In the article, the factors of a stability of the Russian economy are investigated from the systematic positions as a multilevel, multisubject and multidimensional socio-economic system. The concept of economics system stability as abilities to keep prerequisites for growth with the support and effective use of system structure of economy is formulated. The leading role of all economic subjects of different levels (including government as a subject of the international relations, regions as the subjects of Federation, enterprises as economic entities) in economic stability is shown. The need of "extension" of a network of subjects due to strengthening of the subjectivity of economic fields is emphasized. Research of an internal basic system structure of an economic subject and external structure of its immediate environment in socioeconomic, administrative-and-managerial, and market spaces with the use of the results of the new theory of economic systems leads to a conclusion of similarity of these structures. It is shown that each of these system complexes includes (together with a subject) four systems of various types — object, environmental, processed, and designed. The system environment of a subject in the administrative-and-managerial space of inter-level interactions has the same structure. It gives the chance to reduce a problem of subjects’ resistance to a question of balance of system structures of the complexes forming an internal filling and an external environment of subjects. The method of balance index of similar complexes is given. Recommendations on a choice of the measures of economic policy for providing economics system stability of Russia during the crisis are formulated. It is shown that such policy has to be developed with the principles of a subject-preservation, system balance of internal filling and external environment of subjects, a corporate solidarity of subjects despite their level in the administrative hierarchy.

This paper will identify and analyze the basic institutional characteristics of the region of South East Europe (SEE6), because the building of institutions is one of the main conditions for sustainable development. Basic theoretical and practical barriers, that crucially influenced the current unfavorable transitional institutional characteristics in SEE6, will be researched in a selective way. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the essential institutional differences of this region in comparison with developed countries, particularly in terms of real institutional change, the application of institutional pluralism and the main institutional barriers. The paper starts from the hypothesis that ignoring the institutional pluralism and domination of alternative institutions in SEE6 led to dysfunctionality of institutional change, which had a negative impact on all indicators of economic development in the surveyed countries. The emphasis is on the factors of monistic anti-institutional action, from which the alternative institutions stand out for their destructive significance. It points to devastating and anti-developmental consequences of their actions, and their theoretical support of neoliberal type, which is in practice vulgarized and converted into a quasi-neoliberalism. It identifies the real and concrete causes of reproduced institutional vacuum. The findings from the study suggest that countries of the SEE6 region should apply civilization-proven development models of institutional pluralism type. This indicates the importance of taking real institutional changes and urgent overcoming the quasi-institutional forms in order to successfully valorize the economic resources in the countries of SEE6.

This paper presents the results of the research dedicated to the role of space in the modernization of the economy of the North-West mañro-region of Russia conducted in 2012–2014, within the framework of the Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) ¹31 "The role of space in the modernization of Russia: natural and socio-economic potential." The analysis is based on the methodology, which was developed at the Institute of Regional Economy of RAS. Possibilities of modernization of the Russian economy are due to competitive advantages, "inherited characteristics" and public policy of regions and major macro-regions development. Recourses of modernization have a spatial component, which significantly affects the positioning of the region, its companies, firms and projects in the globalized geo-economic space. It is noted that the characteristics of multi-factor situation, taking into account the “inherited characteristics” of spatial development, the nature of geopolitical and geo-economic situation, transformation of the socio-economic area, evaluation the role of internal and external factors, including the impact of globalization and the state regional policy, as well as assessment of the role of internal spatial inversion of macro-region and innovation potential of regional development mostly define the corridors for modernization of the economy of the regions. It is found that four groups of factors highlighted in this study allow to take into account the wide range of opportunities and constraints for the modernization of the economy of the North-West macro region. On the basis of interdisciplinary synthesis within the geospatial paradigms, taking into account the developments of domestic economists-regionalists, economic geographers and western views in the framework of the space science, the idea of A. I. Tatarkin about "new sources of territorial competitiveness" was confirmed, by the example of a model region of the North-West of Russia. Thus, in the study, based on calculations of the index of integration into the world economy, it is shown that the possibilities of modernization are associated with the degree of openness and competitiveness of regions in the global context. On the example of this macro-region, the space capabilities and limitations of economic modernization, typical for Russia, are identified. Specific ways of the modernization project of the economy of the North-West macro-region are defined, taking into account domestic resources, spatial disparities, “inherited features”, global economic factors, internal constraints and others. The results will be reflected in the implementation of fundamental research of team within the Program of the Presidium of RAS ¹16 "Spatial Development of Russia in XXI century: nature, society, and their interaction."

