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There are growing concerns about income inequality and health, while little is known about the relationship between income inequality and nutritional outcomes, especially in a transition economy like China. To fill this gap, the aim of this study is to explore the effect of income inequality on the nutritional outcomes of Chinese farmers, including body mass index (BMI), underweight, overweight and obesity statuses. Methodologically this study relies on the theoretical propositions of both income hypothesis and agricultural economics. Specifically, this study compares the literature examining income inequality, then analyses the possible effects of income inequality on the nutritional outcomes of Chinese farmers, and finally tests the results of the analysis using econometric models. Using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) from 2015, we found that the relationship between income and BMI shifted from positive to negative with rapid growth in per capita household incomes and that higher income inequality can significantly increase the risk of being overweight or obese among low-income groups. In particular, the effect of income inequality on overweight and obesity is higher for males, while its effect tends to be negligible for females. The findings in this study are proved to be robust. Therefore, several policy implications for meeting the challenges concerning income inequality and improving nutritional outcomes for Chinese farmers are also discussed.

This study examines the contribution of human capital accumulation to regional economic growth using panel data for 82 subjects of the Russian Federation over 2002–2019. This paper aims to test the hypothesis that in the long-run equilibrium there exists a connection between economic growth and human capital accumulation in the regions of Russia. From the point of view of econometrics, it would mean that we should refute the hypothesis that there is no cointegration of time series describing the aforementioned variables. General theoretical framework was drawn from the neoclassical growth theory, and panel data econometrics suggested the appropriate empirical methodology. Pooled mean group and fully modified least squares estimators were applied to an autoregressive distributed lags model based on the Solow model. The results indicate that accumulation of human capital has a positive and statistically significant long-term impact on the rate of growth of per capita income and that these variables are cointegrated. Such calculations allow us to make the following conclusions: per capita GRP is cointegrated with physical and human capital on the regional level. The cointegrating equation ‘explained’ more than 90% of per capita GRP variance. Human capital accumulation had a significant positive impact on per capita GRP growth in the long run; such impact exceeded the impact of physical capital accumulation. The positive impact of human capital accumulation on per capita GRP growth surpassed the negative elasticity of growth GRP by the amount of resource excluded from the real sector to provide support to students and maintain the regional education system. The paces at which regional economies were heading towards the steady state differed which is an evidence that there exist an incredible manifold of ways and means for regions to adjust to disbalancies

The authors investigate the prospects for the spatial development of modern Russia highlighting the supporting regions considered in the budgetary aspect. The relevance of the study is due to the insufficient evidence for the effectiveness of the current policy of “equalization”, as well as the need for breakthrough growth of the Russian economy within the framework of national development goals. The present paper aims to identify one of the key elements of the supporting framework of the spatial organization of Russia in terms of the level of fiscal capacity. The research methodology is based on the use of complex, statistical and comparative analyses. The authors used official data of Rosstat on the population, tax and non-tax revenues, gratuitous receipts in 2010 and 2019 by regions of Russia. The authors highlight the key aspects of the spatial development of the Russian economy in the regional context: human capital development, economic development, the functioning of spatial structures of various types, fiscal capacity, environmental component, location of information and communication infrastructure, and geopolitical position. The influence of the fiscal capacity parameter on the sustainable socio-economic development of the region is justified. The fiscal capacity index of the constituent entities of Russia is analyzed at the end of 2010 and 2019, the main trends are identified. The study presents a cartographic visualization of the Russian regions by per capita fiscal capacity for tax and non-tax revenues of the consolidated budgets in 2019. The authors carried out a comparative analysis of the revenues of consolidated regional budgets on the macro-regional level, as a result of which the leading regions were identified and their budget parameters described.The present paper outlines one of the key elements of the supporting framework of Russian spatial organization from the point of view of fiscal capacity and identifies potential regions supporting spatial development in the context of macro-regions. The authors conclude that the supporting framework of the spatial organization of Russia, formed by the level of fiscal capacity, characterizes the financial potential of the territories, which can contribute to the development of interregional cooperation, including through the use of mechanisms for ensuring “horizontal” inter-budgetary transfers and budget loans. The prospect for further research on this topic consists in assessing and shaping other elements of the spatial development of Russia and identifying, by uniting them, supporting regions that can stimulate the development of not only the semi-periphery and periphery of their macro-regions but also of the entire country.

