Public administration efficiency in studies of the Vologda research center of RAS

The destruction of the planned economic system and Russia’s “shock” transition to the market in the 1990s led to a sharp aggravation of the socio-economic development of the country, reduction of the standard and quality of life of population. For example, after 1991, there was a collapse in GDP with an annual rate for more than 6%, as a result of which Russian economy had shrunk by almost 40% by 1998 ( Fig. 1 ), and citizens’ real disposable income had fallen more than twice (by 1999, more than a quarter of population (41.6 million people) had incomes below the subsistence minimum).

That situation required increasing state’s role in regulating socio-economic processes, which was recognized at the highest government level. For example, in 1999, the future President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir V. Putin, in his election article “Russia at the turn of the Millennium”, drew attention to the need to strengthen role of the state and civil society institutions in modernization of the economy and the country’s life as a whole1. In the future, top public officials repeatedly focused on the importance of improving the administration efficiency2.

However, the current system of public administration in the country still does not meet the set of issues, and does not contribute to the full solution of the accumulated problems, in spite of the numerous attempts to reform it. The scientists see the origin of the later one in the discrepancy between the philosophy of the reforms and their instrumental organization, inefficiency of the ruling elites to meet the population’s essential needs in improving life quality and ensuring social justice [1].

The aforementioned circumstances actualize the task of scientific justification and practical implementation of a set of measures to improve efficiency of the public administration in Russia, taking into account the achievements of foreign and domestic science.

The most significant contribution to the study of the theory of evaluation and practice of improving the public administration efficiency (in the economic, social, political, and legal spheres) was made by such well-known foreign scientists as S. Grandi [2], D. Kettl [3], M. Crozier [4], S. Lazar [5], A. Manzoor3, S. Newland [6], D. Sink [7], J. Stiglitz [8], V. Thompson [9], and others.

It was the transition to the market and transformation processes in Russian public administration system in the 1990s that led to the growth of the scientific interest of Russian researches in the field of improving public administration efficiency. We can highlight the works of L.I. Abalkin [10], G.V. Atamanchuk [11], H. Wolmann [12], S.Yu. Glazyev [13], N.I. Glazunova [14], A.G. Granberg [15], M.G. Delyagin [16], B.A. Denisov4, N.V. Zubarevich [17], V.A. Ilyin [18], V. Inozemtseva [19],

S.G. Kara-Murzy [20], V.N. Lazhentsev [21], V.N. Leksin [22], D.S. L’vov [23], O.S. Sukharev [24], S.S. Sulakshin [25], A.V. Klimenko [26], A.I. Tatarkin [27], A.N. Shvetsov [28], and others among the leading Russian authors dealing with the issue, including those who work in the sphere of development of theoretical and methodological foundations and the practice of implementing regional socio-economic policy.

Researchers of the Vologda Research Center of RAS, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of its foundation this year, also made a significant contribution to the development of theoretical and methodological basis and tools for improving administration efficiency at the regional and municipal levels.

Public administration efficiency, priority research topics of the Vologda Research Center of RAS

Since its foundations in 1990, the research problems of the Vologda Research Center of RAS (VolRC of RAS, earlier – Vologda Scientific Coordinating Center of RAS) have been devoted to the issues of evaluating and ensuring administration efficiency of the national and regional economy to improve the standard and quality of living of the population. Research Supervisor of the Center, RAS Corresponding Member, Doctor of Sciences (Economics), Professor, Vladimir A. Ilyin is the idea initiator and research supervisor.

We should emphasize that this topic is crosscutting, and, in fact, it integrates all other research areas of the Center methodologically and ideologically. A team of experienced and young researchers was formed at the Vologda Research Center of RAS from scratch in quite a short period of time by scientific and historical standards (30 years). They face nontrivial challenges not only of scientific but also of practical nature, which are successfully solved. In particular, it is proved by close cooperation of the Center with leading Russian science institutions, regional authorities, and municipalities when formulating strategic documents for the socio-economic development of territories and particular branches, etc. A number of employees of the organization currently continue their career in management positions in public authorities.

