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Research and educational journal
Published quarterly since 2007
ISSN 1999-5431
E-ISSN 2409-5095
Issue 2016 no4 contents:
THE THEORY AND PRACTICES OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
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7–26
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The involvement of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in the delivery of a diversity of social welfare services is an important element of various models of a “welfare mix” approach to the transformation of the modern welfare state. According to the concepts of “third party government” and of “nonprofit organizations” of the welfare state such involvement allows to ease budgetary constraints while enhancing the effectiveness and quality of services delivered. This article is aimed at assessing the outlook for SONPOs in the emerging Russian market for social services funded by the state. The authors primarily analyze the vector of transformation of the regulatory and legal framework providing for the participation of SONPOs in the delivery of state funded social services with the aim to assess how strong the interest of the state to diversify the range of service providers in the social sectors is. The analysis of legal norms is combined with a look at empirical data featuring the attitudes of Russian NPO leaders to cooperation with the state in solving social problems which is an indicator of the likely “responsiveness” of the NPO community to government policy aimed at increasing cross-sectoral cooperation in the delivery of social services. Then the authors proceed with investigating the comparative advantages of NPOs as providers of social services in the light of the concepts of cross-sectoral partnership and welfare mix arrangements in the social sphere. In the article an attempt is then made to test or at least to illustrate in the Russian context the likely validity of the comparative advantages of NOPs as prompted by the mentioned concepts rooted in the “third party government” theory. For this purposes sociological data are used, gathered in the course of a long-term NRU HSE project on Monitoring Russian Civil Society. In conclusion the authors formulate several measures necessary to implement in order that Russian SONPOs can take due advantage of the recent innovative regulation and increase their share as providers of social services funded by the state.
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27–44
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Minimum wages are nearly universal policy instrument – they are applied in more than 100 countries (ILO, 2008). One striking feature, however, is their impressive diversity. These differences include the setting regimes, adjustment methods, coverage of employees and the role of social partners. The way in which the minimum wages are set is very important, as the fi xing mechanism may affect both the level and the responsiveness of the minimum wages to changes in key economic parameters. Many countries with vast territories and inter-regional economic differentiation have introduced regional minimum wages (RMW). The aim of this article is to analyze the mechanisms of MW regionalization that are used by countries with different socio-economic structure. What are the major advantages and disadvantages of these mechanisms? What is the role of social partners in setting the MWs at the regional level? And most important – what problems may be solved by the regionalization of the MWs? Based on the practice of the MW regionalization, we divide countries into four groups. However, the prevailing method is the coexistence of the national minimum wage floor set by the federal government and regional minimum wages. We conclude that the decentralized model allows taking into account the situation in the regional labor markets, including the dynamics and structure of employment, the share of low-wage labor and sectoral structure of production.
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45–74
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The article analyzes approaches and concepts of cultural heritage preservation and use. It summarizes contemporary international practice of the efficient use of cultural and historical heritage and its role in the regional development. An analysis of the strategies for increasing efficiency of cultural heritage sites is based on the empirical research of the historical country estates, located in Moscow region. To estimate the development perspectives of the historical country estates in Moscow region, we used cluster analysis methods and defined four clusters that are characterized by different strategies of the cultural heritage use and their development perspectives. To assess cost effectiveness of the historical estates, we developed normative and dynamic models; the calculations made with the use of the models resulted in a list of the historical estates that have prospects for re-development and transformation into cultural and educational centers. Proposed strategies for the development of cultural heritage sites are built upon variable-based calculations of their investment attractiveness, introducing specifi c economic parameters that could be acceptable to potential investors, with increasing costs of repair and restoration works taken into account. A complex analysis resulted in a roadmap aimed to increase efficiency of the use of cultural heritage sites, such as historical country estates of Moscow region. In conclusion, the article presents proposals for the state and municipal authorities to support the economic agents who operate in cultural and tourism industries and contribute to the sustainable regional development.
