Content №3 от 2007
Preplanning studies in regions: the experience of the Novosibirsk Oblast
The paper describes the IEIE SB RAS’s experience of how the preplanning regional researches have been carried out and how the recommendations based on such researches have been applied to the practice of planning and governance. The paper retrospectively shows the evolution of the topic and describes the partner involved in the development of programming documents and coordination of different interests. The paper also outlines the complexity in combining both planning and market methods in contexts of the transition period and the administrative reform carried out in the Russian Federation. The paper also describes how the Institute and the Novosibirsk Oblast Administration or Novosibirsk City Administration coordinate their activities in the context of new requirements which have to be applied to the development of programming documents and which had been adopted by the RF Ministry of Regional Development.
Kiselnikov A. A. oblstat@novosibstat.ru
Assessing regional large-scale transportation projects: a factor of indeterminacy
The paper analyzes the modern theoretical and applied problems concerning the assessment of the large-scale investment projects under conditions of indeterminacy. The authors consider the domestic and foreign assessment techniques and conclude that their deterministic character is a key shortcoming. Having analyzed the large-scale regional transportation projects such as the Baikal-Amur Railroad, the Euro Tunnel and the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Pipeline, the authors show what happens if the inadequate approaches to assessing the strategic and tactic risks are applied to evaluating the input-output costs. In authors’ opinion, the reasons of the failures observed in above mentioned projects are as follows - the basic money flow models and the financial assessment criteria applied to validate the projects proved to be primitive; or the calculations - too mathematized in prejudice of a content-rich multi criteria analysis; or there was no a comprehensive public expertise. The paper presents a “neosystem” approach based on the institutional analysis and the contemporary computer and expert technologies.
The transportation and logistic cluster in the Novosibirsk Oblast: model of its shaping and efficiency assessment
The transportation-logistics cluster in the Novosibirsk Oblast is considered in the paper as a regional fragment of Russian transportation network with its boundaries changing according to a political or economic situation and with a major transportation-logistics center which is located in Novosibirsk City and coordinates all the traffic and commodity transportation. The paper analyzes the variants of building the alternative transportation-logistics clusters and centers in accordance with the Novosibirsk Oblast Socio-economic Development Strategy for 2007-2025. The system analysis has shown that a preferable strategy is a cluster strategy based on public-private cooperation and coordination of federal and regional interests.
Competitiveness of municipalities as a ground of spatial policy in regions
The paper considers the issues concerning the equalization of the socio-economic development in the cities and regions of the Novosibirsk Oblast. To solve this problem means to assess the competitive advantages of the cities and regions and to build such controlling mechanism which could realize these advantages and therefore could ensure the economic growth and higher quality of life for people.
Marshalova A. S. marnov@ieie.nsc/ru
Immigrants in the Novosibirsk Oblast labor market: analysis of the expert polling
The paper presents the analysis of the experts’ interview carried out in Novosibirsk City and the regions of the Novosibirsk Oblast, September-October 2006. The experts were the directors who headed the Novosibirsk Oblast Departments or regional Novosibirsk Oblast departments, the Federal Migration Service. The objective was to receive the experts’ assessment of the political and legal, economic and cultural environment of foreign labor in the Novosibirsk Oblast in order to outline more presumable directions in foreign labor migration to the Novosibirsk Oblast; to analyze the positive and negative impacts of the growing migration including those concerning multinational relations; to identify the jobs mostly prevailing in migrants’ community in order evaluate the prospects in applying mirgants’ labor; to study how migrants adapt to new life; and finally to analyze the ethnic and confessional impacts of growing migration to the region.
Milestones in the socio-economic development of the Novosibirsk Oblast over 70 years
This year the Novosibirsk Oblast celebrated the 70th anniversary of its establishment. Having used the data collected by the Novosibirsk Oblast Statistics Department, this paper analyzes the phases in the socio-economic development of the Oblast over 70 years. On the base of socio-economic indicators, the authors show the role which the Oblast presently plays in the economy of the Russian Federation and the Siberian Federal District.
