Understanding Russia

Understanding Russia PDF

Author: Marlene Laruelle

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-08-16

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 1538114879

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This timely book provides a balanced and comprehensive overview of the geographical, historical, political, cultural, and geostrategic factors that drive Russia today. Russia has long inspired fear in the West, but as the authors argue, Russia is fearful as well. Three decades after the transformations launched by perestroika, multiple ghosts haunt both Russian elites and ordinary citizens, ranging from concerns about territorial challenges, societal transformations, and economic decline to worries about the country’s vulnerability to external intervention. Faced with a West that emerged victorious from the Cold War, a shockingly dynamic China, and former Soviet republics claiming their right to emancipate themselves from Moscow’s stranglehold, Russia is constantly questioning its identity, its development path, and its role on the international scene. The country hesitates between two strategies: take refuge in a new isolation and revive the old notion of being a “besieged fortress,” or replay the messianic myth of a Third Rome, the last bastion of Christian values in the face of a decadent West. Explaining Russia’s perspective, Marlene Laruelle and Jean Radvanyi offers a much-needed analysis that will help readers understand how the country deals with its domestic issues and how these influence Russian foreign policy.

Regional Development in Russia

Regional Development in Russia PDF

Author: Hans Westlund

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13:

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Reporting the findings of a joint Swedish-Russian research project, economists overview Russia's regional development during the entire Soviet period, and analyze the array of regional problems facing Russia at the birth of the 21st century. For the Soviet period they reveal that the development of heavy industry actually reduced regional inequalities, but that disparities widened as the economy diversified, and that the science of regional planning never achieved practical application during a regime of central planning. Among the important factors contributing to cohesion and disintegration in Russia today, they cite ethnicity, religion, and Russian nationalism. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Regional Economic Development in Russia

Regional Economic Development in Russia PDF

Author: Niyaz Kamilevich Gabdrakhmanov

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-03-17

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 3030398595

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This book gathers selected papers presented at the International Scientific Conference “Economics in the Changing World,” held on June 26-27, 2018 at the Institute of Management, Economics and Finance of Kazan Federal University (Kazan, Russia). The conference featured contributions by leading specialists in the field of management, territorial development, and state, regional and municipal management, covering the modern trends in the development of economic complexes and firms, economics of innovative processes, social policy, financial analysis, and mathematical methods in economic research. The book highlights new approaches for the development of various sectors of the Russian economy and individual markets, as well as for the efficiency of entrepreneurship in general. It also analyzes the concept, meaning and directions of the socio-economic development of the regional subjects in the Russian Federation. The scientific studies included make a significant contribution to the development of entrepreneurship, regional management, rationalization and optimization of resource use, state territorial administration, and sustainable economic growth in the regions and the transport infrastructure.

The Transformation of the Regional Fiscal System in Russia

The Transformation of the Regional Fiscal System in Russia PDF

Author: Lev Freinkman

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13:

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The paper looks at the transformation of intergovernment fiscal relations from the point of view of a regional administration in Russia. It also describes changes in local fiscal management. The Yaroslavl region faces a set of budgetary problems typical for Russian regions in the transition, ranging from budget preparation and managements, scale of extrabudgetary financing and expenditure verification. The paper shows what the actual priorities of regional government policy are, how these priorities are determined and through which channels and mechanisms they are implemented. Between 1990 and 1993, the manner in which the oblast's budget was prepared, approved, and implemented changed considerably, as did the relationship between the oblast and the federal authorities. However, many vestiges of the former system remain. The central government still exerts control over some aspects of the regional budgets, and oblast, city and rayon budgets are not fully separated. But decentralization is proceeding at a brisk pace, faster than the federal authorities can codify the rules for the game. The resulting uncertainty sets the stage for bargaining with the central government and rent-seeking behavior on the part of the region. The allocation of expenditures between federal and regional governments continues to be a very murky process, particularly with respect to the so-called 'national economy' expenditure terms, which include expenditures on industry, agriculture, transport, and other infrastructure. The shift in expenditure responsibility in the social areas, however, has been consistent almost all such responsibilities have been devolved down to the regions, cities and rayons.

Challenges for Russian Economic Reform

Challenges for Russian Economic Reform PDF

Author: Alan Smith

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2010-12-01

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 0815714270

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The transition to a market economy proves to be far more difficult in Russia than in the former centrally planned economies of eastern Europe. The Russian economy continues to face serious problems, including substantial inflationary pressures, falling output, and capital flight. The most positive aspect of the transition has been the relatively fast pace of privatization. Challenges for Russian Economic Reform contains papers published by the post-Soviet Business Forum at the Royal Institute of International Affairs that have been revised for this volume. The contributers, specalists in Russian economic affairs, examine the principal economic and institutional factors that have hindered transformation in Russia. The sheer size of the country has complicated the problem of exposing domestic producers to foreign competition and has weakened the ability of central authorities to control the regions. Economic stabilization has been hampered by the difficulties in establishing sound economic relations with the former Soviet republics. David Dyker and Michael Barrow analyze the problems of monopoly and competition policy in Russia. Philip Hanson assesses the obstacles to economic stabilization posed by regional economic interests and examines regional diversity in reform implementation. Michael Kaser examines the problems of privatization by regions and sectors in Russia and the CIS and the institutional obstacles encountered by foreign investors. Alan Smith explores the problems created by the breakup of traditional trade and payment relations with the non-Russian republics of the former Soviet Union and bilateral trade links with Eastern Europe. He also provides an overall assessment of Russian economic performance since the collapse of communism.