The development management quality assessment methodology in the public sector is relevant scientific and practical problem of economic research. The utilization of the results of the assessment on the basis of the authors’ methodology allows us to rate the public sector organizations, to justify decisions on the reorganization and privatization, and to monitor changes in the level of the management quality of the public sector organizations. The study determined the place of the quality of the control processes of the public sector organization in the system of “Quality of public administration — the effective operation of the public sector organization,” the contradictions associated with the assessment of management quality are revealed, the conditions for effective functioning of the public sector organizations are proved, a mechanism of comprehensive assessment and algorithm for constructing and evaluating the control models of management quality are developed, the criteria for assessing the management quality in the public sector organizations, including economic, budgetary, social and public, informational, innovation and institutional criteria are empirically grounded. By utilizing the proposed algorithm, the assessment model of quality management in the public sector organizations, including the financial, economic, social, innovation, informational and institutional indicators is developed. For each indicator of quality management, the coefficients of importance in the management quality assessment model, as well as comprehensive and partial evaluation indicators are determined on the basis of the expert evaluations. The main conclusion of the article is that management quality assessment for the public sector organizations should be based not only on the indicators achieved in the dynamics and utilized for analyzing the effectiveness of management, but also should take into account the reference levels for the values of these parameters. The comparison of the indicators will allow to assess not only the degree of the achievement of objectives and results but also the quality of conformance of the chosen development strategy from a position of management quality.

The article analyzes the processes of the social sphere and the effective operation of social infrastructure in order to improve the quality of life of the population in the Russian regions. Particular attention is paid to the role of the organizational and managerial component affecting usage performance of infrastructure objects and including regulation of the institutions of social infrastructure, planning and software. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of management of social infrastructure through the conjugation of immediate results (the dynamics of indicators of social services) and outcomes (parameters of the quality of life of the population). The hypothesis of the study was the violation of the principle of infra-systematicity in the infrastructural support of the improvement of the quality of life in the Russian regions, due to the lack of effectiveness of public administration. In the study, the following methodological approaches are used: structural, factoral, systematic and evolutionary approaches to justify the conception, develop methodology and determine the impact of changes in the parameters of social infrastructure availability for the provided services, shifts in indexes of quality of life. The paper proposes the quantitative evaluation of the effectiveness of organizational management based on the diagnosis of the adequacy of the implementation of the principle of infra-systematicity in the functioning of social infrastructure on the basis of the elasticity coefficient. The proposed approach and the received analytical data on health, education, commerce, housing, culture and sport fields have allowed to range the regions of the Ural Federal District and highlight the areas of insufficient effectiveness of the organizational and management tool for improvement of life quality. The findings of the research may serve as a core for practical recommendations for executive bodies of administrative units of the Russian Federation and adjustment of socio-economic policy.

This article examines the infrastructure as one of the important elements of the economic system. Authors have considered the stages of formation of this concept in the scientific world, the ideas of a number of scientists on a role and place of infrastructure in the economic system are given. Short genesis of approaches to the description of infrastructure and to assignment of its functions to certain branches is created. The paper emphasized the importance of strengthening the infrastructural support to the transition of the economy to the machine mode of production. Two main methodological approaches describing the nature and content of infrastructure are allocated: branch-wise and functional. The author's technique of the assessment of infrastructure security of territories at the regional level is offered. A basis of this technique is the allocation of the set of special indicators which values allow to see the level of development of separate elements of infrastructure. Indicative analysis, which is the basis of the methods, allows to judge any phenomenon by comparing the current observed values with the previously accepted threshold levels. This comparison allows one to classify the observations on the scale of "norm-pre-crisis-crisis". The essential advantage of this method is the normalization of indicators, i.e. their reduction to one comparable conditional size. It allows to receive the assessment on certain blocks of indicators and a complex assessment on all set in general. Authors have allocated four basic elements of infrastructure, such as transport, communications and telecommunications, utilities and health care availability. In total, the technique includes 21 indicators. The results of approbatory calculations with the author's method have revealed shortcomings in the infrastructure development of the Ural region. The article is a brief analysis of the data with the accents on the individual indicators and areas.

