Public finance. Рубрика в журнале - Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast
Administration of regional budgets in 2016: the crisis has not been overcome
Статья научная
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaking in the State Duma with the report on the work of the Russian Government claimed that regional budget shortage has been eliminated and the number of regions with public debt exceeding revenues has been reduced [4]. This discussion makes the problem of proper assessment of sub-federal budgets relevant. Their deficit administration and accumulation of debts have become a steady trend in recent years. The past year has been marked by increased revenues and spending cuts, but even under these conditions most regions were unable to implement balanced budget policy: 54 constituent entities of the Russian Federation were running deficits with debts exceeding half their own revenues, which caused the weakening of investment and consumer demand. The situation is exacerbated by the decline in energy prices, destabilization of the Federal budget and a general decline in business activity in the country. The federal policy is also tightening: since 2014, there has been a steady decrease in financial support for territories, which forces regional authorities to address the issues of financing through local sources of revenues...
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Analyzing distribution effects of the federal budget transfers for the Far East
Статья научная
The article analyzes the economic consequences of federal redistributive transfers for the regions of the Far East on the basis of two-regional computable general equilibrium model. The model is based on the assumption that regional government aims at maximizing their total spending which is limited by the size of the region’s tax base. Migration, trade and federal transfers are the main sources of regional interconnection in the national economy. The authors calibrated the linearized version of the model on data of nine regions of the Far Eastern Federal District. The regions have significant structural and macroeconomic differences not only in such aggregates as average per capita consumption and wages, but also in terms of average per capita income and budget expenditures. The researchers have found that federal transfers have a negligible effect on the welfare of the regional households. However, they affect other variables, such as consumption, employment, price level, wages, regional taxes and government spending. An initial increase in the welfare level causes an in-migration of labor resources, and a new equilibrium is established at a lower price level and per capita income in the recipient region. Moreover, a decrease in prices for local products is observed for the South Zone of the Far Eastern Federal District (Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais, the Amur Oblast), while for all other regions there is an opposite effect. The research has shown that the regions of the Far East are characterized by different reactions and may have opposite effects with respect to the state budgetary policy measures in relation to these regions.
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Assessing federal transfers' role in the subnational budget system of the Russian Federation
Статья научная
Subfederal authorities' financial independence is an essential condition for their effective functioning. Currently, in Russia, the procedure of inter-budgetary regulation is excessively centralized, and the share of transfers in the structure of regional revenues is high. At the same time, subfederal budgets arethebasiclevelofthebudgetsystem, whichconcentratesthemainpartofsociallysignificantexpenditures. In this regard, the development of a comprehensive tool for the empirical analysis of tax revenues and the effectiveness of inter-budget transfers, undertaken in the study, seems relevant. The purpose of the research is to develop an economic and statistical apparatus for assessing the results of transferring inter-budget transfers from the federal budget to the constituent entities of the Federation. Achieving this goal required to: consider the features of the structure of budget revenues in the regions; determine the scale of the territories' budget revenues heterogeneity, and give its quantitative assessment; identify the directions of the federal center's transfer policy; find out the nature of gratuitous transfers impact on the regional budgets. The novelty of the presented work is the creation of an economic and statistical apparatus for the study of the impact of federal budget policy on the region's public finance. This allowed us to characterize gratuitous transfers from the federal budget to the regions and determine whether there is a motivation to increase tax revenues in the Russian Federation's subjects or not. It is concluded that improving inter-budgetary relations should include measures to strengthen the Russian regions' tax potential, which is impossible if the stability of securing tax revenues is not ensured. Authorities need measures to prevent a direct correlation between actual and projected budget revenues and expenditures and the volume of transfers received from the federal budget to equalize budget security. The results of the research can be used to study the possibilities of improving budget policy in the direction of equalizing and stimulating the regions to strengthen their own revenue base.
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Assessing the efficiency of tax incentives in the system for managing regional finances
Статья научная
The paper analyzes existing techniques for assessing the effectiveness of tax incentives in the system for managing regional finances and reveals their advantages and disadvantages. It points out major conditions that determine the effectiveness of tax incentives at the regional level. The authors prove that assessing the effectiveness of tax incentives should focus, first, on identifying the relationship between the amounts of falling-out incomes and real economic benefits to the state and taxpayers that they entail; second, on determining the degree of correlation for this relationship; third, on adopting the decisions proceeding from the analysis of decisions concerning the extension of the incentive and its adjustment or possible abolition. The paper substantiates the conclusion that the effectiveness of tax incentives should be evaluated on the basis of three criteria: fiscal, economic and social. At that, the effectiveness of tax incentives at the regional level should be analyzed in several stages: calculation of budgetary, economic and social efficiency ratios; definition of the integral coefficient reflecting the total assessment of tax incentives efficiency; adoption of the decision about the appropriateness of introducing or further using the incentive, the decision being based on the calculations carried out previously...
