Сity budgets 1920–1930: analysis in the context of quantum history

The object of study is the structure and dynamics of urban budget in RSFSR in turbulent 1920-1930’s., when the Soviet system of administration and local-level budgeting was being institutionalized. City budgets have been subject to many changes. Despite the good historiographical coverage of the problem, quantitative methods are only beginning to be applied by researchers in this field. The work explores the potential of coefficient analysis as an integrated method for assessing the level of budgetary balance, independence and sustainability of the Soviet city (on the materials of Chelyabinsk). The method aims at aggregating disparate budget indicators and visualizing them as a certain set of graphs. The proposed sequence of actions consists of 8 steps: archival and source analysis of data; 2) definition of a set of coefficients; 3) conversion of coefficients to a comparable species; 4) calculation of composite indices; 5) Calculation of the Pearson correlation coefficients between individual and composite indices; 6) Determination of index weights; 7) Recalculation of composite indices to take into account the weighting factors; 8) Interpretation of the results. Coefficient analysis is an effective diagnostic tool. It is characterized by high sensitivity to the transformational impacts and shifts that have been experienced in urban budgets; it allows for an assessment of the scale of change and its implications. Thus, serious single or complex reforms in the 1920s-1930s led to disorientation and disorganization of city authorities, which was expressed in a noticeable decrease in the level of balance, independence and sustainability of the city budget within 1-2 years. The process of full or partial recovery took within 1-3 years. The most painful was the transformation shift 1930–1931, due to the transition to a planned economy and accelerated modernization.

soviet city budgets, coefficient analysis, indices, composite indices, weight factors, balance, independence, sustainability, transformational impact, Chelyabinsk