DIFFERENCES IN PUBLIC FUNDING EXPENDITURES BETWEEN NORTHERN  AND NON-NORTHERN RUSSIAN REGIONS

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Evgeny N. Timushev1, 2

1Center for Regional Policy, Institute of Applied Economic Research, RANEPA, Moscow, Russia,  timushev-en@ranepa.ru, ORCID 0000-0002-5220-3841

2Institute of Socio-Economic and Energy Problems of the North, Komi Science Center, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar, Russia

Abstract. This paper investigates how regional government programs supporting the real sector of the economy differ between Russia’s northern regions and other parts of the country. The study is motivated by the critical role of fiscal policy in maintaining the stability of regional economic structures and promoting socio-economic development. The study makes a novel contribution through: (1) the collection, systematization, and analysis of expenditure data from regional government programs; (2) the development of an original classification of public funding expenditures based on official functional categories; and (3) the application of formal statistical tools to assess differences in expenditures. The findings indicate that Russian regions vary in both the structure of government programs and the scale of their funding. However, the level of interregional differentiation in expenditures supporting the real sector is relatively small. This suggests that regional fiscal capacity and the sectoral structure of the economy do not substantially affect the share of budget funds allocated to the real sector through government programs. The analysis further shows that overall budget support for the real sector in northern regions is statistically similar to that in other regions. Nevertheless, in certain sectors—particularly housing and utilities, as well as information and communication technologies—budget expenditures through government programs are significantly higher in the North. The theoretical significance of this study lies in advancing knowledge of the sources and magnitude of differentiation in regional budget expenditures under conditions of pronounced interregional disparities and diverse sectoral and spatial characteristics. Its practical significance stems from clarifying the role of fiscal capacity and economic structure in shaping regional budget expenditure patterns. Future research will focus on identifying long-term trends in the number and composition of government programs across Russian regions, exploring their similarities and differences, and highlighting distinctive features of budgetary support for the real sector.

Keywords: budget expenditures, government program, productive expenditures, real sector, fiscal capacity, northern regions

Acknowledgments: This paper was prepared based on the results of state-funded research conducted at RANEPA in 2025.

For citation: Timushev E. N. Differences in public funding expenditures between northern and non-northern Russian regions. Sever i rynok: formirovanie ekonomicheskogo poryadka [The North and the Market: Forming the Economic Order], 2025,  no. 4, pp. 91–103. doi:10.37614/2220-802X.4.2025.90.006.

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