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Budgets of regional centers in the north-west: tools for modernization or survival?
Статья научная
The paper opens a series of studies on the development of regional administrative centers. We put forward a hypothesizes that the budgetary policy regarding regional centers does not correspond to their current budget condition and is not focused on such development that would turn cities into the pillars of the balanced and harmonious spatial development of Russia. In this regard, the goal of the study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the budget system and the conditions of its functioning in regional administrative centers. We use economic and mathematical methods and reveal that the changes in geopolitical and geo-economic conditions in Russia had a negative impact on the budget systems of regional centers; it was manifested in the predominance of financial assistance in the structure of total revenues, in the stable dynamics of imbalance and in a decrease in the level of budget security of the population. We use official data of Rosstat and the Federal Treasury to find out key trends in the development of regional centers of the North-West of Russia since 2011. We conclude that the budgets of regional centers are trying to survive and are not ready to implement social transformation and promote economic growth. Based on this, we define major development directions for regional centers. The materials of the paper can be of use in the educational sphere, in the study of financial and economic disciplines; they can also be used by scientists as a basis for further research and by management bodies of various levels to substantiate management decisions. Further research will be devoted to the study of the effectiveness of management of the budget of the regional center, the level of debt burden and the state of intergovernmental fiscal relations.
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Статья научная
The global financial crisis that broke out in 2008 highlighted the problem of low levels of financial literacy among the population of different countries, and the response to this was the creation of national financial education systems where international economic organizations played the guiding and coordinating role. Russia also launched a joint project of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the world Bank in 2011, and then adopted a Strategy to improve financial literacy of the population. However, despite the efforts and money spent, the level of the Russians' financial literacy and their trust in financial institutions remains low. The article presents conceptual approaches to creating the preconditions for effective financial education of Russian residents and describes the structural and functional model within which this can be implemented. The information base of the research is the data from Russian and international studies on financial literacy of the population and works devoted to their comparative analysis; the guidelines and analytical materials of international organizations; the results of an expert survey conducted by the authors with the participation of 136 experts from 30 regions of Russia. It is shown that effective financial education is impossible without an effective income policy, when the population has free money, and the need to dispose this money generates a practical interest in improving financial literacy. The second fundamental condition is the implementation of the “trust policy”, i.e. ensuring the operation of the state mechanism that does not allow the depreciation of citizens' savings and reliably protects their rights when interacting with financial institutions. Stability and predictability of economic development, refusal to impose excessive consumption standards on the population, physical accessibility of credit and financial institutions in small towns and villages, develop ment of information and communication infrastructure, and increasing the Russians' digital culture are important. The main components of financial education proper are described; the approaches to defining target groups for financial literacy training and selecting appropriate educational programs are proposed.
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Creation of the conditions for self-development of the northern territories: budget aspect
Статья научная
The article analyzes the reasons for and consequences of the low level of financial self-sufficiency in the Northern regions, it describes the approaches to the improvement of budget and tax regulation mechanisms in order to increase budgetary self-sufficiency in the territories and enhance their self-development. In addition, the article substantiates the proposals for increasing the share of tax revenues in the regional and municipal budgets and improving the redistribution of budget funds.
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Determinants of the Russian banking sector development as the drivers of economic growth
Статья научная
The paper substantiates the relationship between the situation in the national banking sector and Russia's economy. Using the data provided by the Bank of Russia [8; 9; 10], Federal State Statistics Service [2], IBM SPSS Statistics software product, the authors have carried out a regression-correlation analysis of the main indicators of the Russian banking sector in 2005-2015 and GDP. It has been found that there is the strongest positive correlation between GDP and aggregate banking risks and also the profit of credit institutions; the correlation between GDP and aggregate financial result of the banking sector is weaker; the return on equity has no significant relationship with major indicators of banking activities, except for a moderate negative relationship with the aggregate value of regulatory capital; the return on equity in the Russian banking sector is affected adversely by subordinated debt in the structure of capital. In a stable economic situation (2005-2007, 2010-2013) the authors point out a correlation between capital and the profit of the banking sector; in a crisis situation (2008-2009, 2014-2015), there is a correlation between capital and the profit of profitable credit institutions alone...
