policies in Russian regions in 1995-2016: institutional analysis

Active labor market policy (ALMP) in the labor market of the Russian Federation (RF) is implemented through the adoption of active labor market programs (programs) and related documents. The programs usually contain tools and activities that help unemployed individuals to find work. Normally ALMP is considered as a labor market institution that contributes to reduction in the duration of unemployment and the number of the unemployed. Thus, the aim of the ALMPs is to transfer an individual from the unemployed to the employed status. In Russia ALMP has been carried out for more than 20 years. During this period, the majority of functions connected with the development and implementation of regional ALMPs was transferred from the federal government to the authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation (SRF). Currently, according to the formal norms of the law, almost all the regional programs are developed, adopted and funded at the regional level. Until now, regional ALMPs have remained outside the economic studies due to the lack of empirical data required for quantitative analysis. However, text content of the regional programs provided in the public domain allows us to conduct qualitative institutional analysis. The aim of this study is to provide comparative institutional analysis of the regional programs in Russia from 1995 to 2016. We have analyzed text content of 263 regional programs adopted in the SRF. Thus, the research is based on the unique hand-collected database of regional programs developed and adopted in the SRF. The results show that the governance of the regional ALMPs in the RF is still centralized. The SRF react to the economic crisis by increasing the number of developed and adopted programs, however their efficiency is low.