The purpose of the study. It is known that the further development of the Russian regions requires significant investment in all areas of activity. Therefore, the problem of assessing the existing indicators of investment activity, characteristic of each of the regions, is put forward as an urgent one. At the same time, given the wide variety of Russian regions, a comparative analysis of absolute investment volumes is not appropriate. In this regard, we suggest using a comparison of specific indicators for the analysis. The purpose of our study is to assess the levels of specific investment in capital asset per capita in all regions of our country.Materials and methods. The study used the methodological approach proposed by the author, based on the consideration of specific indicators describing investment activity in the regions of Russia. The study included four stages. As initial information, we considered the official statistics provided on the ROSSTAT website, which characterize investments in the regions, as well as the number of their population in 2019. The study conducted a cluster analysis, as well as economic and mathematical modeling of the distribution of the considered indicators by the regions of the country.Results. The cluster analysis allowed us to identify five clusters that unite the regions of Russia with similar values of specific investments per inhabitant of the corresponding region. The first cluster includes four regions, the second cluster - five regions, the third cluster - thirteen regions, the fourth cluster - twenty-six regions and the fifth cluster - thirty-four regions. The cluster analysis showed that in nine regions in 2019, there was a high level of investment, due to the tasks of their strategic development to solve federal problems. For 73 regions there were relatively low values of specific investment, the distribution of empirical data was modeled using the normal distribution function.Conclusion. The scientific novelty of the study is related to the cluster analysis and the study of the distribution of specific investments by region. Regions with high and low values of specific investments in capital asset were identified. It is proved that the values of specific investments have a significant differentiation across the regions of the country. The results of our work have a certain theoretical and practical significance for the government, regional and local authorities. The methodological approach to assessing the level of investment presented in the article can be used in further research.

Differentiation in the level of socio-economic development of territories is largely manifested in both inter-regional and intra-regional differences in personal income and consumption of goods. In this regard the methods of hierarchical analysis (HLM, Hierarchical Linear Modeling) that make it possible to study variation at several levels taking into account both municipal and regional factors are acquiring special relevance. Along with hierarchical effects, neighborhood effects can be distinguished. This is possible due to the imposition of a spatial adjacency matrix on the data observing spatial interactions within the spatial-hierarchical models (HSAM, Hierarchical Spatial Autoregressive Modeling). The aim of the study is to better understand the relationship between consumption and personal income within a hierarchically structured and spatially oriented economic system. The analysis uses the data from 2319 municipalities (i.e. municipal districts or rayons) and urban districts (okrugs) in 84 constituent entities of the Russian Federation for 2018. It showed that 38.4% of the variation among municipalities in terms of sold foods volume is explained by regional factors. The developed hierarchical (two-level) model revealed the positive impact of the volume of social benefits and taxable personal income in the municipality, and the volume of per capita retail trade at the level of the Russian Federation constituent entities, on the volume of foods sold within municipalities, and substantiate the negative impact of the Gini index increase, as well as highlight the positive spatial effect

Researchers in many countries are looking for effective ways to organize payment for primary health care and conclude that the method of per capita financing of clinics with fund-holding has both positive and negative aspects, which necessitates their obligatory consideration when deciding on the use of this payment method. The article, based on an analysis of the experience of foreign countries, shows that equal access to primary health care is ensured through the expansion of coverage of the population by services and regulation of the distribution of funds for health services. To improve the efficiency of the health system certain mechanisms of fine-tuning the existing methods of planning, organization and payment of health care, aimed at the end results of activities, are needed. Exploring the historical and international aspects of primary health care will result in more efficient implementation of the tasks of modernizing the primary health care level of the Russian Federation, approved by the Russian Government’s Resolution as of 09.10.2019 No. 1304, as well as of the activities within of the federal project “Development of the Primary Health Care System” being a part of the national health project “Health” developed in compliance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 7, 2018 No. 204 “On the national goals and strategic objectives of the development of the Russian Federation until 2024”. The purpose of the study is to analyze the ways to pay for medical care in foreign countries and compare it with the Russian experience of per capita payment on the principles of fund-holding. Methods of bibliographic and information search of sources in databases.