A key indicator of the System of National Accounts of Russia at a regional scale is Gross Regional Product characterizing the value of goods and services produced in all sectors of the economy in a country and intended for final consumption, capital formation and net exports (excluding imports). From a sustainability perspective, the most weakness of GRP is that it ignores depreciation of man-made assets, natural resource depletion, environmental pollution and degradation, and potential social costs such as poorer health due to exposure to occupational hazards. Several types of alternative approaches to measuring socio-economic progress are considering for six administrative units of the Ural Federal District for the period 2006–2014. Proposed alternatives to GRP as a measure of social progress are focused on natural resource depletion, environmental externalities and some human development aspects. The most promising is the use of corrected macroeconomic indicators similar to the “genuine savings” compiled by the World Bank. Genuine savings are defined in this paper as net savings (net gross savings minus consumption of fixed capital) minus the consumption of natural non-renewable resources and the monetary evaluations of damages resulting from air pollution, water pollution and waste disposal. Two main groups of non renewable resources are considered: energy resources (uranium ore, oil and natural gas) and mineral resources (iron ore, copper, and aluminum). In spite of various shortcomings, this indicator represents a considerable improvement over GRP information. For example, while GRP demonstrates steady growth between 2006 and 2014 for the main Russian oil- and gas-producing regions — Hanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs, genuine savings for these regions decreased over all period. It means that their resource-based economy could not be considered as being on a sustainable path even in the framework of “weak” sustainability, i.e. sustainability under the assumption that the accumulation of producible physical capital and of human capital can compensate for losses in natural non reproducible resources.

In the article, the current demographic situation that has developed in Russia and can be described as a demographic crisis is analysed. One of its most important characteristics is the negative qualitative changes that occur in the population. Modern information technology contributes a lot to this process. The negative qualitative changes in the population, which have begun in the second half of the 1980s and have increased in present-day Russia, prevent the development of human capital in the country. In addition to that, the authors give their own interpretation of the concept of "human capital". The purpose of the paper is to justify the primacy of the demographic factor in the formation and development of human capital. Migration in the form of a brain drain also has a negative impact on the development of human capital in Russia and its regions. The human development index calculated for the country as a whole and for its regions confirms the above-mentioned. In the paper, the methods of demographic analysis, the demographic indicators and indexes, which can serve to analyse the qualitative characteristics of the population, are utilized. The authors arrive at the conclusion that at the present stage, it is impossible to develop human capital without solving the demographic problems. This is especially true for some regions of Russia. Awareness of this will contribute to the more efficient management of demographic processes, which, in turn, will guarantee the positive development of human capital, strengthening and development of the Russian economy and society as a whole.

Income distribution is one of the factors influencing economic growth. At present time, the regional aspect of such influence is an important sphere of research. The present article is intended to view the aspects of the influence of income distribution differentiation on economic growth on the example of the Russian regions in post-crisis period. The research results are presented in the form of regression model, estimating the differences in the growth rates of gross regional products in Russia in post-crisis 2010. The explanatory variables are Gini coefficients as an indicator of income inequality, and a number of other indicators characterizing the regional development in 2006 — 2010. Special attention is paid to the influence of 2008 crisis on the differences of regions by the level of dependent variable. Cross-sectional regression model based on the Russian Federation regions data shows the positive influence of changes in income distribution on the rate of economic growth. The general result of the research is confirmation of the hypothesis of the influence of income inequality on economic growth at the regional level in Russia. The observed effect is positive and statistically significant. The effect is relatively short-term, both from the point of view of the dependent variable (the yearly growth rate of GRP is used in the model), and from the point of view of the time lag between the year of dependent variable observation, 2010, and the period of observation, for which the Gini coefficient is significant in regression equation (2006-2007). Pre-crisis value of the Gini coefficient does not determined the differences in economic growth in the regions of Russia in 2011-2012. The results can be used in predicting the pace of regional development in Russia in the post-crisis period, as well as in the implementation of regional economic policy in times of crisis in order to maximize regional economic growth after the crisis.

This paper performs an economic poverty and inequality mapping of three children age categories in Malta; it consists in the first attempt based on income from the EU-SILC survey and Census data. From a policy-making point of view, the availability of such key economic indicators at locality level certainly provides a valuable tool in assessing the effectiveness of national strategies and in identifying areas that need to be targeted by new policies; in fact sample surveys alone cannot provide reliable information at such a fine level of detail, while national censuses are not designed to and cannot be extended to cover specific topics such as economic poverty and inequality. Thus, the merging of the two sources provides policy-makers with a new insight into the differences between localities. There are also benefits of a technical nature, particularly in terms of sampling strategies, that can be derived from this study. Through such an exercise it is possible to identify economic homogeneity and/or heterogeneity among households with children in different localities: this is useful when defining strata for sampling design for surveys aiming at studying other economic phenomena relating to children.