Fiscal policy in 2008-2010: improving intergovernmental relations
For the first time in the history of the federal budget planning and implementation in the Russian Federation a medium-dated budget - a three-year budget instead of a year plan - has been submitted. This new budget for 2008-2010 has some other innovations. The paper considers such innovations concerning new intergovernmental relations.
Natural gas policy in Russia and national interests
The author argues for the fact that an oil-and gas epoch might end some day not because of exhaustion of oil-and-gas resources but because the mankind would learn new energy sources which are more ecologically sound and handier. If so, a huge reserve of Russian natural gas - which might be extremely good for public benefit today - tomorrow might be good for nothing. Having analyzed the policy of some Russian gas companies operating in the eastern regions of Russia, the author concludes that their policies help such end comes true. The papers shows that fighting for the redistribution of the property rights to develop new gas fields and manipulating regional interests contrary to public ones, these companies on frequent occasions unreasonably delay the starting development dates. The way how the preparatory works at the Kovyktinsk gas field and some others in Siberia and Far East have been carried out demonstrates a sample of such anti-national approach.
The Kovyktinsk gas condensate field: problems and perspectives
The paper considers the technological, resource and economic conditions for the development of the Kovyktinsk gas condensate field – a large one in Eastern Siberia. The paper also describes and substantiates the steps and quantitative assessments of its supplementary exploration, provision of necessary facilities and development. The authors analyze the licensing policy, the mechanisms which allow possible restructuring a stock capital of the company and improving a decision-making processes including those concerning the relations with the TNK-BP and Gazprom. The latter has been assigned a coordinator by RF government to develop the gas industry in Eastern Siberia and Far East.
New trends in the socio-economic development of consumer’s cooperative societies
The paper shows the role which consumer’s cooperative societies plays in the country economy; describes a new paradigm in the development of such societies in the context of globalization and contingencies which may jeopardize their existence because of ideas of managerialism. The paper also describes the ways of how the Siberian consumer’s cooperative societies, once united into one society – Sibpotrebsoyuz (“Siberia”) - in order to defend their interests in Siberia as well as in Russia, operate.
Economic sociology: evolution and prospects
The paper includes the interview where the author describes and analyzes a contemporary Russian society; the stages in its forming; the objectives of the economic sociology; the alternation of generations; the evolution of scientific schools including that in Novosibirsk City which she founded; and the scholars’ role and their responsibility at historical turning-points.
An integration process in education and subfederal potentialities
The paper considers the traditional and new types and mechanisms of the integration of science, education and production in Russia. The retrospective analysis shows that the principles and the practice of higher education existed in soviet and postsoviet Russia have anticipated those stipulated by the Bologna Process. The author shows that the principal provisions of the Bologna Process could not be regarded new to Russia. The only new to Russia is the application of modern technologies and equipment that could be regarded characteristic of a postindustrial society. The way how fast such modern technologies and equipment will be applied in Russia depends on how quick economic development in Russia will be in step with world’s standards.
A housing sector in regional economy: assessing its role
The paper is devoted to issues of a housing complex and the assessment of its role in national and regional economies. The author considers a housing complex as a compound socio-ecological-economic system which includes a set of economic relations existing in a housing construction sector and those arising with respect to residential real estate operations and housing services. The authors offer their technique to assess the role of the housing complex according to the calculated indicators – the percentages of the housing complex in such indicators as GNP (GRP), a fixed capital, employment and the volume of goods and services. The proposed technique has been tested on data concerning Russia and the Tomsk Oblast.
Social partnership and professional education in the Tverskaya Oblast
Whether a level of professional education of labor forces covers a regional demand is an important task of the strategic regional development. The exceeding labor of higher vocational education and the insufficient labor of secondary and basic vocational education display the fact that educational market fails to meet the educational needs of a regional economy. The imbalance of the labor demand and supply increases a sectoral labor imbalance and requires regulating arrangements to minimize it.
