Competition of Tariff Regulation Models: Results of a Critical Analysis of the Draft Federal Law “On the Foundations of State Regulation of Prices (Tariffs)”

The key aspects of the draft federal law “On the fundamentals of state regulation of prices (tariffs)” submitted by FAS Russia to the Government of the Russian Federation on June 8, 2021 following the discussion of this draft law by the working group on the implemen- tation of the “regulatory guillotine” mechanism were considered.This draft law is an attempt to form the general part of the tariff legislation of the Russian Federation.The article also discusses an alternative model for regulating issues related to the setting of prices (tariffs) — the codification of tariff legislation, which would take into account both general and specific or industry-specific components of tariff regulation.As the most preferable solution to the problems considered in the article, the author proposes the simultaneous codification of competitive and tariff regulation, the result of which should be the simultaneous adoption of the Competition Code and the Tariff Code of the Russian Federation.

Methodology for the formulation of a set of measures for the development of rural areas

Relevance. The current state of rural areas is characterized by poor development of engineering and social infrastructure, low, compared to urban, standard of living, negative forms of migration, natural decline and depopulation of the rural population. Within the framework of state regulation of the process of overcoming the current situation, state support is provided for measures for the development of rural areas put forward on the basis of local initiatives (ofmunicipalities, citizens, professional communities). However, generally accepted scientific recommendations for the formulation of such measures are not currently developed, so the topic of the study is relevant.Methods. The research is based on systematic, dialectical, abstract-logical, and organizational approaches. The object of the study is rural territories, the subject is theoretical and methodological issues related to the formulation of measures for their development.Results. A methodological approach to the formulation of a set of measures for the development of rural areas, taking into account the opportunities provided by the current state programs, is proposed. It includes the following stages: analysis of the state of the rural territory; forecasting the directions and dynamics of its development; determination of objective needs and selection of the most appropriate changes in the properties of the rural territory; formulation of a set of measures and justification of mechanisms for their implementation. In the proposed methodological approach, the rural territory is considered not in isolation, but in a single system of settlement “city — village” based on the use of SWOT and PEST analysis. At the stage of forecasting the directions and dynamics of rural development, a comprehensive use of the normative resource method and the method of extrapolation of time series trends is proposed. The selection of the most appropriate changes in the properties of the rural territory is carried out on the basis of a multi-level approach that allows to identify the problems of rural settlements, individual social groups and rural residents. It is proposed to justify the mechanisms for implementing measures for the development of rural areas based on the resources of municipalities, rural population, private business and state support measures.

Determination of the potential capacity of the point of primary processing of livestock products (on the example of basin groups of the Arctic zone of Yakutia)

Relevance. Currently, there is a need to develop proposals for the creation of a vertically integrated system of procurement stations with modern slaughterhouses in the Arctic zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The methodology for determining the potential capacity of a primary processing point for animal products allows planning the rational placement of production facilities, their state regulation and financing.Methods. At the research we used such methods as monographic, economic and statistical, graphic, computational and constructive methods. The potential capacities are determined on the basis of the necessary equality between the monthly capacity according to the schedule of arrival of animals from agricultural producers and the monthly productivity of the point according to capacity.Results. The article provides a brief analysis of the development of agriculture in the Arctic regions, which are divided into the Anabarskaya, Prilenskaya, Yanskaya, Indigirskaya, Kolymskaya groups of uluses (districts) according to the basin principle of the main navigable rivers. The strategic directions of the development of branches of the agro-industrial complex in the north of Yakutia are considered. The methodology and results of calculating the potential capacity of primary processing points in each group of uluses based on the number of reindeer, horses and cattle (cattle) and seasonality of slaughter and daily capacity for initial planning are presented. According to the results of the study, it is proved that to ensure a relatively full load during the year (except for the summer period) the primary processing centers in the Arctic zone of RS (Ya) can be of small and medium capacity. The layout scheme of the centers for processing livestock products is proposed, taking into account the further optimal increase in performance with capacities: 25 heads per shift — in v. Saskylakh, Anabarsky ulus (district) and Deputatsky settlement, Ust-Yansky ulus; 10 heads per shift — in u.v. Tiksi, Bulunsky ulus and u.v. Chersky, Nizhnekolymsky ulus; 7 heads per shift — inv. Khonuu, Momsky ulus.