Purpose of the study. The relevance of studying the issues of assessing the volume of shipped products is due to at least two reasons. On the one hand, its role as a resultant indicator of the activity of territorial systems, on the other, its primary nature in relation to the subsequent stages of distribution and consumption. The increase in production is directly related to domestic consumption and the possibilities of promoting manufactured goods to foreign markets, which is characterized by the volume of retail and wholesale trade. The need to search for opportunities for growth in production determines the need to expand the existing ideas about these connections, including the effects of time and space. In the context of the economic space network development, the changes cannot be ignored in production and trade processes in some territories in isolation from the processes taking place in other territories. At the same time, it is obvious that any current state is a consequence of the position achieved by the considered territory in the past. The purpose of the study is to assess the spatial dependence of the volume of the shipped products in dynamics in relation to the indicators of wholesale and retail trade. Materials and methods. The paper evaluates spatial autocorrelation using univariate and bivariate Moran's indexes – indicators, characterizing production, distribution and exchange of goods. Based on the selected spatial dependencies, three models were consistently built on the panel data from 2010-2019 for 85 regions of the Russian Federation: pooled model, panel-based spatial lag model; model with a spatially weighted factor variable. The calculations were performed using the GeoDA program. Results. The results showed that spatial effects should be taken into account in the study of the volume of products shipped. The value of the global Moran's index shows a high direct connection between the regions of the Russian Federation in terms of the volume of shipped products (0.29-0.39), with a weak connection for the wholesale trade turnover (0.06-0.18). In turn, the bivariate Moran's index showed that the volume of shipped products has a spatial relationship with the turnover of wholesale trade in neighboring regions of the Russian Federation. Domestic final consumption, characterized by per capita retail trade turnover, also has a positive effect on the volume of products shipped per capita. The constructed models showed that the volume of shipped products is positively affected by an increase in wholesale trade in the region and in neighboring territories, retail trade in the region and the development of production in neighboring territories. Conclusion. The article discusses a model that allows linking the development of the production of goods with the state of the channels of their promotion both inside the territory and outside it. At the same time, the use of panel data in the calculations helps to obtain reliable and meaningful estimates in the models. Within the framework of the proposed models, it was possible to identify the connection between production and wholesale trade, which was not previously determined on cross-sectional data. The results obtained make it possible to improve the quality of decisions made in matters of the territorial organization of economic activity in the regions, contributing to the development of production that depends on the possibilities of promoting manufactured goods through the wholesale and retail network.

Introduction. Exogenous, in particular, environmental factors are among the most significant factors affecting the course of a number of dermatoses. A study of the effect of chemical use in agriculture on dermatological morbidity was conducted.Objective. To assess the features of dermatological morbidity in rural areas, depending on the load of mineral fertilizers per hectare of arable land and per capita.Materials and methods. The object of the study was persons aged 18 to 68 years living in two rural areas of the Tashkent region: Chinaz district - cotton sowing; Bostanlyk district - horticultural. Our research was used materials of statistical reporting on the volume of mineral fertilizers used, conducted screening testing, clinical examination and history taking.Results. The incidence of dermatological diseases was 2,5 times higher in the cotton growing area compared with the horticultural region (94,1 versus 38,2, p < 0,001). A comparative analysis of clinical manifestations in persons with dermatological diseases of two rural areas showed a higher degree of activity of the skin pathological process in the cotton growing area especially among people with diffuse and complicated variants of atopic dermatitis.Conclusion. Allergic diseases predominate in the structure of skin pathology in the examined areas of the Tashkent region. In a cotton-growing area, the manifestations of allergic dermatitis are characterized by a more severe course and frequent relapses. The results of the study show that both the dermatological service and the agricultural chemical management system of the Republic need to apply best practices to improve quality and to ameliorate problems.

Currently, the issues of studying the polarity and polarization of the economic space are relevant, as there is an increase in inter-territorial imbalances in the development of territorial entities. The goal is to study the polarity and leveling of polarization according to the main indicators: gross output per capita and industrial production per capita in municipalities (MO) and urban districts (GO) of the Republic of Bashkortostan (RB). The object of research is the economic space of Belarus. The subject of research is the essence of polarity, polarization and leveling of polarization of territorial entities. Methodological tools are based on the dialectical method of cognition. Economic analysis used statistical methods. The methodology for calculating the polarity and polarization is described, the indicators of polarity, polarization and leveling of polarization are found by the main indicators of the republic: gross output per capita and industrial production per capita, cartographic profiles of the polarization of the Republic of Belarus are constructed by these indicators, the groups of MO and GO by polarity are compared and polarization for the same indicators. Polarity shows the direction of economic relations, is determined in statics, polarization characterizes the process of economic relations. The composition of the groups of municipalities and municipalities of the Republic of Belarus in terms of polarity in terms of gross output per capita and industrial products per capita is identical, which is evidence that industrial production makes a great contribution to the gross product of the republic. The highest polarity is demonstrated by the indicator "industrial production per capita." The composition of MO and GO in polarization groups by gross output per capita and industry per capita is different, development occurs at different rates. Polarization leveling occurs in industrial production per worker employed in the industry and in the production of innovative goods.