The article deals with the spatial socio-demographic isolation as a factor of the current system of settlement in Russia’s regions. In theory, the phenomena of loneliness and social isolation have their demographic, socio-economic and psychological roots. Conceptually, they are expressed in the theories of nuclearization of family structure of society and the family’s loss of its core functions, deprivation of a person (of friends and relatives), in the paradigm of the second demographic transition. In fact, the trend towards the abandonment of birth, growth of cohabitations and divorces, premature mortality as the cause of widowhood are complemented by the institutional factors strengthening the foundations of a singular way of life, including various forms of isolation of an individual from the social environment in a post-industrial society. The main reasons of the socio-demographic isolation are following: the tendency of increasing a number of private households represented by lonely people, both elderly and young; as well as the prevalence of the institute of widowhood (mortality risks influencing the marriage and the family); the impact of flows of labour, academic, self-preservation, consumer migration (both returned and irretrievable types) on the reproduction of the population. Psychologically, the demographic isolation of certain local communities contributes to the feelings of loneliness as a regulator of the communication intensity and interaction between individuals. In the socioeconomic aspects, the isolation of local communities is associated with the factor of remote location of families from the centers of communication and real markets, with the development of new Russian and global logistics systems, with are deprivation of traditional sources of household income as a specific form of survival in the vast expanses of life of the Russian society.

The article is dedicated to transforming the economy of Russian regions to a green economy, which is an essential factor for the sustainable development. This is important not only for Russia but the whole world because our country has the great natural capital and provides important environmental services that support the planet biosphere. Based on the analysis of economic, social and ecological statistical data and Human Development Index (HDI) we have shown that the development of Russian Federal Districts is very unbalanced and each Russian region has its own way to new economic model. For instance, it is necessary to increase the well-being in the North Caucasus Federal District, it is important to reach higher life expectancy at birth in the Siberian and the Far Eastern Districts. It is necessary to move from the «brown» economy to a green one by using the human capital (building a knowledge economy), by applying Best Available Technologies (Techniques), by investing in efficiency of use of natural resources and by increasing energy efficiency. The transition to a green economy will help to achieve social equity and the development of human potential; it helps to move from the exploitation of non-renewable natural capital to renewable human capital. All these socio-economic measures should give decoupling effect, make risks lower, reduce the exploitation of natural capital, stop the environmental degradation and prevent the ecological crisis. Transition to the green economic model has to be accompanied by new economic development indicators, which take into account social and environmental factors.

The subject matter of the research is the laws and mechanisms of development of employment in various sectors of the labor market of the Republic of Crimea. The article investigates the regional staffing structure in the development of economic activities of the Republic of Crimea, in particular, the health resort institution to identify priorities for the implementation of employment policies in the region. The main hypothesis of the study: a mismatch of basic parameters of transformation of the labor market in the Republic of Crimea and the educational system produces dysfunctionality of their interaction, causes conflict between the needs and requirements of the labor market and the training level, particularly in the health resort institution, as well as dysfunctionality of formal qualifications of graduates. The methodological basis of the research is a systematic approach to the study of the labor market in the Republic of Crimea and the utilization of statistical methods for analyzing the labor market. In the study, the dynamics of socio-economic development of the Crimean region was analyzed. The labor market conditions in the Crimean region were investigated, which revealed the main causes of imbalances in the labor market development. The analysis of the training of medical students in institutions of higher education was held. Groups of factors affecting the staffing structure in the region were determined. Analysis of the causes of the labor market imbalances in Crimea showed that the existing imbalance was caused by both objective and subjective reasons. Priority lines in employment policy in the health resort institution have been proposed. Their implementation will help to stabilize the situation with the medical staff, including the health resort institution; to improve human resources personnel, capable to provide a high level of service to recreants; to promote problem solving in the development of the Republic of Crimea in the new economic conditions.

The article proves the important role of import substitution in the economic security protection of state and its regions, especially in times of crisis, geopolitical and economical instability. The authors argue that the problem of import substitution is not modern, trendy scientific stream. The issue of displacement of import goods by domestic ones was brought up in famous classic theories of mercantilists. The particular emphasis is placed on the analysis and systematization of different scientific approaches, which are utilized by native and foreign scientists to bring out the matter of “import substitution,” to determine its essential characteristics. The authors suggest their own interpretation of the import substitution notion. In the article, the most significant pro and contra arguments in import substitution policy are defined. The regional aspects in the import substitution are approved: case study — organization of industrial import substitution in the Sverdlovsk region. In the article, the authors analyze the subject matter of the Program “Development of Intraregional Industrial Cooperation and Implementation of an Import Substitution in Branches of Industry in the Sverdlovsk Region.” It is resumed, that active policy of import substitution in the industry may become the driver of regional economic development.