Assessing efficiency of a regional investment policy: methodological and operational approaches
In practice, applying a cost and benefit analysis to assessing how effectively different entities conduct their investment policy, requires rather expensive researches to obtain proper information. At the same time there is a comparative method which allows assessing the effectiveness of an investment policy in general. The author shows the applicability of such method and concludes that its adaptation is an important reserve to increase the efficient use of the limited public investment resources aimed at the regional development.
Investment climate and investment behavior in the Siberian Federal District
The problem of attracting investments is a burning issue in Russia as well as in the Siberian Federal District. Presently, Siberia demonstrates a somewhat higher investment dynamics than the Russian Federation. However, to eliminate a serious imbalance, a real investment blow-out is required. To overcome the negative trends in investment policy, it is necessary to study the investment attractiveness in regions. The history of creating the techniques aimed at assessing the investment attractiveness in regions amounts nearly 40 years. These years gave lots of such techniques. Naturally, different approaches bring different opinions on the purposes and nature of the techniques. This paper compares the investment ratings and the investors’ behavior in SFD regions.
Energy saving in Russian heat economy: problems and prospects
The paper describes the heat economy in Russia and its regions; analyzes the problems and assesses an energy saving potential which could be mostly realized now in this sphere. The author identifies the ways of energy savings. To choose the preferable measures for energy savings, the author offers his methodological approaches which allow assessing the effectiveness of recommended measures and their ranging. According to the priority in realizing such measures, the market of heat consumers could be seen as follows – a public sector, a housing sector, an industry and a commercial sector.
Final use of energy in the Siberian Federal District
The paper considers the methodical issues of building a statistical data base to analyze and to forecast energy consumption. The author analyzes and structures the energy consumption indicators, and offers an effective express-technique to forecast the short-term energy consumption in SFD. The paper presents the energy demand forecast and analyzes the teething trends of efficient energy consumption in SFD. The production output per consumed energy shows that SFD, despite its growing efficiency of energy consumption, still remains the most inefficient one among other RF districts.
Methodology for analysis of a civil ship market
In Russian onshore regions, sea transportation proved to be the best way to transport unlimited quantities of cargo. The paper describes the managerial and technological peculiarities of a shipbuilding sector and a shipping industry, and offers the approaches to analyze the statistical demand and supply data for the market of civil ships. The authors recommend that marketing studies should include the analysis of the ship characteristics.
Incentives and contradictions in municipal reforms
The paper analyzes how efficient the local governance has been in the context of the administrative reform of 2006. Each level of government must reform and analyze their activity in accordance with the principles of the reform assigned by federal laws. Presently only 2% of municipalities can cover the expenditures of local competence through their own funds. So, there is no reason to speak of efficiency of such local governance. All over the world the institute of local governance is based on proprietary classes - the emergence and evolution of which took a lot of time and much support from a state – and this institute can successfully function if its financial support is sufficient and if civil society is developed as well as if a local community is solvent. To find an effective model of the relationship between federal and local authorities, it is necessary to continue reforms of intergovernmental relations, to provide subsidies for investing regions and to stimulate greater support for small and medium business by municipal authorities.
Institutional measures in the implementation of regional development strategies: analysis of world experience
The paper considers the mechanisms for the implementation of regional socio-economic strategies in different countries. The author shows that in addition to the special agencies responsible for regional development, lots of other organizations and persons are involved in organizational arrangements. As the differences between federate and unitary states are disappearing, such organizational arrangements have become more and more diverse (even within a unitary state) and depend on a number of factors such as the legal environment; a previous institutional choice; the distribution of powers between federal, regional and local authorities; a scope and a scale of programs; a scope of cofinancing and administrative capabilities.
Social model of the European Union
The paper considers a new social policy in the European Union for 2006-2010 proposed by the European Commission. This policy identifies the priorities of the European social model and the measures which could enable citizens to gain confidence to effectively manage changes and to solve two key issues namely their employment and equal opportunities including those allowing their inclusion in the labor market.
