Technology for Developing Efficient Pay Systems That Are Adequate to the Reality

The article emphasizes the relevance of the development of wage systems that are adequate for the current reality. Conceptual approaches to strengthening the stimulating and regulating functions of wages are justified. The original technology of development of effective wage systems is proposed, based on the use as incentive wage differentiators of estimated indicators of labor quality of employees (level of competitiveness) and personnel (level of loyalty); accordingly, as regulatory (margin) differentiators - employment ranks determined by the preference of employment forms and work regimes. Algorithms for designing and adjusting the integral wage differentiation grid are presented and illustrated on conditional examples. The methodology of justification of employment ranks of groups of workers based on development and comparative analysis of workograms is proposed. The potential practical demand for the proposed technology, revealed in the process of personnel monitoring of heads of industrial enterprises of the Altai Territory, was emphasized.

Opportunities and Threats of Digitalisation for Human Capital Development at the Individual and Regional Levels

In the context of digital transformation of the economy, human capital development depends on differences in earnings. Previous studies examined the relationship between wage differentiation and employee competencies without considering the regional digitalisation. The present research tests a hypothesis of the dependence of wage differentiation on individual digital competencies, likelihood of job computerisation and digital development of a region. Linear regression method based on Mincer equations was utilised. The empirical basis comprises data from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey — Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE) and statistics of the Federal State Statistics Service on the digitalisation of Russian regions in the period from 2003 to 2018. Development opportunities and threats have been conceptually identified in terms of substitution and supplementation of labour, distribution of entrepreneurial risks, the use of digital competencies and the influence of regional digitalisation on differences in individual earnings. The revealed professional polarisation of the Russian labour market due to digitalisation creates unequal opportunities for income growth and professional development in the mid-term. In contrast to previous studies, this research analysed how the likelihood of computerisation affects wages, showing that while, in general, digitalisation creates an advantage for human capital, an increase in computerisation reduces earnings by almost a quarter. High level of digitalisation of certain regions supports human capital, yielding a wage increase of 5–10 % on average. The study results can be practically applied to support strategic decisions for the development of digitalisation at the local and regional levels. Moreover, the necessity to monitor professions under the threat of digital automation in regions is shown.

Wages of employees as one of the indicators for assessing the effectiveness of local government bodies

In modern conditions, research related to the assessment of the effectiveness of local self-government bodies is very relevant. The demand for monitoring and analysis of efficiency of activity of local governments is the possibility to determine the correctness and effectiveness of chosen activities. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the methodology, namely in the use of an interdisciplinary approach to this problem, based on the use of a set of economic, sociological and statistical techniques and methods. The article reveals the role and significance of the average monthly accrued salary of employees (one of the main indicators of the standard of living of the population at the municipal level) from the position of an indicator for evaluating the effectiveness of local self-government bodies in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The author presents an analysis of the trend, level and degree of wage differentiation in various areas. In the study using correlation analysis identified a medium link between satisfaction with public activities of the head of the municipality and the level of wage workers (according to the municipal statistics). The author suggests ways to improve the existing methodology for assessing the effectiveness of local self-government bodies. The author comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to include in the system of indicators for assessing the effectiveness of local self-government performance criteria for wage differentiation (the scope of variation, the coefficient of funds of the coefficient of variation). It is also necessary to clarify the methodology for assessing the effectiveness of local self-government bodies in terms of the criteria for satisfaction of the population with the activities of the head of the municipality, mainly in relation to indicators of the level and quality of life of its population.