Pigouvian vs. Coasian approach: Ideas, values, perspectives

The paper reveals the characteristics of competing approaches — Pigouvian and Coasian — to identify the grounds for state regulation. We outline the connections between Pigouvian and Coasian approaches with the values and prospects for their advancement in the field of political decision-making in the context of demand for economic knowledge and the possibilities of organizing compensating transactions. These connections are considered in the light of the externalities problem as one of the manifestations of market failure, as well as different internalization options. We also clarify the provisions from the theory of externalities in terms of their definition, classification and correlation with the conditions for optimal allocation of resources. The key types of structural alternatives for correcting market flaws are considered, and the main properties of the Pigouvian and Coasian approaches in economics, as they relate to the problem of market and government flaws, are determined. This helps explain why the Coasian approach cannot be considered synonymous with liberal fundamentalism. Finally, we indicate the relationship between normative conclusions and prospects of functionalism and two types of fundamentalism in the field of political decision-making. Using the example of intertemporal externalities, the difference in the approaches of Coasianism and Pigouvianism to their internalization is demonstrated.

IMPLEMENTING BEST PRACTICES FOR IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN UNIVERSITIES

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES. Determining the direction of energy saving development is a significant aspect and is present in the policy of rational use of energy resources of leading countries, in most cases it affects the direct consumer and producer of energy, as well as administrative measures. Implementation of best practices of energy efficiency of all types of activities is a tool to improve energy autonomy of universities in Ukraine.METHODS. The study used: the predictive method – to determine the progress of implementation of EU Directive 2012/27/EC in Ukraine; method of comparative analysis – to determine the optimal mechanisms to promote energy efficiency in different countries and the possibility of implementing this experience to create a system of energy efficiency in Ukrainian universities.FINDINGS. Using and expanding the experience of participation in the project to provide energy efficient and comfortable conditions of study in Ukrainian universities together with the European Investment Bank and the Nordic Environment Corporation will allow to upgrade 200 teaching, research and support facilities in 21 universities to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce operating costs of public higher education institutions; quality of teaching, learning, teaching, research and residential buildings. Implementation of such experience will improve the energy efficiency of universities, optimize mechanisms for state regulation, control and stimulation of energy efficiency; solve problems and expand the power of executive authorities and local governments, energy autonomy of universities.CONCLUSION. The analysis of the successes and difficulties of higher professional education for people with disabilities shows that there is an objective need to consolidate the efforts of the higher education community with regional public organizations, executive authorities, regional and city institutions of health, education and social protection to support young people with disabilities.

Analysis of technological conditions for the formation and burnout of carcinogenic pahs in boiler flue gases

THE PURPOSE. The necessity of establishing emission standards for highly toxic substances with carcinogenic properties in the context of the implementation of new principles of state regulation of environmental protection activities at energy enterprises is substantiated and confirmed. The analysis of the features of the formation and burnout of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the flue gases of boilers during the combustion of coals in lowtemperature conditions of the furnace process is carried out. Based on the analysis, the total and partial indicators of the harmfulness of flue gases were calculated in order to assess and predict the overall toxicity of coal combustion products, taking into account the contribution of carcinogenic substances.METHODS. When calculating the overall toxicity of flue gases, a systematic analysis and generalization of experimental data on the content of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the combustion products of low-power boilers was applied.RESULTS. As a result of the performed study, the contribution of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons to the overall toxicity of boiler flue gases during the combustion of Azeysky, Mugunsky, Cheremkhovsky and Tugnuy coal was determined. It is shown that substances such as benz(a)pyrene, fluoranthene, pyrene and phenanthrene significantly affect the level of the total indicator of the harmfulness of combustion products from 38.8 to 53.6%.CONCLUSION. The obtained research results can be applied at energy enterprises at the stage of substantiating the introduction of regime-technological and environmental measures in order to develop measures to improve environmental efficiency through technological rationing of carcinogenic emissions.

