Content №1 от 2007
Traditional centralism or new regionalism: approaches to the regional development policy
To strengthen the centralization is a leitmotiv in the public regional policy. To some extent, this could be regarded as a justified policy aimed to meet a severe crisis and to conduct market reforms. However, presently a centralized model has completely exhausted its constructive potentialities and transformed into a hindrance to the regional development. Further exercising this model and strengthening the centralization not only fail to give any positive effect in future but also will deteriorate the state of affairs. Liberalization, being the only way to change drastically the regional policies, could provide an opportunity to use new factors of the regional development such as the decentralization of resources and powers, independence in policy-making, competition and strategic marketing which could be regarded as the major features of the new regional policies.
Measurement and analysis of the threshold indicator values for regional clusters
The author proposes a technique for identifying the Paretto-normalized regional clusters through topologically structuring the space of regional indicators. The author gives his treatment of a median cluster as a group of the regions whose indicators are very close to the average national values, and proposes a technique for building the minimal hypercube (i.e. outskirts of the average Russian indicators) containing a median cluster, where the boundaries of the latter can be regarded as the threshold indicators for the regional clusters generated by it. The author made calculations and analyzed how the cluster’s structures in RF regions had changed over 2000-2005. The paper also describes future tendencies for the period up to 2009 of how the marginal regional clusters might change due to the economic regional growth of previous 2000-2005 years.
Subfederal administrative regulation: theory and Russian practice
The paper studies the quality of subfederal administrative regulation in Russia. The author analyzes two aspects of the issue: the consequences of the subfederal initiatives concerning the procedures of registration, licensing and certification, and what the motives for these procedures to be used are. A methodological base of the research is empirically testing the contradictory predictions used by the theory of government regulation and theory of public choices. The author interprets the result obtained as follows: in spite of the fact that the subfederal authorities had acted in the interest of all the population in regions, their intervention resulted in the deterioration of regional indicators.
Regional market structure: reproduction aspect
The paper generalizes the results of the studies concerning the development of the market infrastructure and regional markets, and considers key stages of evolution of the regional market theory and a system approach. The author has proved that a reproduction approach should be regarded as the most fruitful because it allows researchers to study both the regional market relations and the interactions between regional market operators. The paper analyzes the elements forming a regional market system and the question how they correlate with the regional economy and external economic space. The paper also describes the role which the regional market system plays in reproduction processes. The author analyzes an institutional structure of the regional market system and the factors which determine its structure, and he also considers the new trends in the development of the regional market system which could take place under globalization processes.
Spatial and regional economics: unresolved problems
The paper analyzes a current state of regional studies in Russia for the purpose of identifying the common trends and key problems discussed in the course of the scientific debates. The author describes the structure of scientific knowledge and different approaches used to define scientific problems concerning regional processes and forecasts of the regional development. The author also identifies the most perspective directions in the regional studies such as those concerning the problems of quantification and measurement of the economic space; assessment of how the institutional context impacts on the quality of economic development; and correlation between the population location, sustainable development, integration into the world economy and economic restructuring. In the author’s opinion, a thorough study of such problems will allow the authorities to make reasonable choice of the objectives and instruments to make the proper regional policies.
Modeling spatial development of national and world economies: evolution in approaches
Forty years passed since the fist long-term forecast of the spatial economic development in the USSR based on an interregional input-output model had been made. That fact stimulated the start of a new direction in the studies carried out by the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, namely the economic-mathematic researches devoted to the spatial development aspects in economic systems. The studies started by the Novosibirsk academic school have been continued by many other research centers. The paper analyses the results and lessons obtained, such as the application of the interregional models to USSR’s centralized economy; creation of the theory and tools to study the interregional relations existing in a decentralized market economy; how regions operate within the national economy; the existed economic relations between the union republics before the USSR’s collapse; results of studies carried out in cooperation with V. Leontyeff and with the UN Secretariat and devoted to world economy models, as well as the models concerning the spatial economic development in Russia at present. The author presents voluminous literature.
