IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/rrorus/v11y2021i3d10.1134_s2079970521030138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Opportunities for Decentralization in a Pandemic Year: What Does Budget Analysis Show?

Author

Listed:
  • N. V. Zubarevich

    (Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography
    Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration)

Abstract

—In the year of the pandemic, assistance to Russian regional budgets increased by more than 1.5 times, which ensured an increase in budget revenues in the vast majority of regions, but led to a significant increase in dependence on federal assistance. In the structure of aid, the share of targeted transfers (subsidies and subventions) increased, so the possibility of maneuvering budget resources for regions has decreased. Regions are forced to spend additional aid mainly on top-prescribed goals, which has led to a further increase in centralization of management. The transparency of allocation of transfers to regions worsened, and the amount of additional aid did not depend on the reduction of own revenues of regional budgets. Before the pandemic, priority “geopolitical” regions had received special support; for 2020, it is much more difficult to explain the distribution of aid due to the uncoordinated allocation of transfers by different federal ministries for different purposes. In the past, budgetary federalism in Russia had manifested itself only in a certain freedom of choice by the regional authorities in spending priorities, but in 2020, this was even less. Health care and, almost everywhere, social security of the population became an overall priority, since transfers were significantly added for these purposes. Regarding other types of expenditures, the priorities of regions differed, but most of them subsidized fees for housing and communal services and increased spending on the national economy to meet the targets of the presidential decree. Hopes for decentralization of the Russian system of government during the pandemic were not realized; in interbudgetary relations, the degree of regional dependence on the federal authorities increased.

Suggested Citation

  • N. V. Zubarevich, 2021. "Opportunities for Decentralization in a Pandemic Year: What Does Budget Analysis Show?," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 285-293, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:rrorus:v:11:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1134_s2079970521030138
    DOI: 10.1134/S2079970521030138
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1134/S2079970521030138
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1134/S2079970521030138?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. N. V. Zubarevich & S. G. Safronov, 2020. "Russian Regions in the Acute Phase of the Coronavirus Crisis: Differences from Previous Economic Crises of the 2000s," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 443-453, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zubarevich, N., 2022. "Regions of Russia in the new economic realities," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 226-234.
    2. Marina Yu. Malkina, 2021. "How the 2020 pandemic affected tax revenues in Russian regions?," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 16(2), pages 239-260, June.
    3. A. G. Makhrova & T. G. Nefedova, 2022. "The Year of COVID: A Migration Reversal?," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 159-167, December.
    4. I. A. Ivanov & E. S. Golomidova & N. K. Terenina, 2021. "Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Change in Volume and Spatial Structure of the Tourist Flow in Finland and Estonia in 2020," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 361-366, July.
    5. T. G. Nefedova & A. I. Treivish & A. V. Sheludkov, 2022. "Spatially Uneven Development in Russia," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 4-19, March.
    6. N. N. Mikheeva, 2023. "Household Income and Consumption in Regions during the Pandemic," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 287-295, June.
    7. Vera Barinova & Sylvie Rochhia & Stepan Zemtsov, 2022. "Attracting highly skilled migrants to the Russian regions," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 147-173, February.
    8. Voytenkov, Valentin & Demidova, Olga, 2023. "Impact of COVID-19 on household consumption in Russia," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 72, pages 73-99.
    9. S. A. Tarkhov, 2021. "Geography of the Passenger Turnover Dynamics at Airports in Europe and Russia’s Regions in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 435-453, October.
    10. O. V. Kuznetsova, 2022. "The Transformation of the Spatial Structure of an Economy in the Crisis and Post-Crisis Periods," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 451-458, December.
    11. Zubarevich, N., 2021. "Regions of Russia during a pandemic: Socio-economic dynamics and budget revenues," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 208-218.
    12. Zemtsov Stepan & Mikhaylov Alexander, 2021. "Trends and Factors of Development of Small and Medium-sized Businesses in Russian Regions during Сorona Crisis [Тенденции И Факторы Развития Малого И Среднего Бизнеса В Регионах России В Период Кор," Russian Economic Development, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 4, pages 34-45, April.
    13. Zemtsov Stepan & Mikhaylov Alexander, 2021. "Тенденции И Факторы Развития Малого И Среднего Бизнеса В Регионах России В Период Коронакризиса," Russian Economic Development (in Russian), Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 4, pages 34-45, April.
    14. O. V. Kuznetsova, 2021. "Economy of Russian Regions in the Pandemic: Are Resilience Factors At Work?," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 419-427, October.
    15. Kuznetsova, O., 2021. "Spatial development in the post-COVID period: New challenges or old problems?," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 226-232.
    16. S. Zemtsov & V. Barinova & R. Semenova & A. Mikhailov, 2022. "Entrepreneurship Policy and SME Development during Pandemic Crisis in Russia," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 321-334, September.
    17. A. V. Lialina & K. A. Morachevskaya, 2022. "Economic Access to Food and COVID-19: New Challenges for the Russian Exclave," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 335-349, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:rrorus:v:11:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1134_s2079970521030138. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.