The subject of the scientific research has always met the challenges of the time, and it was devoted to the search for the root causes and possible consequences of certain phenomena and the development of appropriate mechanisms for improving public administration efficiency at all levels. Active usage of the results of their own field work also promoted it. In fact, a comprehensive mechanism for evaluating public administration efficiency was developed within the framework of the research area in the Vologda Research Center of RAS, based on official statistics, expert and sociological surveys of business and population.

In our opinion, it is advisable to consider the specifics of the research evolution at each stage in more detail for deeper understanding of the range of issues, as well as the used methods.

At the first stage (in 1990–2000) the scientists of VolRC RAS paid attention to the acute crisis in the economy, methodology development (based on the works of L.I. Abalkin, A.G. Gran berg, A.E. Kogut, D.S. L’vov, A.I. Tatarkin, V.N. Lazhentsev), the development of methodological recommendations, and tools for adapting administrative systems at the regional and municipal authorities levels of market conditions of management.

The monograph “The Vologda Oblast: Movement to the Market” was published during this period (V.A. Ilyin (Research Supervisor), A.A. Pashko, M.F. Sychev) [29]. In the book, the authors showed the complexity and contradictions of the transformation processes of economic and social processes in the region during the reform, and their impact on people’s life in the region; they scientifically proved the recommendations for further realization of economic reforms and their efficiency improvement.

Problems of industrial sector development in the Vologda Oblast (for example, industrial decline in the region in 1990–1997 by 42%; investment activity reduction, tax increase, etc.) and measurements to improve administrative efficiency in this area are reflected in the comprehensive work “Modernization of the Industrial Sector of the Region” ( V.A. Ilyin ) [30].

During this period, several works were devoted to the search of reserves improving administrative efficiency of timber industry ( V.V. Grachev, V.A. Ilyin, M.F. Sychev, A.S. Shulev ) [31] and agro-industrial (A.A. Pashko, M.F. Sychev, V.A. Ilyin ) [32] complexes, small enterprises development ( V.A. Ilyin ) [33], public finances of the region ( a group of authors supervised by V.A. Ilyin and M.F. Sychev ) [34], and substantiation of “growth points” of the regional economy ( a group of authors supervised by V.A. Ilyin and M.F. Sychev ) [35].

Regular surveys of managers of industrial and agricultural enterprises were organized in the Center at that period in order to expand the empirical base of the studies on the progress and consequences of market reforms and to get feedback on the efficiency of the implemented administrative measures (monitoring the functioning of the Vologda Oblast industry; functioning and development of agricultural organizations in the region (since 1993); later the certificates of databases state registration were received). The monitoring results showed low public administrative efficiency in these areas (in 1993–1994, almost two thirds of the surveyed managers of industrial enterprises in the region considered the federal economic policy to be incorrect), and the need to strengthen state regulation of the economy, using a wide range of direct and indirect methods.

First sociological surveys of population have begun in the Center since 1993 (monitoring measurements of public opinion of the Vologda Oblast in the estimation of the political and economic situation in the country and region). Regional representative sample has being built since autumn in 1995; the surveys have already been carried out using the same methodology in Vologda, Cherepovets and 7 districts of the Oblast (Babayevsky, Velikous-tygsky, Vozhegosky, Gryazovetsky, Kirillovsky, Nikolsky, and Tarnogsky). The results showed that more than 60% of respondents negatively assessed changes in the country in the 1990s.

Since 2000, Sheksninsky District has been included in the regional sample5. Such tools have been extended to the territory of the Northwestern Federal District since 2005. The conducted surveys allow measuring public administration efficiency for which the information of Rosstat and its territorial authorities does not show a complete picture (for example, the attitude of people to various spheres of public life, the activities of government structures, and the stability of the political and economic situation in the country) and identifying the underlying causes and possible consequences of certain social processes.

The obtained sociological data are not only of purely scientific interest but also serve as information base for making administrative decisions, and it is the subject of wide discussions at meetings of regional and municipal authorities, and also civil society institutions, in the media, etc. Thus, a comprehensive mechanism for evaluating the public administration efficiency, based on official statistics, expert and sociological surveys of business and population, was developed and tested in VolRC RAS in the first period of its formation as a research center.

