Dobrolyubova Yelena

Submitting statistical, tax, accounting, and other reports to state authorities is an essential component of the administrative costs of Russian business. The article analyzes Russian and foreign approaches to evaluating the level of reporting burden and its optimization algorithms. The study shows that the «opportunity cost» approach related to the potential costs of not reporting information in determining the level of reporting burden is incorrect. Based on an analysis of the limitations of the standard cost model, the authors propose to consider the advantages (the use of reporting data) in the optimization of reporting. The article presents suggestions for implementing the «reporting guillotine» based on the development of unified methodological approaches to evaluating the reporting burden, a complete accounting of reporting forms and indicators, as well as the amendment of the regulatory legal framework. According to the «reporting guillotine,» we could implement a transition to automated data exchange concerning the information, the collection and processing of which is not considered redundant. Organizing such an automated exchange via modern digital technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), allows businesses to minimize the administrative costs of providing information to government agencies.

The article presents the author’s approach to evaluating the quality (validity, efficiency, and effectiveness) of state control and regulation from the perspective of citizens and private business, based on the results of sociological research conducted by RANEPA in 2017-2021. According to citizens, along with some positive trends (the decrease in the frequency of informal payments during inspections and the business costs for interaction with state supervision authorities), the level of security for legally protected values remains low, and the impact of state control and supervisory activities to minimize risks is quite limited. According to the private business assessment, the overall regulatory burden related to the implementation of mandatory legal requirements is not decreasing. In addition, there are no positive trends in the evaluation of adequacy of the established mandatory requirements to the risks of harm in the relevant areas of regulation, as well as the practical implementation of legal provisions. In the current situation, the validity, effectiveness, and efficiency of state control and regulation need to be further improved. The results of the study indicate the need to adopt special measures aimed at improving the quality of state regulation and control. The author speaks of the need to transform the system of state control (supervision) into the system of specific mechanisms and institutions to safeguard legally protected values in the interests of citizens. The article provides recommendations for possible directions of such a transformation.

The article presents a comparative analysis of governance quality in Russia and other countries in the top ten leaders in terms of GDP level (based on purchasing power parity). Based on the synthesis of international approaches, the author suggests three critical dimensions to measuring governance quality: justified and impartial state interference, effectiveness, and efficiency. The analysis is based on the data of international organizations. The article suggests that, among other countries, Russia is not leading in any of governance quality indicators. Noteworthy, while Russia's positions are comparable with those of other large countries in human development index, adjusted net savings, and the ease of doing business, the country is lagging behind most of the top ten world economies both in terms of citizen satisfaction with education and primary health services and in terms of the level of citizen protection from government-controlled risks. In the area of corruption, the gap is even more significant. Overall, the results of the comparative analysis suggest the need to undertake a system of measures aiming at improving justice, effectiveness, and efficiency of public administration in Russia based on developing and implementing a comprehensive governance quality enhancement strategy. This would allow transforming public administration into a factor supporting rather than constraining social and economic development and improving quality of life in Russia.

Wages in the civil service in Russia have traditionally been assessed as insufficiently competitive. At the same time, no systematic studies of this problem have been conducted. This article presents data on the level and structure of remuneration of civil servants, including by categories and groups of positions, assesses the level of its competitiveness in comparison with the civil service of the countries of the Organization for economic cooperation and development, and with wages in the economy as a whole. The results of the comparative analysis show that, taking into account the differences in gross domestic product per capita, the level of remuneration of Russian civil servants employed in Central offices, in general, corresponds to similar indicators for the countries of the Organization for economic cooperation and development. The competitiveness of labor remuneration in the civil service varies considerably depending on the place of employment and the category of positions. The greatest difficulty is represented by the substituting positions of categories ‘heads' and ‘experts' in territorial offices of Federal Executive authorities and in the Central offices of Federal departments. The paper provides recommendations on priority areas for improving the competitiveness of the remuneration of civil servants. The author substantiates the need to increase the share of permanent (guaranteed) wages in the overall structure of monetary remuneration of civil servants, as well as to ensure the transparency of the entire system.

Improving the quality of public and municipal services provided by the government and local self-government agencies is one of the key imperatives towards improving governance in Russia. The most important indicator of improving its effectiveness is the level of citizens satisfaction being the recipients of these services. The article presents the main results of studying the level of general citizen satisfaction with the quality of work by the activities of government agencies in this area which were obtained in a study conducted by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration in 2013. These results are analyzed and compared with data obtained in similar studies in previous years.

This article has been written based on the resulting conclusions of the scientific-research endeavor on a theme titled: “Preparation of proposals for the further development of performance management mechanisms in the activities of the executive branch”, written by staff of the faculty of the Center for Public Administration Technologies of the Institute of Applied Economic Research of the Russian Public Service Academy in 2013. Currently the systems of performance management, driven by results such as (performance indicators, evaluation tools and the impact on the financing of the executive authorities, payment of civil servants and others are being introduced to the work of the executive authorities, usually, as an “ auxiliary circuit “ government. These arrangements are reflected in the directives of the Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation dated 7 May 2012, in the implementation of the transition to the formation of the federal budget, for the program-focused principles in implementing an instrument of government jobs for government and public institutions, as well as the implementation of other related initiatives. Often and at the same time, these initiatives usually are correlative on the timing and content, and thus have no significant impact on the organization of the structure of Executive authorities, and they do not lead to the increase of accountability for the achievement of the intended results. Despite the endeavors and efforts initiated during the last 10 years to improve governance in the Russian Federation, Russia continues to lag behind the estimates of OECD countries in the quality and efficiency and effectiveness of its public administration and the competitiveness of its State institutions. The present article examines such issues and presents an integrated approach to the study of international experiences in the implementations of legal regulations in the activities of Executive bodies and management performance structures and systems of these countries and development of performance management mechanisms in the activity of the Russian executive authorities on for the 2013 - 2018 years.