The paper considers anti-crisis solutions for the electricity sector that fall into the category of strategic ones. Their primary purpose is to ensure the flexibility and adaptability of the system and prevent emergencies in the future. The authors explain the need for a holistic approach to taking anti-crisis decisions in power engineering and propose ways to improve the economic mechanism of cost reduction based upon international practice and placed in the Russian context. The benefits of demand-side management in ensuring the reliability of power supplies amid crisis are shown. The paper looks at various implementation modalities for demand-side management programmes and explores development prospects for distributed generation in Russia and stand-alone power supply options for manufacturing companies. Factors are assessed that affect the cost effectiveness of going off the grid. A general scheme of cost management aimed at reaching the strategic goals of the regional electricity sector is presented. The authors reveal possible applications and advantages of using predictive analytics for effective cost management. Ways of improving asset management are considered as well as the possibility of their employment in the Russian context. The key barriers to their implementations and ways of overcoming them are identified.

The article considers the technical, technological, institutional and organizational barriers of cross-border transportation of goods. The study uses an institutional approach as a methodological alternative to other approaches. The institutional and organizational problems of border crossing points arrangement, the consequences of the application of unified transport documents, the introduction of electronic communication forms are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of demonstration actions, the daily practice of reducing the time of customs procedures and reducing the transaction costs of cross-border freight traffic. At the same time, it is specified that the way of effectiveness increase of cross-border transportation of goods is a simultaneous implementation of technical and institutional innovations. Emphasis is placed on identifying the institutional and organizational features of the international transportation of goods by road, in particular, the problems of the evolution of the customs duties guaranteed payment institute, the permission system in the implementation of cross-border goods traffic. It is especially specified that the state support of national businessmen demands the development of a mechanism providing a parity of the Russian and foreign carriers, at least in the field of freight hauling for the state needs with attraction of credit resources of banks with the state participation. It is emphasized that elimination of all informal (shadow) relations in this sphere has to become the first step on the way of improvement of the institutional environment of the international road haulage. The institutional characteristics of transportation of goods in certain areas, in particular, road haulage to China through Kazakhstan, and the challenges and prospects for the use and development of the Kaliningrad region transit potential are allocated. The institutional and organizational characteristics of multimodal transport development in cross-border traffic are shown. The findings of the study suggest that the development of cross-border transportation of goods and the transport and transit potential implementation in Eurasian Economic Union countries — can and should provide income for business entities, the budgets of all levels and the public, as well as to become the locomotive of industrial and technological modernization and institutional — organizational evolution of economic systems and integration associations.

The subject-matter of the research is the study of the regional metallurgical complex and its leaders, which account for 55 % of industrial output and more than 57 % of exports of the Sverdlovsk region, in the current terms of economic instability. Supporting the business priorities of improving the competitiveness and economic security of the enterprise is based on the example of "UMMC-Holding" — the leader of ferrous metallurgy in the Middle Urals, an active participant in the global and Russian copper market. The modern economic, mathematical, and general scientific methods (comparison study, the ratio of total and private, and others) are applied as the research methods. To obtain the study results, the main areas of the holding impacted by the sanctions are analyzed: modernization of production and spare parts provisions of the current imported equipment, correction of the supply chain, searching for new business partners, transformation of the structure and direction of cargo traffic, solving transportation problems, stocks system management and minimization of economic, social and environmental costs. The urgency of solving the problem of company competitiveness and economic security increasing together with its sectoral and regional features in the present conditions is proved as the key conclusion. The high competitiveness of the holding is considered to be one of the factors of its economic security. The main goal of the economic security of the company is its sustainable and maximally effective functioning at the present time and high potential for successful development in the future. The indicators and criteria for the economic security evaluation are studied in detail. The analysis conducted has shown that, in general, the holding has high indicators characterizing its economic security on the basis of high competitiveness. As a negative sign, a lack of the investment growth needed to solve urgent problems is noticed.