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Статья научная
Non-ferrous metallurgy has a rather high significance for the Russian economy. The industry creates jobs and demand for highly qualified specialists providing a fairly high salary relative to other industries. Non-ferrous metallurgy is not inferior in importance to ferrous metallurgy. The industry’s products act as indispensable components in the production of electronics and household appliances, batteries, lighting systems, machine tools and equipment, jewelry, various kinds of wires and cables, kitchen appliances, plumbing and other household items. Non-ferrous metallurgy assumes a higher price for final products relative to ferrous metallurgy and lower production volumes. The purpose of the research is to analyze the key financial and economic indicators of the development of foreign trade activities of non-ferrous metallurgy in Russia, as well as to predict further directions for the development of trade turnover in the prevailing new economic conditions. The object of the study is foreign trade relations arising between the Russian Federation and foreign countries regarding the export and import of non-ferrous metals. We use methods such as structural (weight) and dynamic analysis, comparison, systematization, and forecasting. The information base is statistical data on the export-import activities of Russia’s non-ferrous metallurgy; Russian and foreign literature on the industry development; Rosstat statistics, as well as information from the annual reports of the largest Russian non-ferrous metallurgy corporations PJSC Rusal and PJSC Nornickel.
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Financial behavior of the population during the 2014-2015 economic crisis
Статья научная
The article considers the changes in people’s financial behavior that occurred under the influence of the “structural recession” of the Russian economy. Any changes in the economic behavior of the population in the context of its individual types are caused by transformations taking place in society, proceed from people’s adaptation to new conditions and affect the duration and consequences of crisis processes. The goal of our study is to identify changes in people’s financial behavior caused by the economic crisis of 2014-2015. The paper uses official statistical data and materials of national and regional sociological surveys. We analyze manifestations of the 2014-2015 crisis, such as the changes in the level and use of monetary incomes, bank deposits and loan debt of the population. On the basis of regional sociological studies we reveal the changes in people’s financial behavior. We find out that during the crisis processes the growth rates of bank deposits and loan debt decreased, the structure of savings and credit purposes changed, and the violations in the regularity of loan payments became more frequent. In particular, at the regional level (in the Vologda Oblast), the share of inhabitants with savings has decreased significantly, the share of those who are saving money to use when they retire and the share of car loans have decreased; the share of savings for improving housing conditions, for recreation and travel, as well as the share of loans for urgent needs and unforeseen expenses have increased; the number of cases of overdue monthly payments on loans has increased. At the same time, some components of financial behavior turned out to be insensitive to the changing economic situation, among them - the reasons for refusal to form savings, the most common forms of accumulation, and the criteria for choosing a bank. We conclude that there are no mass deviant practices in the financial behavior of the population of the region in the crisis period; in general, people adapt to the changes that take place in the socio-economic situation. We recommend using the results of the monitoring studies of financial and other types of economic behavior in the activities of regional authorities in order to obtain timely information on current changes and make adequate management decisions.
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Financial results of the local self-government reform. Experience of the regions of the Far East
Статья научная
The article examines the problems and main results of the 30-year reform of local selfgovernment, concerning the positioning of the institution of LSG in the “vertical of power”, the definition of the structure of powers and rights, and the formation of the financial base of LSG. The purpose of the work is to determine the basic principles and features of the development of the LSG institute and its financial interaction with the state on the example of municipalities of a large macro-region, which is the Russian Far East. In order to identify statistical patterns, general scientific methods were used based on official data from the Federal Treasury of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Finance, Rosstat, regional authorities and local authorities of the Far Eastern constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The analysis of the dynamics of changes in the spatial classification of municipalities of the Far East over the years of reform, as well as the state and conditions for the formation of budgets of municipal districts and urban districts of the Far Eastern constituent entities of the Federation for 2011-2019 is carried out. It is shown that in the Far East the situation with the financial security of local self-government is determined not so much by local or Far Eastern, as by all-Russian tendencies. Revealed the presence of a serious stagnation of revenues and expenditure of the municipalities of the Far East; the prevalence of low financial independence of the budgets of the civil society and, especially, of the municipal districts; a decrease in the possibility of free disposal of budgetary resources for municipalities of the Far East, since during the analyzed period the share of grants-in-aid in the revenues of the budgets of municipal districts decreased by 8.6 percentage points, up to 15.9%, and in the revenues of urban districts - to 1.8%, with an increasing share of subventions and subsidies in budget revenues. In general, over the years of reform, the legislative strengthening of the powers and rights of LSG, declared at the federal level, has not received adequate financial support in the region. Proposals for improving the financial component of the LSG reform in the framework of the evolutionary approach have been substantiated. It is shown that constitutional changes, while remaining formally neutral to LSGs, will require clarification of federal legislation for their implementation, which can give rise to a number of latent threats and undermine the principle of organizational isolation and financial independence of LSG bodies. The novelty of the research task is actualized by considering the aforementioned range of issues in comparison of federal trends and the situation in the macroregion under the conditions of changes in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and an increasing understanding of the need to strengthen the financial base of LSG. The materials of the article can be used in the educational sphere and in the activities of public authorities and LSG.