Siberia as a Russian colony
The author proves the fact that any Russian governments (in tsarist Russia or in the USSR or in postsoviet Russia) never treated Siberia (the Far East as well) as a Russian territory. In fact, the governments implicitly regarded these regions as the mere assets that they could have sold if the regions lost their value and significance, as it once happened to Russian America. So, the paper describes the Siberia history of XVI-XX centuries as a colonization process and a way to gain the “colonial” commodities such as furs, silver, gold, coal, grain, diamonds, nickel, oil and gas. Only two events, such as the creation of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the building of the defense-and-war-oriented industries (a military-industrial complex) in Siberia, could be regarded as the exception from a general picture of colonization. The paper may be referred to as a historical and geographical review on the economic topic.
Institutional and economic issues of forming oil-and-gas cluster in Western Siberia
The paper states that the question of how an oil and gas cluster will develop in future basically depends on the present institutional factors related to the specific concentration of oil-and-gas sector. The large vertically integrated companies mould the internal markets of the knowledge-based and high-tech services by attracting their own subdivisions producing such services and located in different regions of the country or by attracting the foreign companies with whom they have continuous alliances. Such course of events, in the author’s opinion, supports and consolidates the resource orientation of the cluster’s structure and decreases the added value being produced in Western Siberia. As the Norway’s experience has shown, the only way to overcome a one-sided orientation of the oil-and-gas cluster in future is a better-targeted and consistent government policy.
Knowledge-based economy as a key element of a new regional economy
The paper considers the institutional conditions favorable to the high technologies to be used in regions, i.e. reequipment of traditional sectors through applying contemporary innovations; preparations to build new sectors. A methodological base to transform the RF units’ economies, which have a well developed educational, scientific and innovation potential, is a “knowledge based economy” paradigm. The paper analyzes the comparative assessments of the potential of regional innovations in the Siberian Federal District. The authors have shown that the Novosibirsk Oblast could be a pioneer region developing its economy as a knowledge-based one.
Architectonics of adaptive mechanisms in social systems: sociological discourse
The paper considers the theoretical issues concerning the internal structures of the adaptive mechanisms which are of great significance for adapting many social and socio-territorial systems including regions. The author presents a definition of a social adaptive mechanism using a poly conceptual context of theoretical sociology. The author applies, adapts, amplifies and interprets a theoretical concept being developed within natural sciences and concerning stages of the adaptive mechanism. The combinative concept of the hierarchic adaptive mechanisms developed by the author is presented in the paper.
Deprivation in rural communities in the context of failing agricultural enterprises
The paper analyses roots and mechanisms of the economic and social deprivation of rural communities caused by the failure of agricultural enterprises, high unemployment, insufficient social support being provided to the rural jobless people, limited labor mobility, law wages, changing labor mobility channels, inversion of social structure, collapse in traditional rural life style occurred because of reforms, and inconsistent status of certain social groups.
Social consequences of the city-forming-sector liquidation for local industrial communities
The paper studies the negative consequences for the citizens’ social and economic health caused by liquidating the city-forming sectors in the course of the economic restructuring taking place in coal-producing regions. The authors assess the social consequences of structural transformations and social reforms and describe the role which small business plays for people in local communities. The paper also describes the instruments used to study the problem, i.e. the public opinion polls carried out in local communities in monitoring regime. The authors present a technique to study public opinion concerning the assessment of the social and economic policy aimed at the rehabilitation of local communities, and analyze the experience of such sociological polls.
The development of new oil-and-gas centers in Eastern Russia and the oriented east export of oil, gas and oil products: forecasts
The paper states that, for the lack of prospecting knowledge about the geological oil and gas reserves, the intensive exploration works are required to be carried out in the East Siberia and Yakutia to enlarge a resource base here. The creation of new oil and gas production regions could help solve a number of important socio-economic problems both at federal and regional levels. The authors have proved that the precondition for creating the East-Siberian oil and gas center is to develop a transport infrastructure and to intensify exploration works. The creation of a new large oil and gas center of the world’s significance should and could be done only through the implementation of a complex federal program because of the character of the resources distribution over the country and their quality, because of the projects’ high capital intensity and socio-geopolitical significance, because of the location of producing and consuming centers including external markets as well as the necessity to build a common transport infrastructure.