Tools to Ensure the Affordability of Food in the Context of New Challenges

The presented study examines the essence, specific features of calculation, and trends in the dynamics of food affordability, as well as the development of tools to increase real disposable household income as a crucial factor for the formation of domestic demand for food under modern conditions.Aim. The study aims to systematize theoretical approaches and analyze the institutional aspects of ensuring the affordability of food to substantiate promising directions for improving the national income and tax policy that would facilitate an increase in the aggregate demand for food.Tasks. The author examines the adjustment of the essence of the concept of “affordability” of food in the new edition of the Food Security Doctrine as a reflection of new global challenges and internal risks; assesses the current state of affordability of staple foods among the population in general and in the context of specific income groups, the dynamics of real disposable household income, and changes in the structure of effective demand; substantiates recommendations for the development of the institutional component of real income regulation and taxation of individuals.Methods. This study uses comparison, systems analysis, systematization of information, and the monographic method.Results. The ratio of actual consumption of staple foods, rational consumption rates for Russian households in general and in the context of specific income groups are analyzed. Food products that are currently not affordable are identified. Structural changes in the consumer demand of low-income groups are determined. The parameters of inter-industry, intra-industry, and regional wage differentiation that have a negative impact on the quality of life and affordability of food are analyzed. The conducted study shows that there is currently a high tax burden on individuals in Russia, composed of direct and indirect taxes.Conclusions. The author substantiates the advisability of including a decrease in real household income and the ensuing insufficiently high aggregate domestic demand for food in the list of economic risks provided by the Food Security Doctrine; shows that adhering to the monetarist model of economic development leads to a low inflation rate but does not create conditions for accelerated economic growth and exacerbates the problems of poverty and socio-economic differentiation; proves that under modern conditions it is advisable to improve the national income policy by increasing the real disposable income of the most deprived part of the population and developing small forms of agribusiness and food trade to expand the competitive environment of the food market. The author emphasizes the importance of improving the institutional aspects of regulating various types of wage differentiation and concludes that there are objective prerequisites for the transition to progressive taxation and introduction of a non-taxable part of income at a subsistence level for the most deprived segments of the population.

DIFFERENTIATION OF WAGES IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: TERRITORIAL FEATURES

The article presents an analysis of the differentiation of wages from the position of identifying the influence of the territorial factor. The study of territorial wages remains relevant for the Russian Federation; features of the regions, the development of certain types of activities in combination with regional features continue to affect differences in earnings. The purpose of the article is to identify the territorial features of wage differentiation. Aggregated data of official statistics and microdata of the Selective observation of population incomes and participation in social programs were used as an information base. The analysis of the data of regional statistics of wages, leaders and outsiders, the level of variation in wages within the federal districts. Due to regional price differences, the analysis takes into account differences in changes in prices and the purchasing power of wages. The emphasis is placed on the possibilities of using Mincer type wage models for individual regions and their comparative analysis based on empirical data. Regression models for leader entities and outsider entities, federal districts and the Russian Federation as a whole have been constructed. Based on the results of the analysis, conclusions are drawn about the sustainability of territorial wage differentiation in Russia. The main differences are manifested in the maximum values of the average wage by subjects, while the minimum values are almost at the same level. When purchasing power is taken into account with the help of a fixed set of consumer goods and services, differences in the remuneration of subjects of leadership and subjects of outsiders are reduced from four to three times. Simulation of the logarithm of wages for all federal districts and the Russian Federation as a whole confirmed a statistically significant influence on factors such as age, level of education, gender of a worker, type of settlement, and membership in a particular socio-professional group. A noticeable reduction in the return on education in federal districts with a low level of average wages was revealed; in such conditions, the employee’s membership in the group of managers becomes the dominant earnings. Attention is focused on increasing cash incomes of the population and wages in regions with special living conditions as a factor in overcoming the outflow of the population from Siberia and the Far East. Further areas of the study of territorial wage differentiation can be expanded by using panel data for each region in the analysis in order to study the dependencies in space and time.