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Financial tools to develop social entrepreneurship
Статья научная
Social entrepreneurship, being a relatively new activity for the Russian economy, requires the development of conditions and support mechanisms; this helps address social issues in society and also stimulates civic activity in this regard. Our paper classifies financial tools according to types of investors with different financial requirements, and analyzes the availability of these tools for the development of social entrepreneurship. We place special emphasis on mezzanine financing, social impact bonds, impact investing, and hybrid financing. In order to determine the availability of financial tools that are used to develop social entrepreneurship in Russia, we analyze financial statements of social entrepreneurs included in the catalog, formed by the Fund “Our Future”. The analysis used the coefficients of autonomy, current liquidity, profit (EBIT) and its growth rate in 2017. We have revealed that only nine of the considered organizations, which is less than 22%, meet the stated requirements and can apply for loans. Thus, we show that it is necessary to develop investment tools with lower financial requirements. Theoretical importance of our research findings consists in the fact that they expand theoretical and methodological provisions for studying social entrepreneurship in terms of systematization of financial tools used in international practice. The findings of our research are relevant in the practical aspect as well, because they help identify low availability of financial tools used in the Russian practice. The obtained data can be used to elaborate a strategy for development of this type of activity at different levels of management.
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Fiscal federalism and inter-budget relations in the Russian Federation
Статья научная
The article deals with the essence of fiscal federalism and its model in the world. Characterized by features inter-budget relations in Russia, their forms and methods of implementation. Represents an acting mechanism of formation and management of income and expenditure budgets of various levels and their relationship. Particularly detailed analysis of the problem of budgetary provision of local budgets, the ways of solving them. It is proved that the basis for the rationalization of inter-budget relations and real fiscal federalism is the progressive development of its economy, increase their own taxable capacity. The successful solution of problems of fiscal federalism, the author believes, depends largely on preserving the integrity of the Russian state, increasing its credibility in the international arena.
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Formation of regional budget in crisis
Статья научная
As is known, in December 2009 Legislative Assembly enacted a law «On Regional Budget for 2010». The budget is formed by the conservative scenario, based on projected economic growth of 2.5%. The analysis of the main financial area of the law, conducted by ITSED RAS, showed that the current year will be a serious test of the regional budget system. The budget deficit of the Vologda region is the highest among the donors regions. It is 28%. Nevertheless, despite the tense situation, the reserves increase revenue and reduce costs in the area are available.
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General assessment of the effectiveness of social sphere financing in Russia's regions
Статья научная
The paper presents an approach to assessing the effectiveness of social sphere financing (healthcare, education, housing and utilities sector) in regions of Russia. In the framework of the study, we test the following hypothesis: when the socio-economic situation in a region gets better, the effectiveness of social sphere financing in it reduces. The methodology for studying the effectiveness of social sphere financing in regions with different levels of socio-economic development is based on assessing the dependence of the dynamics of the indicators achieved by them and the amount of budget expenditures. To carry out the assessment, we select nine resulting indicators of the functioning of social sectors, taking into account the list of indicators for assessing the effectiveness of performance of executive authorities of constituent entities of the Russian Federation (the list was approved in November 2017 by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation) and on the basis of the presence of a statistical relation between them and the Human Development Index as a final indicator...
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Improving the system of management of risks of the income base of regions' consolidated budgets
Статья научная
Budgetary risks of the Russian regions have been characterized by a sustained upward trend since the beginning of the 200-2009 crisis. This hinders the achievement of target indicators and fails to provide financial stability and sustainable socio-economic development of territories, which makes it important to search for solutions to the scientific issue of improving the system of management of risks affecting the income base of regions' consolidated budgets. It is necessary that the authorities made timely management decisions aimed at minimizing the impact of negative risk-contributing factors on public finances of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Informational and analytical basis of such operational decisions may include methodological tools of assessment of the impact of budgetary risks on the sustainability of the regional budgets' income base. However, such tool is currently missing. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the authors have proven that when assessing budgetary risks, principles of comprehensiveness and objectivity need to be complied with, these principles imply the consideration of the risk of failure to perform the budget, the risk of imbalance and the risk expenditure non-implementation in connection with the repayment of the region's debt...
