Home – Home – Jornals – Region: Economics and Sociology 2020 number 2

The article presents a detailed analysis of the financial behavior found in the population of Tuva and Kalmykia. The authors demonstrate poor knowledge of the designated object of study. Methodologically, the study is based on the provisions of the socio-cultural approach. Methodically, the analysis is based on a comparison of sociological and statistical indicators that allow characterizing the financial behavior of residents in the republics under discussion. The information base of the research has been formed by the following sources: 1) the results of the 2018 Financial Literacy Rating of Russian Regions, sociological research; 2) official Rosstat statistics; 3) information on funds placed and raised by the Central Bank of Russia. All indicators used for the analysis are publicly available on the official websites of the Ministry of Finance of Russia, Rosstat, and the Bank of Russia. Relying upon the indicator analysis, we draw a conclusion that the regions are facing a challenging socio-economic situation, accompanied by a decrease in real household income. At the same time, the situation in the Republic of Kalmykia is slightly better than that in the Republic of Tuva. According to the 2018 Financial Literacy Rating of the Regions of Russia, the regions are classified into different groups: Kalmykia has high financial literacy, whereas Tuva is defined by its low levels. A detailed analysis of the indicators underlying the final financial literacy index revealed three major differences in financial behavior among Kalmykia residents, which ensured the republic's high ranking, namely: being able to point out features of a financial pyramid, extensive use of bank cards, and online banking operations. Otherwise, the population demonstrates similar financial behavior, determined by the priority of credit practices over savings, high delinquency rate, and severe undersaving. In general, trends in the development of lending and savings processes in the republics coincide with the national ones (consistently growing financial performance with a sharp decline during the 2014-2015 economic crisis), although the ratio of loans to deposits is fundamentally different. An important peculiarity of financial behavior in Tuva and Kalmykia is high public trust in banks (higher than in the rest of Russia). Starting from 2014 in Tuva and from 2018 in Kalmykia, their authorities have been working on improving citizens' financial literacy and treating it as one of the strategic objectives. We conclude with a hypothesis for further research: the financial culture among the residents of Tuva and Kalmykia has Russia-specific sociocultural grounds, which need to be studied in order to devise effective measures for improving the population’s financial literacy in these regions.