“Cost of getting older”: Wages of older age workers

The article focuses on the wage formation of workers in the pre-retirement and retirement age in Russia. For this, the authors analyze age-wage profile and wage differentiation within and between age groups. The study exploits the Sample Survey of Household Incomes and Participation in Social Programs for 2016 which has a large sample and covers all groups of employed in the economy . It measures wages payed during the year 2015, thus allowing estimates for annual as well as hourly wages. Multiple previous studies across developed countries come to the consensus that wages tend to grow over age until late in life, though with decreasing pace. However, this pattern does not show up in Russian data. Earnings peak early in working life and then decline monotonically. By their pre-retirement age, Russian workers find themselves on the declining wage trend. Though this deviation from stylized facts has already been noted in the literature, we explore it using the new and more comprehensive dataset. In addition, our analysis deals with annual earnings as well as hourly wage rates, and it explores trends in hours worked over age. The findings suggest that wage differentiation tends to be higher among older age workers reflecting stronger selection into employment with age. Given the forecast of changes in the age composition of employment by 2025—2030 and assuming the stability of the age-wage profile, we can expect non-trivial reallocation of the aggregate wage fund to the benefit of the middle age group of workers while the old age group is likely be unaffected.

Statistical analysis of gender pay gap in modern-day Russia

Purpose of the study. The study of gender disparity remains relevant for all countries, including the Russian Federation. The study of disparity in quantitative terms: the income distribution, in which the main source – wages, is of particular importance. In the analysis of the gender pay gap, the main factors are such characteristics as the level of education, work status, district, age and the period of the employee’s service. The purpose of this article is a statistical assessment of gender differentiation of wages in Russia based on empirical data and aggregated data from the Federal State Statistics Service. Particular attention is paid to the econometric approach to gender differences in wages. Materials and methods. As the main sources of information were data from the Federal State Statistics Service. In addition as the empirical base of the study, the data from the 27th wave of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) – Higher School of Economics were used. The study is based on a modified Mincer`s type equation. Models of the logarithm of wages for all employees, as well as separately for men and women, were developed. To clarify the range of factors, affecting wage differences, models were developed with either the age of the employees or the period of their service. In addition, the factor “socio-professional group” was included, due to the presence of marked gender differentiation among occupational groups. On the base of the constructed models, the gender difference in wages was decomposed. Results. The results allowed quantifying the impact of gender on wages, as well as assessing the impact of various factors separately for male and female. It was found a stronger influence of education on the women wages, which indicates, on the one hand, the intellectual advantages of women, and on the other hand, indicates the difficulty of obtaining decent earnings for women with low education. The factor of residence is more affected for men. Decomposition of gender difference in wages allowed us to establish the continued existence of gender inequality in the Russian Federation, ceteris paribus. Conclusion. The study of gender wage differentiation remains an important element in the analysis of both wage differentiation in general and gender disparity. The results of the analysis confirmed the persistence of gender differentiation wages in Russia at present. In the future, it is necessary to expand the analysis of gender differentiation of wages with the following characteristics: additional education, health, marital status, differences in the education of husband and wife, and the presence of preschool children.

Wage differentiation in the context of labor incentives

Distribution of wages in Russia is characterized by high differentiation, measured in funds wage ratio, as well as by its insufficiently intensive reduction, despite the permanent increase in the minimum wage. This growth is one of the main factors reducing the funds ratio. The article considers whether these processes are combined with labor incentives that depend on how wages relate to the qualifications of labor. Qualification characteristics of labor can be determined by occupational groups, which are ranked by the qualifications of workers performing work of varying complexity. On the basis of official statistics, the average wages in professional groups and the coefficients of their differentiation in these groups are calculated. The obtained coefficients are close to the coefficients, which, within the framework of the Federal and sectoral social partnership, are recommended to enterprises as standards that are adequate to labor incentives. It follows from this that labor incentives are mainly realized. At the same time, these coefficients in many industries deviate from the standards, and therefore, there is a violation of labor incentives. It is established that these deviations are caused by the following main factors: shortage of personnel in industries and professional groups, as well as sectoral segmentation of the labor market into the primary and secondary markets. The interaction of these factors leads to the fact that the primary labor market in industries with the production of a monopoly type supports a high differentiation of earnings in favor of highly skilled workers. And in the secondary labor market, under the impact of growth of the minimum wage, wage differentiation among low-skilled personnel is compressed. Therefore, the ratio of funds decreases, but remains quite high.