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on Confederation of Independent States |
| By: | Vladimir Nazarov (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy); Arseny Mamedov (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy); Andrey Alaev (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the issue of intergovernmental fiscal relations and subnational finances in Russia. The authors focus on the issue of subnational budgets in 2011, financial support from the federal budget. The point out to how the federal authorities stimulate the constitutent territories on the Russian Federation. |
| Keywords: | fiscal relations, subnational finances, federal budget, road funds, subnational budgets |
| JEL: | H5 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:ppaper:11&r=cis |
| By: | Alexander Radygin (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy); Georgy Malginov (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with public sector and privatization process in Russia. The Authors analyze public sector share in Russian economy, privatization process, updates of privatization laws, corporate governance issues, state participation in the economy and structural policy, budget effect of the state property policy between 2000 and 2011 |
| Keywords: | public sector of the economy, privatization, Russian economy, corporate governance |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:ppaper:8&r=cis |
| By: | Vladimir Mau (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the socio-economic environment in Russia in 2011. The author tries to analyze the results and lessons of socio-political outcome of 2011. The focus is on the quest for a new growth model for Russia. |
| Keywords: | new growth model, global crisis |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:ppaper:9&r=cis |
| By: | Petukhova, Svetlana; Strepetova, Margarita |
| Abstract: | -- |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse12:60362&r=cis |
| By: | Jérôme Lefranc (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This article contributes to the analysis of Russian income polarization. Its aim is to assess the evolution of the middle class in Russia and to check whether governmental redistribution factors have affected its evolution during the last two decades. We apply two indices of bi-polarization and group polarization to household income data, to analyze the evolution of the middle class and polarization in Russia. The empirical investigations conducted as part of this research are based on the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey data from 1995 to 2010. During the first period, which is characterized by a increasing income inequality, we find that the middle class declined and income polarization increased, indicating the constitution of identified groups in lower and upper income ranges. In the second one, where the Russian economy suffered from the international crisis, we find that the middle class rose and polarization decreased. The level of income polarization is as high in rural areas as it is in urban areas, suggesting that the risk of social tensions exists in both areas. The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of gouvernmental redistributive mechanism to decrease polarization significantly. |
| Keywords: | Polarization, income redistribution, social classes, Russia. |
| JEL: | D31 D63 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:12054&r=cis |
| By: | Shepotylo, Oleksandr; Tarr, David G. |
| Abstract: | After 18 years of negotiations, Russia has joined the World Trade Organization. This paper assesses how the tariff structure of the Russian Federation will change as a result of the phased implementation of its World Trade Organization commitments between 2012 and 2020 and how it has changed as a result of its agreement to participate in a Customs Union with Kazakhstan and Belarus. The analysis uses trade data at the ten digit level, which allows the first accurate assessment of the impact of these policy changes. It finds that World Trade Organization commitments will progressively and significantly lower the applied tariffs of the Russian Federation. After all commitments are implemented, tariffs will fall from 11.5 percent to 7.9 percent on an un-weighted average basis, or from 13.0 percent to 5.8 percent on a weighted average basis. The average"bound"tariff rate of Russia under its World Trade Organization commitments will be 8.6 percent, that is, 0.7 percentage points higher than the applied tariffs. Russia's commitments represent significant tariff liberalization, but compared with other countries that have acceded to the World Trade Organization, the commitments of the Russian Federation are not unusual, especially when compared with the Transition countries. |
| Keywords: | International Trade and Trade Rules,Trade Policy,Free Trade,Export Competitiveness,Debt Markets |
| Date: | 2012–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6161&r=cis |
| By: | Pavel Trunin (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy); Natalia Luksha (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | This article deals with the Russia's 2011 monetary policy. The authors focus on the monetary market issues, inflationary development. They also point out to the main measures in the sphere of the monetary policy and the balance of paiments, and the RUR exchange rate. |
| Keywords: | monetary policy, money market, inflation, balance of payments, exchange rate |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:ppaper:10&r=cis |
| By: | Guido Friebel (Goethe University Frankfurt); Helena Schweiger (EBRD) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether management quality explains firm performance in Russia. We find that it explains relatively little in terms of firm performance, but it does explain some of the differences between firms in Russia’s Far East and the rest of Russia. While management practices may not yet affect firm performance in a measurable way, they may do so in the future. This conjecture motivates us to look at the determinants of firms’ adoption of good management practices. We find that market pressure, both in the product and the labour market, has some impact on adoption of management practices, in particular in the Far East. It thus appears that the economy in Russia’s Far East may function according to different rules than in the rest of Russia, as market forces seem to be stronger there because the Far East is more exposed to foreign competition than the rest of Russia. |
| Keywords: | transition, firm restructuring, open economies |
| JEL: | L2 M2 P2 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebd:wpaper:144&r=cis |
| By: | Garbuzova , Maria (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)); Madlener, Reinhard (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)) |