In this period, the problems at the municipal level of socio-economic development were identified as especially acute, and it required scientific studies on the organization of planning and improving the administrative efficiency of socio-economic development of municipalities under market conditions ( V.A. Ilyin (Research Supervisor), A.S. Yaku-nichev, A.N. Zuev, T.V. Uskova ) [36]. The authors proved the necessity to apply a strategic approach to administration of the socioeconomic development of territories, and they made a number of proposals for organizing a system for planning the expansion of Vologda, taking into account the successful experience of European towns.

The empirical basis for formulating scientific-based recommendations for improving the administrative efficiency of the socioeconomic development of the town during this period was the monitoring of the living conditions of Vologda population since 1994 (a certificate of state registration of this database was obtained in 2012). The research allowed assessing the level of citizens’ satisfaction with living conditions both in the town as a whole and in their own neighborhood, with the municipal government activities, which is extremely important in developing recommendations for improving the socioeconomic town policy.

A reasonable strategic approach to administration was successfully tested and implemented by the Center’s team ( supervised by V.A. Ilyin ) working together with the authorities to design concepts of socio-economic development of territories for the long-term period (Vologda (late 90’s), the Vologda and Gryazo-vetsky municipal districts), particular industries (for example, the Concept of work stabilization and development of the Vologda Oblast’s timber industry for the period from 1998 to 2005).

At the second stage (2000–2008) , the evolution of the Center’s studies on public administration issues of the territories and industries was going on in the conditions of relative stabilization of the situation in the country and economic growth due to favorable conditions on world energy markets, the beginning of administrative reform, and also the institute reform of municipal self-government.

Studies related to the problems of administrating the complex economic progress of the Vologda Oblast ( a group of authors supervised by V.A. Ilyin [37; 38; 39]), ensuring its sustainable development ( T.V. Uskova [40]), including through the implementation of cluster policy [41], and activating investment processes in the region ( E.S. Gubanova [42]) expanded and deepened during this period. The authors proposed specific directions and mechanisms for the formation of industrial policy, based on the study of the ongoing processes ( O.S. Moskvina [43]), and developed a set of measures to improve the efficiency of such industries as mechanical engineering, ferrous metallurgy, etc.

A fairly wide range of the Center’s studies during this period was devoted to improving administrative efficiency of the socio-economic development of municipalities in the region. VolRC RAS has been monitoring the evaluation results of the local self-government institute’s reform, identifying the problems and developing recommendations for improving the efficiency of regional and municipal authorities since 2007. A certificate of state registration of the database was obtained in 2014. A special questionnaire is sent annually to all municipalities of the Vologda Oblast (municipal districts, urban districts, urban and rural settlements). The results of the analysis indicate a decrease in the capacity of municipalities to solve the existing problems (for example, more than a quarter of the heads of rural region settlements indicate it in their responses) and low efficiency of interaction between regional and municipal authorities, government, business, and population.

During this period, the researchers worked out methodological tools for creating a multilevel system of indicative planning of socioeconomic development of a municipality ( V.A. Ilyin, A.S. Yakunichev, A.N. Zuev, T.V. Uskova, A.A. Smirnov ) [44; 45], and scientifically substantiated the need for the formation of a continuous planning system that organically combined elements of tactical (medium-term) and operational planning, which can act as a mechanism for implementing the strategy ( T.V. Uskova ) [46]. Methodological tools to assess administration efficiency of municipality socio-economic development were created; efficient forms of interaction between regional, district, and settlement authorities were proposed ( D.E. Amelin, D.P. Zharavin, N.A. Pakholkov ) [47; 48], etc.

Acute financial and economic crisis of 2008–2009 was in a sense a turning point in the development of Russia’s economy: it has led to the production decline in most industries and investment activity in the private sector; the reduction of prices for the raw material in world markets intensified the problems in the budget system of the regions. These circumstances actualized the task of improving the public administration system, including on the basis of scientific search for new factors of economic growth.

The third stage (2009 – present time) of the development of the Center’s studies related to the issues of public administration efficiency, characterized by expanding the range of scientific questions and the transition from the research of processes mainly in the Vologda Oblast, to the consideration of the present condition and problems of socially-economic development of the regions of the Northwestern Federal District and the Russian economy as a whole.