This article focuses on the analysis of the impact of socio-economic development indicators of Altai region and Oyrot autonomous region on the eve of the Great Purge (1935 — first half of 1937) on the regional intensity of repression. Employing statistical methods (regression analysis), the author verifies the hypothesis that in the areas with the highest level of well-being of the population, the level of repression was also higher. It is established that the turnover and expenditures per capita compared with other economic indicators had the greatest influence on repression levels in Altai and Oyrotia regions. Based on the results of the analysis of regional statistics, the author of the article puts forward a theory that the thesis proclaimed by the Bolsheviks to justify the failure of economic development by the actions of the “enemies” in practice seems untenable, since economically lagging regions were characterised by a relatively low level of repression. In the second part of the article, the author presents a typology of districts of Altai and Oyrotia regions based on the results of cluster analysis of various groups of socio-economic development indicators. Additionally, she substantiates the hypothesis about the influence of the spatial factor on the intensity of repression: the groups of regions of each individual cluster consist mainly of adjacent regions., Статья посвящена анализу влияния социально-экономических показателей развития районов Алтая и Ойротской автономной области накануне Большого террора (1935 — первая половина 1937 г.) на порайонную интенсивность репрессий. При помощи статистических методов (регрессионного анализа) проверяется гипотеза о том, что в районах с наибольшим уровнем благосостояния населения был выше и уровень репрессий. Установлено, что товарооборот и удельные расходы бюджета по сравнению с другими экономическими показателями в наибольшей степени влияли на уровень репрессий в районах Алтая и Ойротии. На основе результатов анализа региональной статистики делается вывод о том, что провозглашаемый большевиками тезис об оправдании неудач экономического развития действиями «врагов» на практике выглядит несостоятельным, так как отстававшие в экономическом отношении районы характеризовались относительно невысоким уровнем репрессий. Во второй части статьи приводится типология районов Алтая и Ойротии, основанная на результатах кластерного анализа различных групп экономических и сельскохозяйственных показателей развития районов: развитые в сельскохозяйственном отношении районы предгорной полосы Алтая; центральная полоса с железнодорожным сообщением; районы запада Алтая с высоким товарооборотом на душу населения; районы с центром в городах; «национальные» районы, где на репрессии оказывал влияние комплекс экономических и политических причин. В каждой группе выделяются определенные экономические факторы, оказывающие наибольшее влияние на уровень репрессий в них. Подтверждается выдвинутая гипотеза о влиянии пространственного фактора на интенсивность репрессий: группы районов каждого отдельного кластера в основном состоят из смежных районов.

The subject of the research is the reserves intended for stabilization of the Russian pension system that could be activated to ensure Russia’s entry into the five largest economies of the world.The purpose of the research was to assess the uncommitted reserves of the Russian pension system stabilization taking into account the fact that an increase in the burden on one worker exhausts the already committed functional resources of the pension system. The May presidential address to the Federal Assembly in 2018 outlined the main goals: Russia’s entry into the five largest economies of the world and an increase in the GDP per capita. The increase in the welfare of the population is, notably, the most important internal source of the country’s economic development. Moreover, the Russian President particularly stressed the need to improve the quality of life of the older generation, since an increase in the burden on one employed worker exhausts the existing functional resources of the pension system. Therefore, the government sent a bill to the State Duma on changes in the pension system by raising the retirement age. The following arguments were voiced in favor of the adoption of the bill: the increase in life expectancy in Russia and the threat of insufficient amount of incoming per-worker contributions to finance current pensioners. In view of the above, the paper examines currently uncommitted reserves that might be involved for improving the sustainability of the pension system and demonstrates the economic effect from the implementation of these measures.

The subject of the research is the population decline and, as a result, a drop in the labor potential in the Far East. The relevance of the problems under study is due, firstly, to the low population density in this area, secondly, negative values of the natural movement of the population, thirdly, migration of working-age people to other regions, fourthly, relatively low indicators of standards and quality of life of citizens living in the Far East. Together, the negative factors identified in the area carry a geopolitical threat and impede the desired strategic socio-economic development of Russia. The purpose of the paper was to reveal the factors contributing to the growth of the labor potential in the Far Eastern Federal District based on an analysis of ongoing processes and existing regularities of critical interrelationships. The study is based on the analysis of changes in the population of the Far East regions, migration growth/decline indicators, life expectancy factors in the gender context, trends in loss/growth of budget incomes per capita as well as the per capita cash income. An integrated approach to increasing the labor potential of the population in the regions of the Far Eastern Federal District is proposed based on the analysis of the interrelationships of demographic, cultural, economic and social processes taking into account the concepts of self-protective behavior, human capital, and social clusterism. It is concluded that this approach can be used by government agencies in the implementation of the plan of the long-term socio-economic development of the Far East.

