CENTRALIZATION OF FISCAL FEDERALISM AND CONVERGENCE OF RUSSIAN REGIONS

R-Economy. 2025.

Васильев Д. К.

Currently, one of the most critical issues in public administration is the management of fiscal federalism for national development. Various academic studies have identified a contradiction regarding the effectiveness of different models of fiscal federalism. The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of the centralized fiscal federalism model, which has developed over the past two decades, on the convergence of Russian regions in terms of economic development. The study employs a quantitative experimental methodology based on secondary data, including panel data regression analysis and assessments of σ-convergence and β-convergence. The primary data sources are the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) and the Treasury of the Russian Federation, with the analysis covering the period from 2005 to 2023. The findings reveal that the centralized fiscal federalism model positively influences the convergence of Russian regions in economic development. It is confirmed that this convergence occurs primarily through the “catch-up growth” of lagging regions. The shift toward a centralized fiscal federalism model may be attributed to a combination of factors, including the significant impact of foreign policy circumstances, the need to strengthen control over the implementation of national priorities, and the objective of combating corrupt practices within the Russian political system. The need to introduce long-term rules for interbudgetary relations, increase the transparency of transfers linked to objective criteria, and develop a system of incentives for donor regions is emphasized.

Keywords: региональное развитие, regional development, бюджетный федерализм, fiscal federalism, фискальный федерализм, Fiscal decentralization, бюджетная децентрализация, Russian Federation in the 21st century, Российская Федерация 21-го века