Special attention should be paid to comprehensive studies of this period, devoted to the analysis of the features and problems of socio-economic development of Russia from the point of view of ensuring its national security. The author’s team led by V.A. Ilyin and T.V. Uskova [49] identified the key threats and opportunities to ensure Russia’s economic growth in the conditions of exhaustion of the export-raw material development model; effective mechanisms for industrial diversification and the formation of a neoindustrial economy have been scientifically substantiated, based on successful international experience, and the tasks and directions for reforming inter-budgetary relations in Russia have been defined.

Budgetary policy, which is one of the basic aspects of public administration, is in the focus of the scientists’ attention in this period. In 2010–2014, there was a research, devoted to the study of the budget crisis features in the regions of the Russian Federation, and methods for improving their budgetary availability [50; 51] (V.A. Ilyin (Research Supervisor), T.V. Uskova, A.I. Povarova, V.S. Orlova). The research proved that the level of budgetary availability of the Vologda Oblast increased due to the negative impact of the world financial and economic crisis. Among the key factors for this are a significant reduction in tax revenues (in 2009, the consolidated budget’s tax revenues decreased by 40% in 2009, compared to the level of 2008; in 2010 – by 21%), increased dependence of the regions on assistance from the federal center, budget deficit, increased debt obligations, and a high level of preferential taxation. A methodology for evaluating the efficiency of inter-budget regulation (A.I. Povarova, M.A. Pechenskaya) [52], conceptual proposals for strengthening the incentive and investment functions of inter-budget relations and expanding the organizational and economic tools of state regulation in this area were developed to assess the level of budget security in the region.

Separate area of studies during this period is devoted to the research of efficiency of budget expenditures for the implementation of long-term target programs ( T.V. Uskova, A.I. Povarova, and A.V. Galukhin )⁶. A methodology for evaluating the efficiency of budget expend i tures in the framework of long-term target programs has been developed, the testing results of which proved a low efficiency of several state programs in the Vologda Oblast.

A new milestone in the development of the public administration system in Russia was marked by the adoption of the Federal Law “On Strategic Planning in the Russian Federation” no. 172-FZ, dated June 28, 2014. VolRC RAS researchers focused on a number of unresolved issues in the strategic planning system, formulated their proposals for further improvement of legislation related to the organization of strategic planning in the country, along with the undoubted timeliness and advantages of this document [53].

During this period, a large research began to study the influence of the interest of the metallurgical corporations owners on the regions’ socio-economic development and the state of their budgetary system ( V.A. Ilyin (Research Supervisor), A.I. Povarova, M.F. Sychev ) [54; 55]. Based on a methodological approach to the reporting analysis of vertically integrated structures in accordance with international and Russian standards, the researchers made an assessment of the production and financial activities of large subjects of ferrous metallurgy in Russia from the point of view of the influence of the economic interests of corporate owners on sustainable socio-economic national and regional development.

The research was not limited to studying the activities of ferrous metallurgy enterprises: the authors also analyzed the impact of financial results of oil and gas corporations on the formation of budgets and justified the proposals for improving the public administration efficiency in terms of adjusting monetary policy in the interests of stabilizing the macroeconomic situation in the country, and advancing development, reforming the budget system, etc. [58].

In our opinion, the readers will be interested in the monographs [59; 60], which combine the key articles of the Research Supervisor of VolRC RAS, RAS Corresponding Member, Doctor of Sciences (Economics), Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast”, Professor V.A. Ilyin which opened the issues in the period from 2012 to 2018. The cross-cutting theme of all publications is the political and socio-economic discourse on the public administration efficiency at all levels of government (federal, regional, municipal). There is extensive and deep analytical material about the ways of solving this problem, based on own studies of the author and the Center’s research team.