The object of this article is to build forecasts of the development of Kazan, Naberezhnye Chelny and Almetyevsk agglomerations, located in the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan. The agglomerations’ formation has firmly taken place as one of the main strategic goals of our country’s development over the past few years. According to forecasts, almost 80% of GDP growth until 2020 will be provided by agglomerations. In this regard, it is especially important to study the existing agglomerations from the position of the achieved and future level of development. The results of the analysis of these agglomerations’ state over the past decade have presented in the article, on the basis of which the forecasts of the development of these agglomerations in the medium term until 2020 were calculated. The research methodology is the least squares method and the moving average method, comparing the results of which allowed us to make more adequate forecasts. When using each of the methods, also there was carried out the analysis of the forecast’ average relative error. A comparative analysis of the situation and agglomerations’ forecasts showed that Kazan agglomeration can be considered the most developed, because most of the estimated indicators show growth. Naberezhnye Chelny and Almetyevsk agglomerations lag behind Kazan agglomeration especially in demographic indicators. In general, all three studied agglomerations in the formation of their development plans should focus their attention primarily on level of migration, the volume of investment in fixed capital per capita, GDP per capita factors. The conducted analysis allowed to identify the main trends in the development of each agglomeration, as well as to formulate recommendations for the management of these agglomerations development.

The authors of the article present modern approaches to the assessment of the value of human life abroad and in contemporary Russia, which can be used to determine the fair amount of compensation payments to victims in emergency situations of various natures. To this end, a wide range of initial data was used: the results of Russian and international sociological surveys, statistics of Rosstat, the World Bank, and other international databases. The analysis of the legislation carried out by the authors showed that the value of human life in Russia fixed in the normative acts is from 0.5 to 9.2 million roubles. The authors obtained estimates of material losses for the national economy due to the premature death of the average person as a result of emergency situations and for the individual household — they amount to 31.7 and 7.9–10.5 million roubles respectively (in 2017 prices). The authors also provided estimates of the value of the life of the average person in Russia, obtained on the basis of sociological surveys conducted in 2017. The average value of human life in Russia, obtained by methods of sociology, is 5.2 million roubles; the median value is 1.4 million roubles. The article presents the author’s method of assessing the value of human life, taking into account the material and moral damage caused to the family of the deceased, built on the balance of average life expectancy, per capita final consumption, and satisfaction of the population of different countries with their lives. As an equivalent of people’s satisfaction with their lives, the authors also used data on the level of domestic violence in society and the balance of migration flows, both at the national and regional levels. Within the framework of this method, the value of the life of the average person is the average increase in the level of individual consumption, necessary to restore a normal level of satisfaction with their lives in conditions of increased mortality and reduction of the average life expectancy. The article presents also the author’s calculations performed by this method for different groups of countries. It is shown that the total value of human life in the world as a whole is 4.6–4.7 million uS dollars in 2011 prices. In the group of countries with per capita consumption of more than 10 thousand uS dollars the value of human life reaches 18.5 million dollars per year. In the group of countries with incomes below this mark, the value of human life reaches 0.5–1.9 million dollars. According to the authors, in Russia, the “value” of human life should be 51–61 million roubles in the prices of 2017 (about 1 million uS dollars depending on the official exchange rate). The results of the study of the quantitative assessment of the value of human life in Russia are correlated with the conclusions about the social need for just compensation of the damage suffered by the families of the victims of natural, man-made and other emergencies.

Food security assumes a state of the economy and the agroindustrial complex, in which, regardless of the influence of various internal and external factors, the population's requirements for food in full compliance with consumption norms are fully met. After all, the level and quality of nutrition in many ways determine the life expectancy of the population and the health of the nation. To assess the state of food security, we suggest using the following indicators: self-sufficiency in food. The level of the region's self-sufficiency for certain types of products has been analyzed, the level of which is determined for certain types of agricultural products as the ratio of production in the region to its internal consumption. Data on the resources and use of milk and dairy products are considered. Data on food resources and their use in the territory of the Voronezh region were studied. The criterion for assessing the level of food security is the economic accessibility of food, depending on the level of prices and real income of the population. The last criterion is food safety. Raising the level and quality of life of the rural population, stable domestic production of agricultural products and food, preserving natural resources for agricultural production form the basis of food security. It is established that the protection of vital interests of Russian consumers does not fully meet the necessary requirements. In terms of self-sufficiency in food, the Voronezh Region has indicators that are above the thresholds set by the Doctrine of Food Security of the Russian Federation. The actual consumption of food per capita does not fully correspond to rational norms. For certain groups of products, there is both a lack of its consumption and an overabundance.