Social and economic development in the Irkutsk Oblast in the context of ecological restrictions
The paper considers the limits for the economic growth of resource regions related to their specific natural resources law status. The author analyses the sectoral, territorial and reproductive aspects of the economic development for the Irkutsk Oblast (Baikal Region) according to different external scenarios of its development.
Optimizing the planning of an enterprise: the assessment of its effectiveness
The paper, through a case-study on the medium-term planning for an enterprise, shows the possibilities in optimizing a decision-making process such as those allowing the enterprise to show the increased indicators of effectiveness and to carry out a complete financial and economic analysis. The effect of optimization is especially high if the model of how firms interplay within the regional industrial clusters is used. The effect obtained through integrating the enterprises might be multiple. This technique could be regarded advisable to be applied to form the regional industrial policies.
Transformation of enterprises into firms: problems
Having analyzed the changes that took place in the Novosibirsk Oblast enterprise’s management over passed decade, the author shows that while the significant changes in the sectoral and institutional industrial structures have been observed, only companies recently established and oriented a consumer’s market have shown a fast growth. Older companies have changed their management much slower. The drastic changes have occurred due to the shifts in the enterprises’ owners. All the changes were basically connected with the institutional or marketing innovations, while the technological ones had insignificant impact on the enterprises’ management. As the potential of the institutional or marketing innovations is limited, the future development of enterprises will inevitably require new technologies as the factor to increase the competitiveness of enterprises. A future management model should include the mechanisms inducing the innovative activity of enterprises.
Survey of history of the programming documents and studies concerning the Siberia and its regions development
The paper considers the history of researches carried out by the Russian Academy of Sciences and other research institutes in the USSR over passed years concerning the problems and perspectives of the Siberian development. The author devotes his attention to the studies made by the research institutes of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Having analyzed the previous experience of the conferences and research expeditions where both researchers and practitioners had participated and which had been held in the soviet time and focused on the issues of the development of Siberian productive powers, the author treats this experience as advisable to be presently continued. The paper also considers the preplanning and planning documents and strategies on the development in Siberia and its region adopted in the USSR and in the Russian Federation. The author focuses his attention on the issues concerning the development and implementation of both the Siberia Federal Program, which he regarded as a first attempt in the postsoviet time to develop a macroregion strategy, and the Strategy for Social and Economic Development in Siberia for 2007-2020.
Survey of Northern economic studies: from planning economy to market one
The paper analyzes the history of economic objectives, concepts and strategies for Northern development created in different periods of the passed soviet planning economy and at present. The author shows that, as Northern corporative sector energetically integrates into world’s economy and as Northern regions establish their international cooperative links, it is necessary to develop a geo-economic strategy for Northern Russia development. It is also requires to find a technique to coordinate federal, regional and corporate interests while implementing strategic projects. The author discusses the question whether the pre-planning researches and institutional mechanisms assigned to coordinate the economic, social and ecological studies and made by the Russian Academy of Sciences and its Siberian Branch can and should be presently applied and adjusted.
Energy Concept for Eastern Russia: scientific and practical approaches to its implementation
The paper considers major provisions of the Energy Policy Concept for the Eastern Russia Regions and the role which the soviet and postsoviet energy studies have played for the development of strategies. The paper also analyses the ongoing implementation of the Energy Policy Concept for the Eastern Russia Regions.
Controlling: its development in the Republic of Kazakhstan
The article considers the regional aspects of introducing and using the controlling, which is the symbiosis of many economic disciplines. A controlling structure includes the following elements: information, analyses, planning, coordination and control. The instruments and methods, which are new for the Kazakhstan market such as the PC controlling programs, are now used in the practice of the controlling. The development of different regions of the Republic is diversified, and this fact poses certain problems of the employment and of the real economy development for the government.