In the article, the relevant problem of increasing the regional budget revenues is investigated. The subject matter of the research is the securities market as a mechanism for the redistribution of financial resources. The purpose of the research is justification of the effective scheme feasible in the current environment of the interaction of the securities market and the regional budget. In the study of the above-mentioned subject, the hypothesis of a close relationship between state and non-state finance system was taken as a basis. The theoretical principle of the research supports the theory of the stock market; to achieve the purpose, the institutionally-functional approach to the study of state finances is applied. As the result of the research, possible common grounds of the securities market and the regional financial system are identified; the reserve of improving efficiency of the securities market in the Western Siberia regions are revealed; the model reflecting the dependence of tax revenues from the pace of regional economic development is constructed; promising areas for development of the securities market for the benefit of the regional economy and regional financial system are formulated; the possible effect from the development of regional securities market on regional budget revenues is estimated. The results mentioned above are recommended to be apllied when developing regional financial policies and programmes of region socio-economic development. A long-term stimulation of the growth in incomes of regional budgets is a very complex process, but with the proper elaboration of organizational issues, the implementation of the proposed scheme for interaction of the securities market and the regional financial system is capable to provide a steady increase in tax revenue in the short term and alleviate the problem of financing costs of the regional budget.

It is shown that, in the context of globalization, improved credit support for strategic sectors of the economy (for example, shipbuilding) can be achieved through the creation of a banking consortium based around leasing. A dialectical method of resolution of system tasks is selected as the methodological approach. Methods used include: comparative cost analysis of the strategic lending industry supporting the formation and development of a banking consortium; integrated method at the condition modeling of making and implementation of a lease agreement, which allowed to accommodate the interests for both parties of such agreement; optimization method to select the conditions of a lease agreement; classification and analytical method to clarify the classification of lease. The study proved and developed a plan of creation a banking consortium, including options of interaction of such consortium with potential customers based on a lease agreement. The process of functioning of the lease agreement in order to optimize it for both a bank consortium-lessor and a lessee is modeled. The significant advantages of leasing compared to the traditional lending for both parties of leasing, especially when ensuring long-term projects are summarized. The results of the research can be applied in the strategic lending industries development and can reduce the level of banking risks. Applying the results of the research in the social aspect can maintain and increase the number of jobs including the banking sector. The value of the work leis in the fact that the author has developed a new approach to achive the credit support for strategic sectors of the economy through the creation of the banking consortium based around leasing, which allows to protect the interests of both parties.

The subject of the article is the risk, returnm and efficiency of the tax systems in the regions of the Russian Federation. Research methods: deflating GRP and tax revenues at regional level; calculating the standard deviations; G. Markowitz portfolio approach; W. Sharpe ratio calculating; correlation and regression analysis. Results obtained: 1) comparative risk profile of various taxes and their groups in the Russian Federation; 2) clustering the Russian regions in terms of risk and return of tax systems; 3) regression between the risk of regional tax systems, relative scale of regional economics and tax return based on panel data of the Russian regions in 2006-2012; 4) ranking of the RF regions on the effectiveness of their tax systems, estimated by W. Sharpe ratio. In the paper, the authors have concluded: 1) all taxes (tax group) collected in the Russian regions demonstrate a positive statistical relationship between return and risk, but with different correlation; 2) the risk of regional tax system depends on the structure of tax revenues in given region, the risks of collected taxes and the covariance of different taxes revenues to each other, and joint effect of these factors is estimated by means of portfolio approach by G. Markowitz; 3) the correlation between return and risk of the tax systems of the subjects of Russian Federation considering the scale of regional economics accounts for 75 %; 4) the risk of the Russian tax system is significantly provided by 19 major high-risk regions with more than 65 share in the total state tax revenues; 5) the effectiveness of regional tax systems estimated by the Sharpe ratio depends on both the objective and subjective factors affecting the yield and volatility of tax revenues in a region. Obtained results can be used by researchers in further dynamic and comparative analysis of regional tax systems’ risk and return, as well as in identifying the reserves for increasing the regional tax policy effectiveness.