The article attempts to estimate the impact of economic factors on the employment rate in the informal sector among Russian federal subjects based on the dynamic model. To make calculations the authors used panel data on federal subjects. All subjects were divided into 3 groups based on the rate of employment in the informal sector in 2015: first group (19 subjects) – regions with minimal employment rate, second (39) – average employment rate, third (19) – maximal employment rate. The authors used the following factors for assessment: demand factors – income level in the region, vacancies; supply factors – unemployment or characteristic of employment; institutional factor – level of taxation. Based on the calculations the authors make following conclusions. The most impactful factors are demand-based. The negative connection between GRP per capita and the informal sector is statistically confirmed. The increase in supply of work positions in the formal sector decreases the rate of employment in the informal sector, which is especially important for the third group of regions with the maximal level of informal employment that have ‘compelled entrepreneurship’. The article also statistically confirms the high inertia of rate of the employed in the informal sector

The article presents the analysis of the security of the food market during the period 2010-2015, with an account of modern conditions of economy of the Russian Federation. The volume of production (manufacturing) of major food products in Russia in the period 2010-2015 indicate the increase in domestic production of food products such as meat products, fish and fish products, frozen fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy products. Key categories of micro-economic analysis is supply and demand in selected markets. On the basis of information about the diets of the population per capita in the region and Russia as a whole, revealed that the consumption of meat and meat products, eggs complies with the standards. The problem of formation of demand for food products is relevant due to the fact that consumption and demand for food in large parts of the population formed at an insufficient level due to low incomes. In examining the share of imported products in the food market of the Russian Federation, it was identified that there is a dependency on the following inventory: beef (import share of 57.3%), animal oil (34.4 per cent) and cheese (37.3 per cent). In the conditions of modern development of the economy another important factor is the state support of import substitution advocating a kind of incentive for the development and protection of own food production. Assessment of the dynamics of foreign trade turnover of trade in the region helps to identify trends in the development of relations in the region. The analysis of the index of foreign trade of the Urals Federal district in the period 2012-2016 has undergone minor changes, this fact is due to the introduction of foreign sanctions. Import substitution is one of the main factors contributing to implement large-scale and deep modernization of the domestic agricultural sector, causing the use of leading technology.

The article presents the criteria and indicators that characterize the country's food security. The foreign experience in the regulation of food security is considered, the use of which in the Republic of Kazakhstan will create conditions for the sustainable development of production, increasing the competitiveness of domestic products, and the formation of an efficiently functioning food market. At the initial stage, the evaluation criteria were the per capita incomes of the population and the carryover stocks of food grains (first at the level of 20% and then 16% of the total annual consumption), now the evaluation criteria are expanding and becoming more complex. The criteria for food security include: the sustainability of the development of the agro-industrial complex (APC), fisheries and forestry, which increases the production of food to increase inventories and in the event of food aid to other countries that have suffered natural disasters or wars; A high level of scientific achievements, increasing technical and technological equipment, improving the gene pool of livestock and crop production; Environmental and nature conservation policies and practices that ensure the conservation and improvement of soil fertility, yield, etc. When establishing the criteria for national food security, it is necessary to take into account that they should characterize the level of satisfaction of the population’s food needs, as well as the degree of sustainability of the country’s food supply. The economic basis of national security in the food sector is the provision of basic food for the population of the country. This means that if an uninterrupted supply of basic foodstuffs is sufficient for medical purposes, the country’s food security can be considered guaranteed.

The article discusses the relationship of strategic management objectives in the general secondary education with the methods and forms of its achievements. As the strategic objective of secondary education serves the reorganization and optimization of compulsory secondary education and increase the possibility of non-formal education received by students outside of school. We consider some examples to support a specified purpose and expressing its specific advantages and disadvantages. Three main types of learning processes. The first – an arbitrary, non-structured learning process through which a person throughout his life acquires most of the knowledge and skills. The second – an informal (or non-formal) education. The third – the formal (school) education. It is shown that the trajectory changes in the content of the formal secondary education in Russian. The basic methods of strategic management of secondary education: funding and administration. The main forms of financing of secondary education on an example of the Voronezh area: financial services strategy; strategy to reduce the share of inefficient charges; Roadmap strategy. The directions of improving the financing of public services of general secondary education: optimizing the distribution of students in educational institutions; optimization of wages of teachers, depending on the population density in classrooms; optimization roadmap in education; Optimization of interaction of educational institutions with municipal and public services; optimization of per capita funding by region. The basic form of the administration of secondary education: a strategy of introduction of new federal education standards, the strategy of horizontal integration secondary educational institutions; management strategy through the levels of hierarchy; distance learning strategy. The possibilities of improving the administration of the main forms of secondary education on an example of the Voronezh region and other regions of Russia.