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THE ANALYSES OF EXPERTS
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75–98
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The article presents both the methodology and the results of the annual perception surveys on public service delivery undertaken by the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the RF President (RANEPA) in 2011–2015. The subject of the surveys comprised all public services rendered by the state and municipal authorities to individuals and firms (administrative public services). At the federal level, over 600 types of such services are provided ranging from issuing ID cards and processing tax returns to registering property and allocating welfare payments. The services provided by state-funded entities (such as schools or hospitals) or state-owned enterprises were outside the scope of the survey. The study aimed at evaluating the administrative reform eff orts on improving quality of public service delivery. The survey method was face-to-face interviews with the results comparable over time; the statistical error ranged from 2.5 percent in 2011 to 1 percent in 2015. The survey respondents were adult Russian citizens who had applied for an administrative service during the study period (1–2 years prior to the survey date) and, by the time of the interview, had obtained the result. The fact of the application and the type of the service have been recorded during the survey. The survey results demonstrate improvements: the percentage of respondents rating the overall quality of the public service delivery as ‘very good’ and ‘rather good’ has grown from 74.6 percent in 2011 to 83.8 percent in 2015. The average queueing time reduced from 54.7 minutes in 2012 to 35.7 minutes in 2015. For the past fi ve years, the satisfaction rate with queueing time has grown by 15.4 p.p., while the satisfaction with the term of public service has risen by 11.2 p.p. The percentage of respondents noting poor conditions in public premises has dropped three times while the percentage of those applying to numerous offices has decreased twofold in the past five years. Introducing the ‘one stop shops’ and developing e-services have contributed to these positive results. The remaining challenges include further reductions of queues, decreasing the number of documents needed for application, and improving timeliness in public service delivery. These priorities should be taken into account to achieve the target set by the RF President (90 percent satisfaction rate by 2018). The survey results are reviewed by the RF Government Administrative Reform Commission annually. The results of the 2015 survey have not been published.
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99–116
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The cycle of three articles is devoted to the analysis of industrial development management over the past 25 years. The overall purpose of the series is the evaluation of industrial regulation in the Russian Federation and setting conditions for making a new industrial development strategy of the Russian Federation. We represent the second article in this issue today. The article is about peculiarities of state regulation in the industrial sphere in the Russian Federation within the period of 2000–2009. It gives an analysis of the Russian industry condition in the 1990s and economic and legal factors that affected the choice of regulatory tools of industrial policy during this period. Industrial policy evolution in the 2000s is analyzed with taking into account the following key steps: structural adjustment policies, vertical industrial policy, and anti-crisis compensatory policy. The author assesses the «Strategy 2010» (or «Gref’s program») which is a document that made industrial policy a means of large-scale modernization of the economy, as well as Federal Targeted Programs which were the primary industrial policy implementation tools in 2004–2007. The author concludes that the adopted Federal Targeted Programs were characterized by a lack of clarity of objectives, a lack of correlation between different programs and was rather considered a way to cover expenditures than a means of industry development promotion. The article states that the manufacturing industry development in the 2000s was the result of general economic factors. It must be added that the deficiencies of industrial policy, including the imbalance and ineff ectiveness of legal support, have not been overcome in the 2000s.
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117–142
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Healthcare professionals’ workforce shortages and recruitment in rural and remote areas continues to be a challenge for all regions in Russia. The aim of the article is to evaluate «Zemsky Doctor» Federal program as well as to identify areas for the improvement of the current Federal, regional and municipal socio-economic programs and initiatives in order to overcome healthcare professionals’ workforce shortages. Measures of social support and economic incentives for physicians and medical nurses really help to eliminate medical personnel deficit in rural and remote areas. The authors analyzed experiences of 20 regions with different security characteristics of the budgetary system. The study identified the more perspective trends of improving the regional, local programs and initiatives in healthcare professionals’ recruiting for rural and remote areas. They are target reception, co-financing professional education and post-university training programs, additional scholarships and benefits, one-time «roll-up» and assistance in solving housing problems, assistance for obtaining postgraduate professional education, additional cash payments on a regular basis for rural physicians and medical nurses, cash prizes for winners at regional, municipal and local healthcare professional competitions, etc. The authors conclude that the administration of regional and municipal programs and initiatives in order to overcome healthcare professionals’ workforce shortages in rural and remote reas should be a separate area of personnel management policy in public health administration.
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143–164
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The paper addresses state policy in the area of primary health care payment methods in the system of mandatory health insurance in Russia. The need for the transition from physicians’ visits reimbursement to capitation payment is substantiated. It is argued that the current payment method hinders disease prevention activities, chronic disease management, integration of service delivery as well as a shift of services from inpatient to outpatient settings. The latest regulatory documents on this subject are critically evaluated with the focus on the attempts to combine the capitation method with the fee-for-service one. Alternative approaches aimed at cost containing and strengthening disease prevention are discussed. Versions of fundholding schemes are suggested as well as the ways to mitigate their excessive financial risks. Various options of the pay-for-performance are seen as the necessary addition to the fundholding scheme. Problems of the capitation rate development under the fundholding are reviewed. It is argued that the budget of a fundholder should include only a manageable part of the inpatient care cost. The methods of planning primary health care utilization should also change – from the current planning of the number of a physician’s visits to the planning of the size of a catchment area in terms of the number of residents served by primary health care providers. Some recommendations on the algorithm of transition to the capitation payment are made.