DIRECTIONS OF STATE SUPPORT DIGITALIZATION OF AGRICULTURE OF RUSSIA

State support for the development of agriculture, like other subsidized industries, has a significant impact on the development of crop and livestock products, acting as a strategic bulwark of the country's food security. An increase in the volume of state support for agriculture is possible with the dynamic activity of all sectors of agriculture, the main task of which is to increase economic efficiency through the transition to innovative production principles. State support for the technical re-equipment of agribusiness is the basis of agricultural production, which has a decisive impact on the transition to digital solutions for the entire agrarian industry in the future. In this regard, the goal was set to analyze the effectiveness of the implementation of digital technologies using the example of typical agricultural enterprises of the Republic of Tatarstan located in different climatic zones of the Volga region, confirming an average decrease in the production cost of 1 centner of grain crops by 13%, payment labor on average by 14.5%, which makes it necessary to allocate financial support to agrarians as an effective mechanism for increasing the efficiency of agribusiness based on funds from the federal and regional budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and from extra-budgetary sources. Revealing the mechanism of state regulation in the form of tax, control and inspection, as well as the mechanism of state support and legal regulation, a mechanism of state support for the digitalization process is proposed in the form of subsidizing the costs of purchasing digital products, as one of the effective mechanisms, contributing to the acceleration of the transition of agribusiness to the digital economy. This mechanism will allow agrarians, at the first stage of the digitalization process of agricultural production, to acquire primary digital equipment in the form of trackers and sensors capable of receiving, sending, generating and processing data, which will subsequently lead to the need for the acquisition of interfaces capable of providing unhindered exchange of data between machines and business partners, and later portals in the form of ecosystems

Conflicted Reproductive Governance: The Co-existence of Rights-Based Approaches and Coercion in India’s Family Planning Policies

India’s current population policy is situated between two conflicting discourses of population management, one that is governed by a demographic rationale advocating strict State regulation of fertility, and the other that is delineated by a rights-based framework that promotes individual reproductive choice and bodily autonomy. In this chapter, I show how this conflicted policy discourse becomes supportive of processes that empower the State, rather than facilitate reproductive autonomy among claimants on the ground. The chapter draws on textual analysis of policy and programme documents and discussions with health providers, users and policy makers during long-term fieldwork in the state of Rajasthan. I show that, in their role in promoting regional state directives on reproductive health policies, health workers are at once agents and subjects of State policy processes and of their community’s ideologies, preferences and practices related to childbirth and reproductive care. It is in their work and embodied practice of family planning that we most clearly evidence the implications of ‘conflicted reproductive governance’. When health workers struggle for their own remuneration and recognition, the State’s rights-based health policy objectives will remain unreachable.

MINIPLIER AND ACCUMULATING USELESSNESS AS NEW REALITY OF TOURISM ECONOMY UNDER PANDEMIC

Stemming from the statistical data on tourism trends during 2018-2020 and author’s own methodology of calculating the efficient tourist multiplier, to determine regularities and factors behind the reaction of the leading world economies to the critical fall in tourist services production under the coronavirus pandemic conditions. The research study is based on the statistical analysis of tourists’ spending impacts on the dynamics of nominal GDP in 48 countries of the world and also on the author’s own approach to determining the efficient tourist multiplier (miniplier in this case) as well as on the hypothesis about the accumulating uselessness of tourist services production. We have detected regularities in the dynamics of tourist multiplier as well as in restructuring of tourist services production in the leading economies of the world under the conditions when the tourist market environment was critically worsening. In the research the trends of tourist multiplier for 2018-2020 were determined and also recommendations on modernization of the state regulation system as well as on corporate strategizing were offered, taking into account the author’s methodology of measuring the tourism efficiency multiplier (miniplier) and accumulating uselessness of tourist services production under crisis.