Article
Оценка социальной ставки дисконтирования методом социальной альтернативной стоимости капитала
The paper continues our previous article «Social Discount Rate for Russia: methodology, appraisal, regional differences» published in 2012 in this journal (№ 3 (58)). The present paper describes situations where a social opportunity cost of capital approach should be used for evaluation of a social discount rate. We consider international practice in applying this approach, regard methodology and make calculations for Russia. It is revealed that the approach is relevant when a social problem can be solved in both the public sector and the private sector. It is also helpful for evaluation of budget performance. The necessity of taking into account particular sectoral features of public investments is substantiated. The results of calculations and differences found are explained.
This article provides estimates of a social discount rate (SDR) to inform government policy in Russia. We find that a SDR should be determined for the whole country as well as for particular regions. We apply the social rate of time preferences approach and estimate values for public sector projects at national and regional levels. All calculations are based on data from the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia. Findings help the decision-making process in the public sector of economics. Suggestions are useful for Russia as well as for post-Soviet countries and other developing economies with regional diversity.
Nowadays performance estimation in the public sector of economics is a problem of high importance for Russia since the public sector is rapidly developing. In Russian statutory acts methodologies of performance estimation are allocated but there are no recommendations concerning a (social) discount rate for comparison of costs and social benefits of public sector projects. Nevertheless the use of a social discount rate in decision-making process can help to calculate the net present value of public sector projects properly and to avoid taking nonviable investment initiatives. The paper proposes methodology of social discount rate evaluation taking into account a regional aspect. We modify existing approaches and determine the limits of solutions offered. All calculations are based on the data of Federal State Statistics Service of Russia.
Public sector project management in Russia is inefficiently carried out. One reason for this is an absence of generally accepted procedures for evaluating the performance of projects. In the framework of evaluating performance, there is the issue of evaluating the rate for discounting the anticipated benefits and costs of public projects to the present moment. This paper contains a methodology for estimating the social discount rate for cost–benefit analysis in various economic industries in Russia. We apply two approaches – social rate of time preferences and social opportunity cost of capital – and propose a methodology for projects related to any industry. We present examples of estimating the social discount rate for healthcare, education, social services, and infrastructure projects. Our results are useful when both the government and private firms are able to solve the same social problems. The findings are applicable for any country with unequal development of various economic industries.
In this paper the authors explain the necessity of social discount rate for appraisal for the public sector investment projects. Methods for social discount rate evaluation that have been developed by the present moment are considered. A methodology and relevant calculations of social rate of time preferences for Russia are presented. It is substantiated that social discount rate should be evaluated not only for the country as a whole but also for the particular regions. The results of calculations for all the Russian regions are described, and regional differences explained.
The paper examines the structure, governance, and balance sheets of state-controlled banks in Russia, which accounted for over 55 percent of the total assets in the country's banking system in early 2012. The author offers a credible estimate of the size of the country's state banking sector by including banks that are indirectly owned by public organizations. Contrary to some predictions based on the theoretical literature on economic transition, he explains the relatively high profitability and efficiency of Russian state-controlled banks by pointing to their competitive position in such functions as acquisition and disposal of assets on behalf of the government. Also suggested in the paper is a different way of looking at market concentration in Russia (by consolidating the market shares of core state-controlled banks), which produces a picture of a more concentrated market than officially reported. Lastly, one of the author's interesting conclusions is that China provides a better benchmark than the formerly centrally planned economies of Central and Eastern Europe by which to assess the viability of state ownership of banks in Russia and to evaluate the country's banking sector.
The paper examines the principles for the supervision of financial conglomerates proposed by BCBS in the consultative document published in December 2011. Moreover, the article proposes a number of suggestions worked out by the authors within the HSE research team.