Issue 2020 no1 contents:

The purpose of this study is to analyze the theoretical foundations of the concept of “hard” budget constraints and its applicability to cities in the Russian Federation. To achieve this goal, the paper presents the key elements of the theory of budget decentralization, and also considers the following hypotheses: (1) regional authorities of Russia are prone to instability in terms of uniform tax standards for deductions to urban districts; (2) the indicated instability is a criterion of “hardness” of budgetary restrictions, which affects the interest of local authorities (cities) in the development of “subordinate” territories; (3) local budgets in Russia have relatively low tax autonomy. To test the proposed hypotheses in the context of the subjects of the Russian Federation for the period 2010–2018 unifi ed standards for deductions from federal and regional taxes to the budgets of urban districts were collected and analyzed; a volatility index of the specified standards was compiled, and then analyzed for the presence of statistical relationships with the main indicators of the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the regions. Our observations have shown that in the context of the OECD countries’ budget structure the local level of government in Russia has relatively low tax autonomy, and regional authorities are unstable in terms of the standards considered, which generally does not correspond to the concept of “hard” budget constraints. The hypothesis of a statistical relationship between the “hardness” of budget constraints expressed through the volatility index of standards and the indicated interest of local authorities (cities), expressed in the development of SMEs, has not been confirmed. But this does not eliminate the need to make changes to the system of inter-budgetary relations of Russia proposed in the current work in the medium and long term.

The article analyzes the results of the reform through the prism of organization theory and illustrates the main findings of the research, completed for the 15th anniversary of great administrative reform in Russian Federation. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the results of reform, assess processes of implementing innovations, and compare planned and achieved results. The article compares the goals of the reform at different time periods, the planned and achieved results, describes correlation between different types of results (output and outcome). Moreover this research estimates the quality and quantity of organizational changes in different periods of reforming. First, the article explores and estimates organizational aspect of the reform. The reforming process was examined in the context of the organization changes modes, including the models of Lewin, Barnett, Greiner. Then, the joint in the armour of structural changes is found and key problems are detected. Finally, the crucial outcomes of reform are presented and the main reasons for gaps between these planned results and factual achievements are described. At least, some recommendations to cope with the described difficulties are developed and explained.

The article is based on the results of the research devoted to the activities of self-employed citizens. The purpose of the study was to analyze the nature of self-employment as a socio-economic phenomenon, the extent of its prevalence, the measures taken by the state to legalize the self-employed and create favorable conditions for their activities, as well as generate proposals for their correction. The informational and empirical base of the study was constituted by reference materials, scientific publications and the results of opinion polls, including those conducted by the authors. The analysis shows that selfemployment is a special type of entrepreneurial activity, but it is difficult to regulate due to its predominantly “shadow” nature. The scale of self-employment is significant both abroad and in Russia. According to a sociological survey, the share of the self-employed in the total number of employed Russian population is 22%, while 64% of the self-employed work without registering their activities, without paying any taxes or insurance contributions. In recent years, the state has taken various measures to legalize the activities of the self-employed, which at the moment are mostly experimental in nature. As a rule, they are related to taxation, simplification of their registration with tax authorities and further communication with them. The state regulation of the activities of this group of citizens is hindered by the absence in Russian legislation of a uniform definition of “self-employment” for the entire legislative system, as well as generally accepted criteria for classifying citizens as self-employed. The results of a sociological survey show that state initiatives at the moment do not find   tangible support from the self-employed citizens themselves, which is largely due to their distrust of state authorities, as well as the lack of real incentives for moving to a legal fi eld, in particular, providing social guarantees. The article provides suggestions for improving the mechanism of legalizing the activities of self-employed, taking into account the opinions and assessments of citizens themselves, working on the basis of self-employment.