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Instruments and principles of reallocating budgetary resources in the region
Статья научная
The article is devoted to studying the reallocation of budgetary resources at the intraregional level. The author has made a hypothesis that the existing instruments and principles of reallocating budgetary resources in the region hinder the effective use of the local budgetary system's capacity for developing the fiscal capacity of the entire region. The work is aimed at justifying the key principles and instruments of the modern public regional policy in the field of the intraregional reallocation of budgetary resources for developing the region's fiscal capacity. The Russian regions have become the object of the study covering the period from 2005 to 2018. In order to reveal statistical regularities, the researcher has used general scientific methods based on the official data from the Federal Treasury, the Ministry of Finance, Rosstat, regional authorities and local government bodies. The works of leading Russian and foreign scientists have composed the theoretical basis of the study. In the course of the research the author has identified the trends of budgetary reallocation in the region, as well as proposed the directions of improving its efficiency, including the set of instruments for strengthening the income basis of local budgets and the research and methodological justification for using the budgetary reallocation instruments in the region. The scientific novelty of the results includes the justification of applying the instruments and principles of the modern public regional policy in the field of the intraregional reallocation of budgetary resources, which, unlike the existing ones, rely on the effective use of the local budgetary system's capacity for developing the fiscal capacity of the entire region. The materials of the present article can be used in the educational sphere, as well as in the activities of public authorities and local government bodies.
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Статья научная
Currently, the social welfare system in the Komi Republic and in the Russian Federation on the whole is undergoing gradual reforming, the main goals of which are as follows: improving the quality of life; supporting the poor and vulnerable segments of the population; mitigating possible negative consequences of reforms; improving pension provision; further improvement of targeted social assistance; streamlining social benefits; development of the social services market. In this regard, the study of methodological basis for the formation and use of financial resources of the social welfare system becomes more and more important. The goal of this work is to develop theoretical and methodical approaches to the improvement of financial mechanism for the social welfare system in the region. The paper considers the formation and use of financial resources for social protection of population in the Republic of Komi. The author reveals specifics of formation of budgets of all levels and the powers of federal and regional authorities in the field of mutual responsibility...
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Issues of improving inter-budget relations between the region and the federal centre
Статья научная
The article studies the problems of inter-budgetary relations of the subjects of federation and the federal centre. The analysis of financial interaction between the regions of the North-Western Federal District and the federal centre has been carried out on the basis of general scientific methods. The article identifies the positive and negative sides of the development of inter-budget interaction between these regions and directions of its improvement. The results obtained can be used by the federal and regional state power bodies when forming the budget policy in the sphere of inter-budget relations.
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Metallurgical corporations and the state: trends in financial interaction of the last decade
Статья научная
The dominant role of big business in the formation of Russia's GDP determines its high importance both for the country's economy as a whole and for the economies of individual regions. In this regard, studies that address the issues of assessing the financial interaction of large corporations with the state are relevant and necessary. Interaction of these economic agents with each other is complex and contradictory, as in modern market conditions the interests of the state and economic entities are multidirectional. The Vologda Research Center of RAS pays attention to studying the influence of large corporations on regional development, in particular on the formation of budget revenues. As a result of the long-term research, we have formed a serious factual base that allows understanding the main interaction features of large businesses with the regional and federal budgets, to determine systemic shortcomings of the state's tax policy including those related to the taxation of profits and income of corporate owners. However, currently, there is no single mechanism in the scientific literature that can be used to most comprehensively assess the financial interaction of large businesses with the region. At the same time, the results of such an assessment can become a serious foundation for justifying many management decisions. The purpose of the study is to assess the trends of financial interaction between the state and corporations on the basis of the developed methodological tools. The authors have tested the methodology in the case of ferrous metallurgy industry. The object of the study is the financial interaction of large ferrous metallurgy corporations (PJSC “Severstal”, PJSC “MMK” and PJSC “NLMK”) with the state. The paper uses the methods of structural (weight) analysis, coefficient analysis linking the microeconomic indicators of enterprises with the macroeconomic indicators of the home regions, the index method, and the method of level estimation when creating the methodological assessment tools.
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