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165–178
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Amendments introduced to the budget law have given an impetus to the activities for the transition to the normative budget financing of state and municipal institutions. The provisions of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation, stipulating for the subsidies to the institutions to implement public assignments, that are to be calculated with regard to the standard costs, conditioned preparations for relevant changes in the organization of financing subordinate institutions by the federal government bodies. The subject of the article is an analysis of the changes in the mechanism of fi nancing to performing arts organizations, in the case of theatres. The article considers a theatre funding scheme, proposed by the Russian Ministry of Culture, that is based on the number of purchased tickets (“per spectator” financing). It highlights the issues of its implementation, including those of a technical nature, resulting from signifi cant differences in the theatre halls’ capacity, the need to consider the performance genre differences, heterogeneous audience and the like, which, in general, can be overcome. An important thing, in the authors’ opinion, is to assess the adequacy of the incentives, shaped by this financial mechanism, to the cultural policy objective. It is shown that the introduction of the “per spectator” financing mechanism will inevitably lead to the commercialization of theatres, which are not just non-profit organizations but also public institutions, and their nonprofit status is twice significant. The conclusion reveals the non-compliance of the innovation with the cultural policy objective and non-profit nature of public theatres.
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PERSONNEL POLICIES
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179–196
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The paper provides fresh insights on what government organizations can do to attract and keep productive employees at the job. Generalizing results of research done in Russia as well as abroad, the author offers concrete decisions on how to increase marketability of government organizations by developing components of employer value proposition. By interviewing more than 400 line managers of government organizations all over Russia, this study investigates tools and resources that are available to policymakers and human resource professionals to make employees meet organizational goals. As a result 17 components of employee value propositions were outlined and gathered into 5 specific groups, including work environment, professional development, etc. The findings suggest additional opportunities to balance nonmonetary rewards and benefits, work policies and practices that can be used under the fiscal stress conditions. It describes why a positive employer brand may be critical in attracting and retaining quality people.
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CASE-STADY
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197–210
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The article presents the innovative potential of social work in the conditions of modernization of the social sphere;, reviews modern assist technologies for population of various categories; accents the need to improve professional training and the implementation of project approach in solving social problems; considers the state assistance based on the social contract as a new target type of assistance to disadvantaged citizens. Along with the existing state social assistance and support system, the social contract is intended to solve the problems of poverty reduction, to encourage disadvantaged people to self-suffi ciency: the basic principles, characteristics and conditions of social contracts are identified. The author points out complex application measures of the social contract for the people leaving the category of the poor; determines features of the hospital replacement technology «foster family for elderly citizens and disabled people», its role in the system of social services;. analyzes e implementation practice of the technology of social contract and foster family for elderly citizens and disabled people in Chelyabinsk region. This article is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of social work in Russia as a professional activity, science and academic discipline.
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SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION
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211–219
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Analysis of the population with access to modern sports and in particular ice hockey infrastructure in the Russian Federation (indoor ice rinks and children’s hockey schools), demonstrates a significant lagging behind the leading sporting nations. In this context, the aim of this article is to develop proposals for the development of methodological approaches to the determination of needs standards in objects of physical culture and sport and the identification of key challenges and areas for improving state policy on the development of the sports infrastructure. The article is based on the analysis of official statistics of the Russian Federation, the relevant normative-legal base regulating the system of development of physical culture and sports, as well as key performance indicators of leading international sports federations. The article also identifies key factors, influencing the development of ice hockey and winter sports in the conditions of intensive growth of the market segment of a commercial real estate sports and entertainment destination. According to the results of the analysis the following conclusions are made: the existing organizational structure of using sport facilities does not allow to solve the task of providing training, competitive, biomedical and educational work with young hockey players, the lack of a boarding school mechanism makes it impossible to continue athletic training by athletes of post-secondary vocational education, it is necessary to intensify the construction of inexpensive objects, providing opportunities of mass sports to all categories of the population, the alignment of the existing capacity of the regions with sports facilities.
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REVIEW
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