The article is devoted to pre-crisis situation (2014 – 2016) analysis of ethnic relations in Russia and European countries with considering studying ethnic tension by domestic experience. Ethnic tension is considering as a social psychological characteristic reflect the imbalance in social relations, resulting from the escalating conflict between ethnic groups. The empirical foundation of study is the ESS database. Indicators of ethnic tension, such as relations to relocation of immigrants into the country of the respondent, the assessment of changes that bring immigrants are analyzed. Detaching the analogues to those indicators in the ESS allowed to construct an index of ethnic tension and to compare it’s values in the European countries. The countries with the lowest (Scandinavia) and the highest level of ethnic tensions (Cyprus, Russia, Czech Republic, Portugal, Hungary) are revealed. Most ethnic tensions observed in younger and older age groups, as well as in the group of women, and among respondents with low education and low income, living in villages. In the context of the main causes of ethnic tensions (cultural characteristics of ethnic groups interacting), highlighted the factors that consistently influence on ethnic tensions, such as the size of GDP per capita, the proportion of migrants in total population, the number of migrants who arrived in the last 5 years, trust the people, occupation.

The addiction of Russians to alcoholic beverages is known throughout the world. However this addiction is a consequence of a habit, whereas first steps of getting acquainted with alcohol usually have quite plausible excuse, which appears in fact to be myths. The article reveals seven myths about vodka which are popular in Russian society. The results of public opinion polls that show the degree of the population commitment to these myths with a difference of ten years, 2003–2004 — 2014 (the respondents taken as example are residents of the city of Voronezh). Voronezh is a typical large Russian city, so the changes in public opinion of Voronezh citizens reflect nationwide changes. The author shows that the decline in the consumption of vodka in Russia in recent years is connected with discrediting of the existing myths about the benefits of vodka in certain circumstances. Russia has taken measures aimed at reducing alcohol consumption per capita. In recent years these measures in conjunction with the changes in economic and cultural life of Russians have been successful. Manufacturers of alcohol facing falling profitability and fighting for survival have reduced the retail price of vodka in order to struggle against illegal substitutes, including moonshine. But the moonshine depending on the technology of its preparation can be either dangerous to health or relatively harmless spirits. Ambiguous attitude to the moonshine is confirmed by the results of opinion polls. The author proves that the sharp rise in demand for moonshine in recent years is not only due to its low cost, but also because of the low quality of alcohol products on store shelves.

The aim of this paper is to describe the experience of careeroriented activities carried out with students of schools in developed and developing countries. Career Guidance in Russia, despite the vast experience of its implementation, is experiencing serious difficulties. In this regard, it is important to take into account the international experience career-oriented activities, such as in the developed countries of North America and the European Union as well as in several Asian countries with rapidly growing economies and a large demographic potential, taking into account the best variants for the Russian education system. Methods . The experience of career-oriented work undertaken with pupils of the USA, Canada, Israel, France, UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Japan, Singapore, China and India is shown on the basis of the comparative analysis of different publications and information sources. The author has made an attempt to generalize the principles of psycho-pedagogical and administrative assistance in professional self-determination of senior pupils abroad. Scientific novelty . The approaches to career-oriented activities in countries with different levels of economic development are compared for the first time. Some principles are revealed. Firstly, the higher the income level per capita in the country, the greater attention is given to vocational guidance. The politics in the developed countries is based on interests of the individual: children’s acquaintance with the world of professions begins already at younger school and the moment of definitive selfdetermination is postponed till the end of their senior stage of education; the possibility of direction change of professional preparation in case of detection of discrepancy of qualities of the pupil to originally selected profile is provided. Career-oriented activity in developing countries, on the contrary, is rigidly coordinated to requirements of economy and a labour market; earlier fixing of professional preferences and less flexible relation to an unsuccessful choice of a speciality or profession of the youth is marked there. The most typical characteristics of foreign career-oriented schemes are the following: the organisation of continuous training lasting throughout all school; supervision over students’ achievements, propensities and hobbies; portfolio or cumulative files drafting and recording data of all pupil’s results while professional consulting and selection of entrants for vocational training continuation in colleges or high schools. The author points out the general characteristic: the economy requirement for high quality experts on the basis of selection of the pupils who are able to master high-end technologies and have an obvious potential of professional growth and personal development. Practical significance . The research materials and implementations can be useful to Russian career-and professional specialists, and the experts who are engaged in education management.

