Search

This article examines the impact of central government transfers and other sources of regional budget revenues (income tax and property tax) on per capita GRP growth in Russian regions. Analysis is based on official data of 78 regions for the period 2005-2014. The results indicate that transfers, while intending to be an instrument of regional incomes equalization, are negatively associated with economic growth of Russian regions, which contrasts with other estimates of federal transfers’ impact on regional economic growth in Russia. This phenomenon can be explained by high rate of social expenditures in regional governments’ spending. At the same time there is positive relationship between regional budget’s investment and economic growth that indicates significant role of public goods for regional economic development. This study can be considered as confirmation of those conclusions concerning impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth of Russian regions which claim that current system of intergovernmental relations on sub-national level cannot embody the benefits of fiscal federalism as a principle of effective regional development. Significant factors of regional per capita GRP growth are own sources of region’s budget revenues which reflect costs of doing business. So the rise in property taxes retards economic growth in a region. For the regional authorities it makes sense to operate more flexibly with this tool, especially in periods of economic recession when inflow of corporate income tax to budget tends to decrease

Is a well developed financial system a necessary condition for economic growth at the subnational level in terms of reducing technological and institutional barriers to capital movements and growing financial markets integration? Or is it sufficient for economic agents to have access to financial services provided by residents of other regions and countries? The authors attempt to answer these questions, using the approach of R. Rajan and L. Zingales and data on manufacturing industries of the Russian regions in 2004-2012. The results suggest that the development level of local financial intermediaries had no statistically significant impact on growth of manufacturing industries in the regions of Russia. The study can be interesting for a general discussion of the relationship between the degree of financial system development and economic dynamics; the role of financial sector in transition economies and emerging markets, i.e. countries, which are characterized by high information asymmetry, weak institutions of property rights protection and high risks, including political ones