Home – Home – Jornals – Region: Economics and Sociology 2012 number 3

In our opinion, the Russian economy may experience the sudden changes in labor supply in future. A labor market could yield not much if a governmental decision on higher permissive retirement age, motivated by a deficit of the Russian Pension Fund but not a higher labor demand, is approved. It is obviously that to suspend depopulation in the country would be possible only by a higher migration component, and Russia could attract a necessary number of immigrants. However, both an ineffective governmental policy in relation to a legal immigrant status and illegal statuses of most immigrants impact the quality of a flow of immigrants and a share of legal immigrants rather than a size of the flow. A further western orientation of the migration and its centripetal character could be regarded as a long-standing trend. A demographic crisis and in particular its component - migration, could stronger polarize the Russian territory economically, as well as inhabited areas of Russia within all regions could shrink not only in the east to west direction, but also from peripheries to centers.

The paper proves that dynamics of social disparities could be reasonably applied as a criterion of effectiveness of any regional policy. Our comparative analysis of the dynamics of regional social and economic disparities shows that
the regional policy pursued by the federal government could be regarded effective, but only regional capitals benefit from it, while regional policies pursued by regional governments - ineffective. We discuss what institutional arrangements which could make traditional regional policies more effective.

The paper presents the authors' techniques and analysis of how GRP dynamics depends on key factors of economic growth in different RF regions. We identified the conditions, challenges, and limitations (such as macro-structural and resource limitations, socio-economic challenges, and effectiveness) which impact the development in the regions of the Russian Far East. For the regions of Siberia and Ural, we made a cluster analysis based on the levels of development of primary and secondary sectors of the economy. We also can state that there is a negative correlation between the regional resource development and regional capital productivity growth.

The paper offers a methodical approach to assessing to what degree any of the RF regions is provide with different kinds of civil engineering infrastructure. We present our basic principles of such assessment; a set of key indicators which show a comparative development of different kinds of the regional infrastructures, including social, engineering, transportation, information-communication, energy and market ones; the integrated values of availability of infra-structural facilities of each kind, and consolidated indicators for the RF constituent entities and federal districts.

The paper describes the social infrastructure, potential for social development, subjective conditions and players of regional social changes in the regions of the Siberian Federal District, Russia.

The paper analyzes the socio-economic indicators to which can show a current state of provision of the Northern areas of Russia with labor resources. We suggest that a proper governmental policy aimed at attracting labor resources to the Northern areas of Russia should be developed as well as mechanisms of social partnership which could offer incentives for employers to invest their money into human resources development, and which could prevent a labor runoff.

To make our recommendation on optimizing a demographic policy, we consider how people's reproductive behavior influences regional birth rates. Our case-study on the Vologda Oblast suggests that there is a trend to have a few children in families as people's reproductive plans could not be realized because of people's lack of confidence in the future economic stability in the country or stable family partner's relationships, or their dissatisfaction with their incomes, housing conditions, and healthcare and educational services. Within our case-study we developed the recommendations on the objectives to be included in the demographic policy for the Vologda Oblast and an interagency coordination plan to ensure higher birth rates in this region.

The paper identifies the features and reasons of regional clustering; it describes the basic approaches to definition of such spatial and economic phenomenon; and it also considers a typology of clusters and the role which an investment cluster could play in synergetic economics.

The paper analyzes the economic development of Siberia (12 RF subjects which make up the Siberian Federal District) on key indicators included in the Siberian Socio-Economic Development Strategy up to 2020. The authors offer their improvements to be included into federal and regional policies aimed at attracting investments for realization of basic priorities of the Strategy, and proposals on higher investments to be made into Siberia by the Russian central and regional governments, and business-communities.

The paper explodes the myth that electric power prices in Russia are lower than those of the world. Being calculated on the base of purchasing power parity, such prices for industries were 2.5 times higher in Russia than in Norway and 1.4 times higher in Finland and the USA in 2008. Analyzing the wholesale and different consumers' electric power prices over 2001-2011, we can state that 2009, which is the year following the reform of the RAO Unified Energy System of Russia, stands out against a ground of other years under study. We also can state that despite a 50% drop in the real prices set by regional power generating companies, the real prices for different consumers were higher by 9%. Subject to the different drops in wholesale electric power prices taken place after the reform, we can identify zones which are characterized by different levels of competitiveness among power generating companies. Moreover, under lack of both competitive environment among energy power suppliers and governmental control in the post-reform period, network suppliers used to overstate their required gross operating incomes to calculate prices by RAB method.

The paper considers the characteristic features of intersectoral megapro-jects, the place which such projects play in a system of governmental strategic planning and management, and a necessity of administrative procedures to coordinate both strategic interests and investment policies of the government and business. We offer our methodological approach to building technologic-organizing schemes of strategic planning and management though applying tools of modeling. We also suggest the mechanisms to coordinate the investment decisions made by participants involved in megaprojects - such mechanisms include indicators which assess whether management schemes of implementation of investment program in such megaprojects are well balanced and effective.

A priority task for developing the Baikal region (the Irkutsk Oblast, Buryatia Republic, and Zabaikal region) is to modernize the existing chemical industry, and to build new facilities which are oriented on usage of both natural gas and its components, and producing high value added products. Being used as the power-generating and process fuel, gas could allow replacing expensive fuel oil and solving many social and ecologic problems. The Kovykta Gas Condensate Field ready for its commercial operation could become a resource base for such gasification. The paper also presents the economic assessment of building the new gas processing works and gas-chemical plants in the territory of the Baikal region; the efficiency of methane usage as fuel by different consumer's groups; a comparative analysis of several regional gas supply systems; and what is required the recommendations proposed to be realised.

The paper makes an ecointensity analysis of the economies of the RF regions over the crisis and post-crisis periods. We apply the Gini coefficient, and Atkinson and Theil indices. Having made a comparative analysis of the results obtained, we can state that according to the indices under study, there is a significant regional inequality observed.

Due to the fact of renewed interest to the project on transbasin water transfer from Ob-Irtysh Basin to the Central Asia countries widely discussed in the 1970s up to the first half of the 1980s, we analyze whether this project was reasonable, and show the principle methodological errors made in it. We describe the legal foundations of projects on transbasin water transfer as well as a procedure of ecologic-economic assessment which are necessarily be complied with and made. We question the economic and ecological wisdom of this project at present.

The paper discusses the proposals on promoting the development of small business which is included in the Siberian Socio-Economic Development Strategy up to 2020; it also describes the mechanisms, which the author finds reasonable for achieving the strategic future goals; and the author presents her recommendations based on the principles and provisions of theory of reforms.