Financial Journal Vol.15 No.2 2023
CONTENTS
M.E. Kosov, A.Yu. Chalova, R.G. Akhmadeev, E.V. Golubtsova
Federal Budget and State Fiscal Policy: Macroeconomic Adaptation until 2025, p. 8-26
Abstract
The article examines the modern concept of the state fiscal policy in Russia and the possibilities of its implementation through the federal budget in the face of new global challenges. To this end, the authors assessed the resource base of the federal budget of the Russian Federation, as well as the adequacy of measures of fiscal regulation of the current economic situation. In this regard, the authors evaluated the feasibility of the initial macroeconomic indicators underlying the parameters of the federal budget for 2023–2025, primarily its revenues, and the risks of their possible change. The authors associate the key risks of failure to achieve the stated goals of the budget and tax policy for the period 2023–2025 with a sharp reduction in the resource base of the federal budget, especially its oil and gas revenues in the context of worsening geopolitical tensions and increasing sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation. The study focuses on the justification of approaches to minimize the negative consequences of external shocks both for the subjects of the Russian economy and for public finances. In the course of the study, the authors used the methods of statistical data processing, factor modeling, regression analysis and expert evaluation. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the assessment of the impact of new global challenges on the balance of the Russian federal budget and substantiation of approaches to transform fiscal regulation measures in response to these challenges. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of using its results in the development of state fiscal policy in the medium term under the conditions of dramatic changes in the scenario conditions of formation of the federal budget.
Keywords: federal budget, fiscal policy, fiscal expansion, tax spending, oil and gas revenues, factor model, budget rules
JEL: E62
For citation: Kosov M.E., Chalova A.Yu., Akhmadeev R.G., Golubtsova E.V. (2023). Federal Budget and State Fiscal Policy: Macroeconomic Adaptation until 2025. Financial Journal, 15 (2), 8–26 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31107/2075-1990-2023-2-8-26
© Kosov M.E., Chalova A.Yu., Akhmadeev R.G., Golubtsova E.V., 2023
A.E. Abramov, A.A. Pershin, M.I. Chernova
Measuring the State Sector and Assessing Its Effectiveness: Approaches and Implications, p. 27-46
Abstract
Despite the increasing role of the state sector in the economies of many countries, the criteria and approaches to comparative analysis and evaluation of the performance of state-owned enterprises are still ambiguous, as are the methods for cross-country comparisons of the scale of state presence in the economy. The purpose of the article is to systematize the main approaches to measurement of the size of the state sector using Russian economy as an example, as well as to substantiate the significance of this information in assessing the performance of companies with different forms of ownership in the investment and managerial decision-making process. The problems of the information environment, such as the fragmentation of data, incomplete publication of company reports, and the specifics of national databases in different countries, complicate and distort empirical research. Meanwhile, there are significant differences in the performance of state-owned and private companies, as well as in their investment attractiveness to investors in the financial market. International approaches to solving these problems consist in the formation of consolidated and unified databases, inclusion of stateowned companies in the system of national accounts, and creation of guidelines on uniform principles of transparency and accessibility of financial reports. Given the growing restrictions on access to information along with the trend towards the growth of the state sector in Russia, there is an increasing need to develop a unified methodology to measure its scale and assess its impact on the economy, investment and stock market. The proposed methodology and the obtained empirical results allow not only to comprehensively assess the contribution of the state sector in creating GDP and increasing the capitalization of the stock market, but also to conduct comparative studies of performance indicators and stock returns in companies with different ownership structure, as well as an international empirical analysis of the state sector impact on the economies and the financial and economic performance of companies.
Keywords: state-owned enterprises, state sector, assessment methods, developing countries, scale of state sector
JEL: D20, D60, G38, H82, H83, L30, P20
For citation: Abramov A.E., Pershin A.A., Chernova M.I. (2023). Measuring the State Sector and Assessing Its Effectiveness: Approaches and Implications. Financial Journal, 15 (2), 27–46 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31107/2075-1990-2023-2-27-46
© Abramov A.E., Pershin A.A., Chernova M.I., 2023
A.V. Maslov, K.V. Shvandar
New International Projects on the Use of Central Bank Digital Currencies in Transforming Cross-border Settlements, p. 47-58
Abstract
In 2023, digital ruble is expected to appear in Russia. It is planned to allow for delay-free settlement of transactions with digital financial assets, automation of the use of smart contracts, and tracking of budget calculations. The Ministry of Finance plans to use the Russian digital currency in budget settlements. The first phase of the experiment to use a digital ruble has already involved a number of banks that are testing the opening of digital wallets on the Bank of Russia platform: deposits, transfers between citizens, as well as payments for goods and services. However, the question remains whether the digital ruble in today's environment will help solve the most important task — to facilitate crossborder payments. While the stage of development and testing is underway, it is necessary to pay particular attention to the issues of risk management, system stability, the peculiarities of interaction with other forms of fiat money, and to ensure the use of digital ruble in cross-border settlements. This article discusses test projects which are aimed at studying the functioning of the main channels of digital transactions, identification of problem areas and improvement of modern technologies in the field of cross-border payments. The purpose of this article is not an in-depth analysis of the results of any particular project, but a brief description of a number of projects to illustrate the activities of central banks of different countries in this area. Nor is it intended to compare these projects and draw conclusions about their results. An example of a more thorough study of some projects in order to use existing experience for new projects is the Report of the National Bank of Kazakhstan “Digital Tenge Project” (2021). All these projects are usually initiated by central banks, as well as international organizations and global financial market participants actively involved in international payment relations. The study of the results achieved during the testing of the projects give us an understanding of how settlements in CBDCs, including cross-border ones, may develop in the near future.
