Anti-Crisis Industrial Policy Of The Russian Regions During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This paper is aimed to systematize, classify and analyze the anti-crisis industrial policy measures taken by the regional governments of the subjects of the Russian Federation during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Classification is carried out according to the following criteria: aim, scale, duration and proactivity/reactivity specific measures. Based on the results of the work, 91 measures from 32 subjects of the Russian Federation were analyzed. The research sample includes 4 subjects from each of the 8 federal districts of Russia. The total predominance of reactive measures (82) over proactive measures (9) was revealed. Only 6 measures in 32 regions were long-term, most (52) medium-term, as well as 33 short-term. Due to the research results 14 measures were focused on maintaining demand, 77 – on maintaining employment. At the same time, the majority of measures aimed to maintain demand were minor-scale (11 out of 14) and short-term (12 out of 14). The article explains the popularity of certain measures. Thus, as the most popular measures of anti-crisis industrial policy can be called tax benefits and exemptions for tenants of regional and municipal property. A number of conclusions were drawn regarding the political aspect of budget federalism in Russia (the special role of inter-budget transfers in regional industrial policy is noted), as well as the need to actualize the issue of the planning time-frame of regional governments of the subjects of the Russian Federation, to study the correlation of effectiveness and proactivity/reactivity of anti-crisis industrial policy measures.