The study is devoted to cross-border projects of PPP that is based on the distribution of risks and pooling the resources of a private partner and a public partner (two or more States), in order to build and operate an object or a set of technologically (functionally) related infrastructure objects located on the border of these States. The development of cross-border infrastructure plays a key role in accelerating ties between states. It is carried out both within the framework of cross-border cooperation and in the framework of large-scale international initiatives (One belt – one way). PPP has become a popular mechanism for creating cross-border infrastructure. Nevertheless, this phenomenon has not yet received the attention it truly deserves, especially the balance of limitations and capabilities of management entities under PPP in relation to cross-border infrastructure, as well as the particularity of the risk management of a private partner and public partners (two or more States). The article highlights the specific features of cross-border PPP projects that actually and legally affect the interests and state borders of several States. Problems of management, financing and legal support of cross-border PPP projects have been identified. A set of measures aimed at minimizing these problems and enhancing the attraction of private and public investment in cross-border PPPs has been proposed. For this, several cross-border PPP projects were examined (Russia-China, France-Spain, Malaysia-Singapore, etc.) in detail: their object and subject composition, models, financing structure, risk allocation, essential terms of agreements, participation of international banks in their financing, etc. The article presents  a comparative analysis of cross-border PPP projects and other PPP projects implemented based on interstate cooperation, demonstrates the strength of cross-border PPP projects. Findings can be useful both in defining the area for development of the economic and investment policy of public administration regarding the creation and operation of cross-border PPP facilities, as well as in the further theoretical investigation of public administration problems in this field.

The problems of interaction between public institutions and authorities are becoming very relevant at the present stage of social development in Russia. Improving the effectiveness of public authorities in general is the most important goal of the country’s political development. In this regard, the task of identifying and implementing criteria for assessing the effectiveness of institutions responsible for the state and society interaction is relevant for developing effective public policy frameworks in general. The lack of adequate tools and scales for measuring the effectiveness of public chambers leads to the dominance of descriptive methods and subjective judgments about activities of regional public chambers. The article attempts to consider the problems and approaches to assessing the effectiveness of regional public chambers. Based on the results of the study, including the analysis of documents, media materials, a series of semi-structured expert interviews, the authors conclude that the main criteria for evaluating the eff ectiveness of regional Public Chambers of activity are, firstly, the way the Public Chamber is formed as a negotiation platform and an institution for representing the interests of society, and, secondly, the conditions for participation in public control. These criteria are directly related to the problems of representation of interests in the Public Chamber, to its subjectivity and the dependence of its activities both on personality factors and on the political situation. Increasing the effectiveness of these institutions is possible by strengthening their independence from the administrations of the region through targeted changes towards a more open and democratic procedure of forming the chamber and performing the functions of public control. In this situation, a serious expert discussion is needed on methods for assessing the effectiveness of regional public chambers and on ways to increase their
autonomy and independence. 

In the article, the authors analyze the current state of the company towns of the Siberian & Far Eastern Federal Districts. The study explores the company settlements of the studied federal districts. The research is focused on the features of the development of company towns in the Siberia & Russian Far East. The main goal of the study is to identify peculiarities of the development of company towns in the Siberia & Russian Far East, their potential and prospects. To achieve this goal, the authors solve a number of research tasks: 1) analyze the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of company towns; 2) build a typology of company towns of the Siberia & Russian Far East as a key tool characterizing their level of development; 3) analyze the potential and prospects of enterprises of company towns of the studied districts; 4) develop authors’ proposals on measures of state support for company towns of the Siberia & Russian Far East. The study is based on the analysis of the literature and sources, statistical material, RF normative and legislative acts, non-participant observation conducted by the authors in 2019. For a more visual and systematic presentation of the results of the study, the authors use a data original visualization method such as mapping. The study shows that among the company towns of the Siberia & Russian Far East, settlements with the existing risks of a socio-economic situation prevail. It is concluded that measures aimed at improving the efficiency and competitiveness of city-forming enterprises, as well as the creation of company towns investment funds, which will direct part of the income of large businesses to the development towns, can contribute to improving the situation in company settlements and preventing crisis phenomena in them. According to the authors, with systemic state support, old resource specializations of company towns can develop in the branches of a new technoparadigm.

