Vol 30, No 6 (2019)

Large-scale transformation processes in the territory of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF), which the authors identify as Arctic “redevelopment,” are analyzed. These processes combine the use of the huge “Soviet legacy” and the creation of principally new economic, social, and infrastructural facilities. It is proved that redevelopment is the main content of transformation processes in the entire Russian territory and that the AZRF can serve as their most adequate pattern at the level of the country, as well as its regions and municipalities. The genesis and essence of Arctic problems are shown to systemically depend on the realities of transformation processes under way in the entire country due to the policies and reforms of recent decades. It is substantiated that the success of Arctic redevelopment will decisively depend on the early revision of the basic provisions of the current nationwide industrial, energy, transport, demographic, ethnic, educational, and personnel policies. The concept of a macroregion as a target object of state control, formed to implement specific state interests, is used to prove the advisability of detaching the AZRF as an independent object of state policy. Paradoxes of the demographic situation in the AZRF are considered, and directions for organizing Arctic health care are justified in terms of (a) the specifics of urbanized and rural territories in the western and eastern (Transural) parts of the AZRF and (b) the specific needs for medical services among miners, metallurgists, military personnel, sailors, rotational employees, and representatives of indigenous ethnic minorities of the North. Specific interrelations between the state and large corporations in the Arctic, including those aimed at mitigating climate risks during development, are revealed, and the state regulations concerning greenhouse gas emissions, proposed by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, are assessed critically in this respect. In conclusion, the consistency of recent changes in managing AZRF development by a special federal body for Arctic affairs is substantiated.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the dynamics of the private sector’s debt stock in the context of interest rate changes and to assess the corresponding changes in macro-financial parameters. The private sector is structured into two groups—nonfinancial corporations (business) and households (population), for each of which, along with the changes in interest rates, other factors of debt behavior are analyzed. The study includes Russia, the United States, France, Germany, and Finland¹. The values ​​of an actual credit rate are calculated, its dynamics are compared with the dynamics of the statistical indicators of the average credit rate. When analyzing the dynamics of credit debt, the changes in a nominal volume of debt and a volume of payments for debt servicing are taken into account, and the net increase (decrease) in the debt stock is calculated.

The article discusses the effects of resource wealth on the economic development of individual countries. It describes modern behavioural strategies used by mining companies, including those taken in response to the emergence of new technologies. It contains an analysis of the main lines of development in the natural resources sector under current conditions. It also discusses opportunities for collaboration between companies operating in the natural resources sectors of Russia and the UK, focusing on those based on digitalization as well as the use of technological and financial innovations.

The article examines the ways to subsidize domestic manufacturing industries. In modern conditions of an open market economy, a return to the redistribution of natural rent on the basis of the transformation of existing manufacturing industries into vertically integrated intersectoral corporations is proposed.

The second part of the article (see the beginning in No. 5, 2019) presents the scenarios of forecast calculations for formulating guidelines for social policies to ensure the recovery of the growth of the Russian economy. A comparative analysis is given of measures to stimulate the economy and the underlying theoretical structures used in Europe, the United States, and China.

The article substantiates the growing destructive impact of imbalance in the level and disproportions of development between social and economic functions of cities in economic growth in modern-day Russia. It presents a set of tools for functional typologies of cities based on identity of levels of social and economic functions in cities, which is different from the existing pool of instruments available for regional research. The typology of cities is built based on experimental calculations of integral indices of social and economic functions of cities. The study substantiates a need to monitor balance between social and economic functions of cities for practical application in day-to-day city management and strategic planning.

The article examines the factors determining the transport accessibility of territories, as well as provides a brief overview of possible approaches to the calculation of the complex indicator of transport accessibility and the method of its calculation. Using this methodology, a quantitative assessment of the transport accessibility of the regions of the Russian Federation is obtained.

The article analyzes and comments on the results of the recent survey of Russian enterprises in the real sector conducted by the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It reports the quality ratings that the enterprises have assigned to Federal and regional authorities for their economic policies. The survey embraces data on the current investment activity of the enterprises, their short-term investment intentions, and sources of financing; opinions on the quality of Russian-made machinery and equipment; and forecasting horizons for sales of their products. The article reviews activity of the enterprises with respect to certification for conformity with the international quality standards.

The article discusses the problems and methods of overcoming the financial debt of local authorities in China. Difficulties of their solution are noted, due mainly to the inconsistency of short-term bank loans with the long-term needs of the implementation of local infrastructure projects. The measures taken by the country’s leadership to alleviate the burden on regional budgets were analyzed: providing the opportunity to convert part of short-term debts into long-term debts by issuing special bonds of local governments and reallocation of part of the special expenses of the local budget to the central budget.