Summary of variable descriptive statistics by clusters Variable Cluster N Mean Minimum Maximum Zscore: Development Index Environmental Quality (2010) 1 1 –0.59 –0.59 –0.59Zscore: Productivity (2010) 1 1 0.67 0.67 0.67Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 1 (2010) 1 1 –1.01 –1.01 –1.01Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 4 (2010) 1 1 2.83 2.83 2.83Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 5 (2010) 1 1 –0.09 –0.09 –0.09Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 6 (2010) 1 1 0.20 0.20 0.20Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 7 (2010) 1 1 4.32 4.32 4.32Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 8 (2010) 1 1 0.80 0.80 0.80Zscore: Purchasing Power per capita (2011) 1 1 0.69 0.69 0.69Zscore: Development Index Competitiveness (2010) 1 1 0.60 0.60 0.60Zscore: Development Index Environmental Quality (2010) 2 14 –0.03 –1.09 1.54Zscore: Productivity (2010) 2 14 0.19 –0.44 1.62Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 1 (2010) 2 14 –0.43 –0.98 0.31Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 4 (2010) 2 14 0.24 –0.70 1.66Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 5 (2010) 2 14 –0.11 –0.46 0.45Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 6 (2010) 2 14 –0.06 –0.56 0.49Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 7 (2010) 2 14 –0.06 –0.62 0.76Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 8 (2010) 2 14 –0.03 –0.55 0.60Zscore: Purchasing Power per capita (2011) 2 14 –0.02 –0.57 0.53Zscore: Development Index Competitiveness (2010) 2 14 0.12 –0.95 1.26Zscore: Development Index Environmental Quality (2010) 3 10 0.75 –0.35 1.99Zscore: Productivity (2010) 3 10 –0.96 –1.25 –0.72Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 1 (2010) 3 10 1.13 –0.62 1.90Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 4 (2010) 3 10 –1.01 –1.43 –0.62Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 5 (2010) 3 10 –0.54 –0.73 –0.30Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 6 (2010) 3 10 –0.55 –0.85 –0.19Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 7 (2010) 3 10 –0.66 –0.97 –0.01Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 8 (2010) 3 10 –0.74 –0.96 –0.52Zscore: Purchasing Power per capita (2011) 3 10 –0.82 –1.43 0.04Zscore: Development Index Competitiveness (2010) 3 10 –0.82 –1.87 –0.11Zscore: Development Index Environmental Quality (2010) 4 2 –1.48 –1.65 –1.32Zscore: Productivity (2010) 4 2 0.72 0.72 0.72Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 1 (2010) 4 2 –1.25 –1.27 –1.22Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 4 (2010) 4 2 1.10 0.88 1.31Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 5 (2010) 4 2 1.17 0.68 1.67Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 6 (2010) 4 2 0.93 –0.01 1.86Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 7 (2010) 4 2 0.89 0.82 0.95Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 8 (2010) 4 2 1.62 0.87 2.37Zscore: Purchasing Power per capita (2011) 4 2 1.31 0.98 1.65Zscore: Development Index Competitiveness (2010) 4 2 1.04 0.67 1.40Zscore: Development Index Environmental Quality (2010) 5 2 –1.84 –1.92 –1.76Zscore: Productivity (2010) 5 2 1.63 0.27 2.99Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 1 (2010) 5 2 –0.17 –0.23 –0.10Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 4 (2010) 5 2 0.37 0.04 0.70Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 5 (2010) 5 2 0.11 –0.52 0.74Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 6 (2010) 5 2 –0.08 –0.22 0.06Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 7 (2010) 5 2 0.02 –0.29 0.34Zscore: Location Quotient Employment Sector 8 (2010) 5 2 –0.03 –0.24 0.17Zscore: Purchasing Power per capita (2011) 5 2 0.76 0.44 1.09

This article covers the way oil export incomes influence economic development and inequality of income distribution. Possible types of inequality related to structural changes in the economies of oil-producing countries are identified. Dependency of different economies on oil and gas export has been analyzed based on the indicators suggested. A breakdown of oil-producing countries into four groups has been provided on the basis of average per capita incomes and volumes of oil extraction per capita. Peculiarities of resource-dependency of three major post-Soviet oil and gas exporters — Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan — have been analyzed. It has been demonstrated that dependency on resources modifies the structure of these countries’ economies, which leads to income inequality based on employment via a mechanism of labor compensation changes in different sectors of the economy. Oil-producing countries need the system policy on the effective use of income from the sale of energy to improve living standards and address emerging socio-economic challenges.