| Abstract: | The Russian Energy Service Company (ESCO) market emerges rapidly due to the new energy efficiency legislation that has been implemented since 2009. However, a clear identification of the Russian ESCOs, comparable to those operating in the Western markets, remains rather difficult. Hence, aside from the independent ESCOs identified, further energy service-providing companies were within the scope of this survey. This paper delivers, to the best of our knowledge, the first systematic empirical investigation of the Russian ESCO industry, taking into account experiences from the international ESCO markets. Building on the insights gained from reviewing the existing international and Russian academic and non-academic literature on the ESCO concept, an explorative, questionnaire-based survey among 161 Russian energy companies and organizations was conducted. Twenty eight usable responses were returned, corresponding to a response rate of 17%. Our findings show that the new energy efficiency legislation addresses and supports the state sector. There are almost no state measures supporting the commercial ESCO sector. Most of the projects are financed either through ESCOs’ own funds and direct loans to customers, or by the customers themselves. In contrast, Russian banks rarely provide direct loan financing for energy efficiency projects of ESCOs, but rather offer financial leasing contracts. The contractual form “guaranteed savings”, which is generally more applicable in mature ESCO markets, is gaining in importance, while “shared savings” is barely used. |
| Keywords: | Energy Efficiency; Financing; Energy Service Company; ESCO; Energy Performance Contracting; EPC; Energy Service Providing Company; ESPC |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2012_006&r=cis |
| By: | Ersado, Lire |
| Abstract: | Armenia meets about 75 percent of its energy needs through imports, with natural gas imports from Russia accounting for about 80 percent of total energy imports and 60 percent of total primary energy supply. Because of high dependence on imported energy, Armenia is vulnerable to external energy price shocks, which are often beyond the control of its policymakers. A most recent case in point was the 2010 Russian gas tariff increase, which led to a nearly 40 percent increase in the retail gas price for residential consumers. Coming on the heels of the global economic recession that hit Armenia's economy hard, the price hike amplified the impact on households that rely primarily on gas for heating and cooking. Using aggregate energy consumption data and a nationally representative household survey immediately before the crisis, this paper provides an overview of household energy consumption patterns, highlights Armenia's energy vulnerability, and estimates the direct poverty and distributional impacts of the increase in the cost of imported gas. The analysis shows that the gas price hike resulted in a significant increase in energy expenditures, with disproportionately higher impact on the poor and vulnerable households. The paper concludes with a discussion on the effectiveness of the mitigation measures employed by the Government of Armenia. |
| Keywords: | Energy Production and Transportation,Energy and Environment,Environment and Energy Efficiency,Transport and Environment,Water and Industry |
| Date: | 2012–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6150&r=cis |
| By: | De Rosa, Donato; Iootty, Mariana |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether natural resource dependence has a negative influence on various indicators of institutional quality when controlling for the potential effects of other geographic, economic and cultural initial conditions. Analysis of a panel of countries from 1996 to 2010 indicates that a high degree of resource dependence, measured as the share of mineral fuel exports in a country's total exports, is associated with worse government effectiveness, as well as with reduced levels of competition across the economy. Furthermore, estimation of long-run elasticities suggests that government effectiveness and the intensity of domestic competition decrease over time as the dependence on natural resources increases. An illustration of the Russian case shows that the negative effects accumulate in the long run, leading to a worse deterioration of government effectiveness in Russia than in Canada, a country with a comparable resource endowment but far better overall institutional quality. This result is corroborated by a significant negative correlation found between regional resource dependence and an indicator of regulatory capture in Russian regions, which indicates that the regulatory environment is more likely to be subverted in regions that are more dependent on extractive industries. Overall, the findings would be consistent with a situation in which a generally weak institutional environment would allow resource interests to wield the bidding power accruing from export revenues to subvert the content of laws and regulations, as well as their enforcement. The fact that this is associated with negative externalities for the rest of the economy, notably by undermining a level playing field across non-resource sectors, sheds light on a potential channel for the resource curse. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics&Policies,Governance Indicators,Economic Theory&Research,Emerging Markets,E-Business |
| Date: | 2012–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6151&r=cis |
| By: | Libman, Alexander; Kozlov, Vladimir; Schultz, André |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates the influence of outside options on the predatory behavior of autocrats. An outside option is referred to as the opportunity of an incumbent ruler to continue his career outside his current territory of control. The paper uses data on the effectiveness of tax collection and the repressiveness of tax jurisprudence for Russian regions in 2007-2009 and finds that regions ruled by governors with substantial outside options are characterized by more repressive behavior of tax authorities. However, surprisingly, the same tax authorities collect less additional revenues for the public budget. It conjectures that the presence of an outside option induces autocrats to behave like roving bandits they use tax audits to establish control over regional companies, but exploit this control to extract private rents rather than revenues for the regional budget used for public goods provision. -- |
| Keywords: | roving and stationary bandit,tax auditing,predatory government,Russian federalism |
| JEL: | D72 D73 H77 P26 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fsfmwp:190&r=cis |
| By: | Andreas Fuchs (Georg-August-University Göttingen); Axel Dreher (Heidelberg University); Peter Nunnenkamp (Kiel Institute for the World Economy) |
| Abstract: | What determines the foreign aid effort of donor countries? We review the existing literature on donors’ aid budgets and examine which of the suggested variables robustly determine aid effort, measured as Official Development Assistance (ODA) as a share of gross national income. More specifically, we empirically test 16 hypotheses using panel econometric methods for member countries of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in the 1976-2008 period. To test for the robustness of our results, we extend our dataset to 48 possible determinants of aid budgets and apply an Extreme Bounds Analysis (EBA). In our fixed effects regressions, we find that aid inertia, the donor country’s GDP per capita, the existence of an independent aid agency, and colonial history have a robust and quantitatively relevant impact on countries’ aid efforts. Among the potential substitutes for aid, remittances exert a robust effect. Excluding year fixed effects, political globalization, Russian military capacity, peer effects, aid effectiveness, and government debt also play a significant role. |
| Keywords: | Foreign aid; Official Development Assistance; Aid budget; Extreme Bounds Analysis |
| JEL: | F35 H81 H87 |
| Date: | 2012–08–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:gotcrc:121&r=cis |