A crucially new social- and economic situation has shaped up by now in the rural areas and agricultural sphere; in its many instances such situation does not fit in the national agricultural policy in effect called upon to be a long-term instrument for economic adjustment of the agro-food market and state support of the agricultural sphere, most significantly, its foundation — the farming sector. Ensuring of food supply security by import substitution in the age of the national farm product markets globalization is possible in the macro-economic conditions promoting the development of the agricultural sector. The main reason that retards this sector development is inequitable cross-sector exchange at sacrifice of the agricultural industry. The article sets forward and approbates the author’s method of simple assessment procedure of how the price cross-sector relations and state financial support (in the form of subsidies) of the agricultural enterprises influence their profitability generation. Further to the assessment, the following conclusions have been made: — in view of the tangible contribution of the agricultural sector to the country economy, this sector is self-reliant for its own development, i.e. the state is reasonably in a position to increase expenses for eliminating negative consequences of inequitable crosssector exchange; — the amount of expenses for state financial support is supposed to enable the agricultural commodity producers to generate profitability to the level that can stimulate the farm workers’ labour efficiency and build up a system of affordable credit facilities for the objects of techno-engineering modernization necessary to produce competitive products. — the issue of improving the competitiveness of agricultural production should be addressed in the first place at the federal level. Among the essential factors to increase the competitiveness of specific types of domestic food products and agricultural raw materials, one should consider the implementation of theoretically sustained agreements on the agricultural policy in EEU countries. The article considers the guidelines to form the common agricultural policy in the new integrated entity.

In the article, the results of the studies of the present state of freshwater ecosystems and their biotic components in the western part of the Yamal Peninsula are presented. Based on the evaluation of the structure of the communities of phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos and whitefishes, the range of the problems related to the protection of biological resources at the development of the Kruzenshternskoye gas field is defined. Data on species composition and quantitative indicators of hydrobionts of different types of waterbodies and watercourses in the lower reaches of the Mordyyakha and Naduyyakha rivers basins are the basis for environmental monitoring of water objects at development and exploitation of the Kruzenshternskoye gas field. According to the monitoring program, evaluation of the fish fauna state and their food base on the territory of the Kruzenshternskoye gas condensate field (GCF), is present. The zones of rivers deltas are the most important areas of the salmonid and whitefishes valuable fish species feeding at the territory of Kruzenshternskoye GCF. In the cases where complete demolish of waterbodies and watercourses for construction of facilities for GCF does not occur, changes of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of communities of hydrobionts after cease of works are reversible. River ecosystems are restored within a more short period of time in comparison to lacustrine ones. On the basis of conducted comprehensive studies, the proposals for the protection of fisheries resources and monitoring of aquatic ecosystems are reported. Recommendations for reducing the anthropogenic impact on aquatic ecosystems in the development period are presented. The results of the investigation were used in the designing the environmental protection part of the Kruzenshternskoye deposit project. At present, the disturbances in the territory of Kruzenshternskoye deposit of gas does not impact the aquatic ecosystems.

In the article, the essential and formalized definition of the potential of the territory is proved; its innovative part in the “subjectprocess-object” approach to its essential content and impact assessment is determined. The system of mechanisms and institutes of building the regional and territorial innovative potential is elaborated, the most productive directions of its using in the interests of spatial socio-economic development are allocated. Problems of high priority and requiring solutions that are able to increase the effectiveness of territory functioning are identified. The mentioned problems found their reflection and possible solutions at the Gaidar International Economic Forum in Moscow (2015) and at the representative XII Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum, as reflected by the analyses of some forum’s speeches presented in the paper. The shift of priorities in innovative global development during the second part of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century is shown. The results of research and practice of utilizing innovative solutions for the development of some collectives and territories, the spatial structure of regions and the Russian Federation as a whole are investigated and generalized in this paper. The development of the territory and its potential depends on different factors, but the growth of knowledge, intellectual resource and involvement of the population into management process by development and realization of different programs and projects plays the increasing role in current conditions. In the article, the positive sides of the business-project as the main mechanism of the program and project implementation with utilizing market institutes of the public-private partnership (PPP) are analyzed. The role of collectives and the population in the increase of innovative activity and system territory development is assessed.

The article is devoted to the problem analysis of the competitiveness of the Russian regions and to the development of the methodology of its increasing. The author’s hypothesis is that when supporting the priorities of increasing the region’s innovation competitiveness, one must take into account not only region’s scientific and technical, and innovation potential, but also peculiarities of interaction of innovation and socio-economic development of the territories. This is because the region’s innovation competitiveness is manifested in its ability to create innovations as well as to increase on their basis the resistance of the territory, and, therefore, initially, it quite closely linked to its industrial and technological type. On the basis of the conducted data analysis of the state of research and innovation potential of the Russian regions, the main trends and causes of the continued weakening of their innovation competitiveness are identified. In modern Russia, this is mainly caused by the lack of politically significant groups whose economic interests are closely linked to the development of mechanical engineering, high technology and restoration of the industrial production structure. The interdependence between the socially necessary level of the region’s innovation competitiveness and the need for innovation industries with high technology levels are showed. In the article, the methodical approach is proposed for determining ways of increasing the innovation competitiveness of the Russian Federation’s regions. It is showed that they should be developed on the basis of coordination of interests of preserving and strengthening the research and innovative capacities of the country, on the one hand, and the needs of increasing the vitality of the territories on the other. In view of the statistical base, the integral index of development priority in the centers of innovation activity aimed at enhancing the resistance of the different degrees of knowledge-intensive industries was developed. The results of the ranking of the subjects of the Russian Federation according to the priority of development there the centers of innovation activity of high-tech, medium-low (on the example of metallurgy) and extractive industries are presented. The proposals for improving the competitiveness of the Russian Federation’s regions of the above-mentioned production-technological types are formulated. The article is addressed to professionals in the field of theory and practice of the management of innovative processes.

