Home – Home – Jornals – Region: Economics and Sociology 2012 number 2

The paper presents the results of the researches made by the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering, SB RAS within the program on spatial development launched by the Presidium of the SB RAS. We also put forward a concept of strategizing the Russian spatial development which includes national strategizing and those at the levels of federal districts and RF subjects. We also present our analysis of several development strategies for Siberia and its regions; new optimization model of inter-sectoral regional development; long-term development scenarios for our country and Siberia made by the application of this model; and technique for assessment of spatial transformations. This technique is based on the modeling-methodical complex «SIRENA-2» which includes imitation and normative models of different levels of spatial hierarchy.

The paper presents a brief review of results obtained within the program on «Fundamental Issues of Spatial Development: Interdisciplinary Synthesis» launched by the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences for 2009-2011. It also presents the program on «The Role of the Space in Modernization of Russia: Resource and Socio-Economic Potentials» for2012-2014 -its objectives, goals, list of topics and organizational framework. This new program is notable for its continuity of the previous one and its focus on a dual role the space - as an integrated resource and limited condition of system transformations in the country.

The paper analyzes the institutional conditions and factors of diversification of rural employment and dynamics of the non-standard forms of employment such as temporary and seasonal ones. The analysis of the unemployment, informal employment, and self employment observed in rural areas is also presented. The author offers her classification of the types of employment and definition of a new social phenomenon - the freelance agriculture. The opinions of domestic and foreign experts about of the contours of a modern employment policy are presented too.

The paper considers the current state of proving rural people in the Siberian Federal District with food, and what improvements are required to ensure their higher living standard. We also offer our proposals on how to improve land relations, protect the environment, promote a rural style of life, and ensure a territorial integrity of Russia through usage of full potential of the Siberian agriculture. A proper governmental support to ensure the development of the Siberian agriculture is regarded as a high-priority task.

The paper analyzes the life expectances in the SFD regions by applying the ideas of exogenous and endogenous determination of mortality. The data of recent years concerning death rates arranged by their associated major sets of causes of death showed a positive dynamics in most cases. An average age at death among the SFD population is compared with those observed in the countries characterized by a western model in terms of the epidemiological transition concept. Applying the SFD data, we can show correlations between average ages at death and shares of the deaths and life expectances both for men and women.

The paper presents a theoretical understanding of social factors which determine the young people's preferences to be involved in science or innovation entrepreneurship. We propose a model of young people's incentives for higher their involvement. Applying the surveys of young researches and innovators, we show their attitudes towards science and innovation entrepreneurship, motivations, stimuli and barriers in their innovation activity. We also can state that scientific institutions sufficiently impact on higher young people's involvement.

The paper analyzes how the Russian reform in education influences the development of teaching stuffs at educational institutions. We show the major outcomes and problems of this reform. The analysis of the opinions about modernization of education and its perspectives obtained by our polling the teachers of general education schools in the Bologda Oblast is presented. We also determine how tightly the teachers' attitudes to the reform and factors of Russians' social feeling correlate.

The paper analyzes the influence of monetary policy transmission mechanisms on regional economic development and, in particular, on investments. We consider six-year data for fourteen regions of the Volga Federal District. We identify the factors of monetary policy which should be of a special attention in considering regional specifics.

The paper analyzes what development perspectives for productive forces of the North-East regions would make the deliveries of material resources and goods to these regions higher. The completion of the Amur-Yakutsk Mainline, as well as the projects on construction of a railway towards Magadan and development of a year-round highway network would completely transform a product distribution network connecting with the North-East regions. We present our assessment of feasibility of redistribution of the intra-regional cargo traffic, a pattern of the transport-logistic centers network and zones of their impact. We prove that import-export of material resources and goods can become more efficient should the cargo traffic if redistributed from the river transport to the Baikal-Amur Mainline, railway transport of Yakutia and Trans-Siberian Railway. The growing cargo traffic from the North-East regions will require the reconstruction of these strategic mainlines.

The study considers an issue of the assessment of large-scaled projects. It also presents our statement of the problem under a situation of uncertainty, concept of assessment of regional-transportation projects by applying expert technologies, and numerical illustration of how expected efficiencies of the alternative passages of transportation over the Eastern Bosporus Strait could be assessed at the pre-de-signing stage. We show under what conditions the construction of a bridge connecting the Russky Island could be regarded as a preferential alternative.

The paper offers an approach to support decision-making on selecting an investment project among alternative large-scaled transportation projects. This approach is based on principles of fuzzy set theory. Using this approach, we analyze the competitive projects on construction a bridge connecting the Russky Island. For this purpose we calculate and analyze the costs of alternative projects and their planned timing schedules. We present a cost- risk assessment of a set of timing schedules admissible within network constraints to compute a fussy set of Paretto-optimal plans. We also present our recommendations on how any timing schedule could be corrected.

The difference of current long-term forecasts of coal production in the Kuznetsk Basin amounts to more than a hundred million metric tons. The paper analyzes the internal and external factors which enhance and limit the development of the coal industry in this region. It also discusses a possible niche the Kuznetsk Basin could occupy both in world and domestic markets, and it assess how different scenarios of coal production in this Basin would impact the economic-ecologic situation in this region.

The paper analyzes the territorial zoning for the Samara and Nizhny Novgorod Oblasts within the framework of a space of ecologic-economic and medical-demographic parameters. We consider why the results for each of the territories (an individual approach) and for both areas (a mixed approach) differ. This allows making optimal decisions on reduction of agricultural and industrial pressure.

The paper analyzes methodological approaches to building Russian cities agglomeration and their governance. Here a city agglomeration is considered as one of the forms of inter-municipal economic cooperation. On the base of the data concerning the South Kuzbass agglomeration, we consider the cooperation ties between areas and their shortcomings as such ties were built spontaneously because of the uncoordinated socio-economic policies of municipalities. We offer our recommendations on how to improve the inter-municipal cooperation laws, and topics for further researches on selecting the optimal governance models for the South Kuzbass agglomeration.

The paper analyzes a special status and the basic components and problems of budgetary management of the socio-economic development in megalopolises. A differentiate approach to budgetary management in large cities is considered asmore applicable since it considers their special status. We offer a methodical approach to introducing mechanisms of output budgeting as it allows identifying the interdependence of fiscal indicators and those of the socio-economic development.

The paper analyzes the character and role of company partnership. A theoretical basis of our research is new institutional economics, and an empirical part is based on the surveys concerning the small and medium innovation companies. Our goal is to analyze how innovation activity of such companies depends on their attitudes towards partnerships between them.