V.A. Iliyn identified the “pressure points” that slow down economic and social transformation in the country: the attachment of the power elites to comprador oligarchic capital, corruption at all stages of the power, and the growing differentiation of population’s living standards. The authors proposed specific measures to protect the security of the country and regions, to ensure the principals dominance of social justice in Russia, and to constantly increase the human capital. The books materials are illustrated by tables and graphs, describing the dynamics of population’s attitude to various branches of power, based on long-term monitoring sociological measurements carried out by VolRC RAS.

In-depth analysis of the results of the Center’s ongoing surveys is reflected in the bulletin “Public Administration Efficiency in Population Assessments”, which has been published regularly since 2013.

Similar problems are considered in the works of young researchers of VolRC RAS. For example, in the monograph “Public Administration Efficiency: Issues and Methods of Improvements” ( S.A. Kozhevnikov, E.D. Kopytova ), the authors proved low public administration efficiency in Russia and its regions in the post-Soviet period which led to crisis phenomena (budget crisis, reduction of investment and innovation activity, further increase in income inequality, etc.), taking into account justified methodological approaches (target and functional). Based on the analysis of normative-legal, program documents and practice, the researchers substantiated that the specific features of management at the present stage, reducing its efficiency, are inconsistency of authorities’ actions, contradiction of administration decisions, made at various levels, poor quality of strategic planning, etc.

In this context, the task of improving administration becomes extremely urgent, including through the usage of modern methods (benchmarking, crowdsourcing, SMART technologies, public-private partnership, etc.). The article demonstrates that a new industrial policy should play an important role, among the fundamental directions of which is to stimulate the development of high-value chains in key economy sectors; and its priority directions are substantiated. The efficiency of implementing project administration in activities of government structures is proved on the example of successful domestic practice; the research confirmed that the activation of these processes requires a developed institutional, legal, and organizational environment [61].

The problems of administration efficiency improvement are also very significant for the municipal level, since the institution of local self-government is constantly being reformed; local authorities face acute challenges that require finding appropriate responses. The research, carried out during these years, allowed determining the main vectors for improving the efficiency of territorial development management, including ones on the basis of regional socio-economic policy improvement in relation to municipalities as a whole7 [62] and individual territories (single-industry towns [63], rural territories [64], etc.). The list of proposals (T.V. Uskova, N.V. Voroshilov, S.A. Kozhevnikov, E.A. Gutnikov) [65] at the municipal level includes the organization of territorial public self-government and application of the mechanism of citizens’ self-taxation as a form of improving their participation in local government; introduction of mechanisms of public-private partnerships, and formation of an efficient mechanism for regional settlement interaction.

The development of the institute of publicprivate (municipal-private) partnership is a significant tool of regional policy for solving socio-economic issues of municipal territories. When studying these issues ( S.A. Kozhevnikov ), the author formulated conceptual foundations for administration of the region’s economy based on the development of partnership between the government and business structures in such an important area for ensuring municipalities’ activity as housing and communal services; proposed the method of integrated assessment of the state of municipal housing and utilities and methodological tools for evaluating the efficiency of partnership projects at all stages of their life cycle, taking into account the balance of interests of all major participants [66].

Public administration efficiency at the present stage and research perspectives

National goals and strategic objectivities for the development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024 were defined by the Decree of the Russian President V.V. Putin no. 204, dated May 7, 2018, and by Decree no. 474, dated July 21, 2020 – until 20307.

Thirteen national development projects of Russia serve as instrumental support for the implementation of these goals for the period from 2019 to 2024.

The VolRC RAS team carried out a comprehensive research devoted to the analysis of the main provisions of these documents, and the key risks of their implementation8. The findings, obtained by the authors, largely correlate with the opinion of the leading experts from science, government, and public areas regarding the bottle-neck of these strategic documents implementation. The studies proved that the key risks of the realization of national projects at the present stage are: poor consideration of regional components and territorial features of development, insufficient elaboration of mechanisms for their implementation, weak correlation of national projects with federal and regional state programs, international documents, and some targets being insufficiently justified or rather challenging, etc. [67].

In our opinion, a research of the ways of the administration system transformation at all levels should be among promising areas for studies on this issue in order to find the answers to the challenges and threats of development associated with deep processes in the world economy (for example, the transition to a new technological way) and the agenda which became especially relevant only in 2020 (the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection, etc.).