The research analyses the impact of the inequality of demographic transition on socio-demographic characteristics of the regional population and on the dynamics of these characteristics. The study was conducted with the help of computer-based experiments (simulations), which was run on the original agent-based model. The model is an artificial society, and personal characteristics of its members are set so that they could represent age-demographic structure of a simulate region. The agents are divided into two subgroups, which differ in their reproductive strategy. The first group has traditional strategy with high birth rate. The second group has considerably lower birth rate, observed in the modern developed societies. The model uses stochastic approaches to imitate the principle processes of population growth: mortality and morbidity. Mortality is set according to age-sex specific mortality coefficients, which do not differ across the population as a whole. New agents (child births) appear as a choice of agents – women of reproductive age, and the choice depends on the subgroup. The overall age and social structure of the region is aggregated across individual agents. A number of experiments has been carried out with the model utilization. This allowed forecasting the size and structure of the population of a given region. The results of the experiments have revealed that despite its simplicity, the developed agent-based model well predicts the initial conditions in the region (e.g. age-demographic and social structure). The model shows good fit in terms of estimating the dynamics of major characteristics of the population.

In the present paper, reasons for the increased interest in industrial policy, both in developed and developing countries are explained. The systematization of the development results of the Russian industry from 1989 to 2014 showed a lack of systematic selection of its priorities, preventing the formation of a strategic vector of industrial policy. The desired industrial policy diversity is established at the different economic development stages of the country. In the context of economic sanctions against Russia, it is shown that the emergence of a new industrial policy vector is connected to the need for import substitution and concomitant changes in the development model of the domestic economy. The dynamics and characteristics of the industrial development area are shown by the example of a highly developed region like the Central Urals. The total level of innovation activity of organizations continues to be low and composes only 12 %, although in the manufacturing sector this index is higher than the regional economy index by four absolute percentage points. The industrial policy of the Middle Urals is analyzed, and innovation drivers of the industrial sector of the regional economy are established. The possibilities of the defense, civil engineering, mining, chemical and pharmaceutical, and forest complexes of Sverdlovsk Region to implement the import substitution policy are revealed. The most significant investment projects that will reduce the import dependence of the regional economy are presented. The possibilities of the research sector and created innovation infrastructure of the region in solving this problem are shown. The necessity of the regional laws on industrial policy elaboration, developing the basic regulations of the Federal Law "On Industrial Policy in the Russian Federation" in proved.

Effective production assets of region or country are the assets that really commit in production development. According to the neoclassical rationality principle of economic agents, the effective assets have to be considered in the production functions representing the mathematical models of large production facilities (production associations, sectors, economies of regions and countries). Existence of adequate production function allows making the deep economic analysis of facility and solving planning and forecasting problems. However, the researchers have only information on the balance funds, which are often poorly reflecting the real state of economy. The indistinct effective fund concept can be formalized and assessed quantitatively within the method of the production functions (PF) on the basis of V. K. Gorbunov and A. G. Lvov’s model (2012) of the standard macroeconomic PF development, one of which factors — the capital according to the statistical information on production investments. Effective funds are estimated together with the PF parameters and the main indicators of fund dynamics: amortization and initial value. In the article, the coefficient of marketability on investment, which is a share of real use of the allocated production investments, is additionally introduced into the dynamic equation. The comprehensive assessment results of the PF parameters and effective funds for economies of the Volga and Ural Federal Districts with use of several classes of two-factorial PF are given. As the second factor, the work and energy consumption are alternatively considered. As the result of development of region PF, the macroeconomic indicators: average and marginal returns of factors, factorial elasticity, marginal rate of factor substitution, elasticity of substitution, are calculated. It increases the quality of the quantitative analysis of regional economies and objectivity of their comparison.