The paper explores the problem of perception of the principles of sustainable socio-economic development in the Russian Federation through the case study of the development of mountain regions. The comparative analysis of international acts, normative legal acts of the Russian Federation and other States allowed us to determine approaches to solving the problems of mountain regions. Theoretical views on the solution to political and legal problems of regional development are studied. The obtained findings suggest that the Russian Federation has the potential to create an organizational and legal mechanism for sustainable regional development, which requires a comprehensive account of social, economic, natural and climatic conditions of life, the historically established way of life and farming. Models of state support for sustainable development of Russian mountain territories are proposed. The author comes to the conclusion that it is possible to ensure sustainable development of mountain territories on the basis of state regional policies by implementing a special «mountain» agenda. The research is valuable and relevant as its conclusions and proposals can form the basis for further improvement of strategic planning documents, normative-legal regulation in terms of accounting and balance social, environmental and economic needs for community development. Consequently, it may contribute to crating specific mechanisms for the sustainable development of the Russian Federation. A number of proposals formed the basis of the law-making activities of the Union of Independent States (CIS).

Balanced gender representation in local government authorities is capable of introducingnew solutions to social and economic issues in the activities of the municipal community, forming additional competencies, and improving professional competition.The goal of the study is providing a comprehensive description of the legal regulationof gender rights implementation in public authorities; identifying municipal practicein Russia and foreign countries in this aspect; making proposals for the adjustment of legislation in the field of gender equality. In view of this, a comparative analysis of legaland judicial regulation of the principle of gender equality in Russia and foreign countrieshas been conducted; the research summarizes the data from more than 200 electronic databases containing the results of 2017–2019 municipal elections, which were presented on the official websites of the Russian Federation municipalities, its regional associations, electoral commissions; the paper explores the figures of state statistical report on the employment of men and women in local government (2016–2019). Based on the analysis of analytical reports of international bodies, the world rating of the countries in the sphere of gender equality observance has been established. The use of a quantitative criterion – a quota of 30–40% – in foreign models of gender representation, the implementation of administrative monitoring of its compliance and effective judicial protection indicate a high level of guarantee of a balanced sex ratio in public authorities (Italy, Norway,Sweden). The municipalities of the Kursk Region as a constituent subject of the Russian Federation with the organization of local government being typical of Central Federal District and the city of Moscow as a city of federal significance reveal the dependence of representation degree of the sexes on the following factors: the type of a municipality, distance from the center, the state of its material base, the number of population, specifi cityof way of life. Th e results obtained allow us to conclude that the lack of gender ratiorequirement in Russia destabilizes the diversifi ed nature of municipal management, narrows the search for opportunities of professional and intellectual self-realization of citizens, and suppresses the activity of social groups. The conclusion has been made about insufficient attention of law making bodies to measures of ensuring the rights of women in the sphere of their eligibility for public office. The trends of territorial consolidation of municipalities in Russia, and hence the change in the ratio of the population, the deputy corps will make it possible to solve this issue in the new legal field.

The article reviews the report Evaluating Dynamics of State Regulatory and Enforcement Performance from the Viewpoint of Citizens as Final Beneficiaries published by Yuzhakov, V.N., Dobrolyubova, E.I., Pokida, A.N., Zybunovskaya, N.V., and Maslennikova, E.V. in Delo Publishing House (RANEPA) and presented at the Gaidar Forum in 2020. The report suggests an original approach to evaluating results of regulatory and enforcement activity from the viewpoint of citizens. This approach contrasts the traditional evaluation of such activities by business and government itself. Report authors include into the research sample both citizens who contacted with regulatory and enforcement bodies and respondents who had not faced any risks or those who faced risks but had no contact with these government authorities. Thus, the authors propose to use the extent of public safety from risks as evaluated by respondents as a key performance indicator measuring outcomes of regulatory and enforcement activity by public authorities. The review concludes that the  approach proposed by the report authors is of practical importance. Moreover, it is urgent to complement administrative statistics, traditionally used to evaluate the effectiveness of regulatory and enforcement bodies, by sociological data.