Keywords: cross-border payments, central bank digital currencies, central banks, international calculations
JEL: G21
For citation: Maslov A.V., Shvandar K.V. (2023). New International Projects on the Use of Central Bank Digital Currencies in Transforming Cross-border Settlements. Financial Journal, 15 (2), 47–58 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31107/2075-1990-2023-2-47-58
© Maslov A.V., Shvandar K.V., 2023
A.O. Volodina, M.B. Trachenko
ESG Investment Profitability in Developed and Emerging Markets with Regard to the Time Horizon, p. 59-73
Abstract
The development of the ESG (Environmental, social, and governance) concept has led to the rapid spread of financial instruments for investing in sustainable development on all continents. The purpose of the article is to study the attractiveness of sustainable investing in the developed and emerging markets of America, Europe and Asia, in particular, to conduct a comparative analysis of the returns of market indices based on ESG criteria and those of indices that do not take them into account. Particular attention is paid to the duration of the investment period: the authors studied profitability on time intervals from one to five years. The object of the study is stock indices. The subject of the study is profitability of ESG-oriented and ESG-neutral indices. A comparative analysis of 28 market indices, 15 of which were formed with ESG indicators in the period from 2013 to 2022 led to the conclusion that it is advisable to invest in ESG index funds in both developed and emerging markets, since in more than 50% of cases, the return of ESG indices is higher than that of non-ESG indices. Investments in ESG indices over a longer time horizon tend to have higher returns on invested capital than traditional investments in non-sustainable indices. Analysis of European stock market returns has shown insufficient efficiency of ESG investments and requires additional analysis of the factors that have influenced this. A promising direction for further research is also the analysis of the mutual influence of stock markets of developed and developing countries on financial ESG instruments and indices. The applied value of the study lies in the possibility of using the results of the analysis in the reorientation of Russian investors in the face of sanctions pressure on stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
Keywords: ESG, profitability, stock indices, exchange-traded funds, sustainable development, investment
JEL: G32
For citation: Volodina A.O., Trachenko M.B. (2023). ESG Investment Profitability in Developed and Emerging Markets with Regard to the Time Horizon. Financial Journal, 15 (2), 59–73 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31107/2075-1990-2023-2-59-73
© Volodina A.O., Trachenko M.B., 2023
S.I. Chuzhmarova, A.I. Chuzhmarov
Tax Incentives for Investments in Green Technologies: Experience of Selected Countries, p. 74-89
Abstract
The relevance of the research topic is due to the need to solve the problems of fiscal support for investment in the context of increasing environmental and climate risks that push countries to form the fiscal policy under the influence of the climate agenda, capable of ensuring the financial interests of governments and investors. The main objective of the article is to characterize the processes of transformation of national fiscal policy under the influence of the global climate agenda and tax incentives for investments in green technologies. The authors analyze the sources of investment financing mobilized by developed countries, the main of which are carbon taxes and energy taxes. Changes in the tax policy of the Russian Federation aimed at stimulating the best available technologies and R&D are exposed. The following conclusions are made. Developed countries are actively implementing fiscal measures to support investment in green technologies; the topic of tax transformation has moved from a discussion format to the plane of practical application, although not always successful. Today countries introduce new incentives, use preferential environmental taxation of innovative activities of the energy-intensive sector and voluntary tax agreements of authorities with investment companies, form ratings based on unified comparable indicators. The Russian Federation lags behind developed countries in mobilizing financial resources for green economic growth and in the development of fiscal tools that have proven effective. The problem today is tax regulation of technological development, which covers investment incentives and disincentives to environmental pollution. The next promising action could be the formation of a financial basis for green economic growth, investment in green technology.
Keywords: tax incentives, tax breaks, green technology, innovation, investment
JEL: H22, H61
Funding: the article was prepared within the framework of the research work of the state assignment of Syktyvkar State University named after Pitirim Sorokin.
For citation: Chuzhmarova S.I., Chuzhmarov A.I. (2023) Tax Incentives for Investments in Green Technologies: Experiences of Selected Countries. Financial Journal, 15 (2), 74–89 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31107/2075-1990-2023-2-74-89
© Chuzhmarova S.I., Chuzhmarov A.I., 2023
Ju.A. Tarasova, E.I. Lyashko
The Influence of Institutional Factors on Green Bond Issuance: a Look Back to 2021, p. 90-102
Abstract
ESG factors are becoming an integral part of financial relationships, thereby increasing the demand for responsible financing instruments. Thanks to the latter, an investor can not only get the expected rate of return, but also contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals. Green bonds, which are an example of such an instrument, help to raise financing for green activities and projects. By the end of 2021, the total amount of issued green bonds exceeded the record $1.5 trillion mark. The crisis year of 2022 contributed to a revision of many ESG criteria and the relevance of green agenda as a whole. Such changes can have serious consequences for the green bond market, but their analysis is a matter for the future. The main purpose of the research is to analyze the determinants that have influenced green bond issuance in European countries in 2021. The authors find a significant relationship between institutional factors and the volume of issued green bonds using correlation and regression analysis on a sample of European countries. Among institutional factors, the most significant are environmental regulation and the level of sustainability development.
Keywords: ESG factors (principles), determinants of bond issuance, regulatory mechanisms, sustainable development
JEL: C51, G15, G23
For citation: Tarasova Yu.A., Lyashko E.I. (2023). The Influence of Institutional Factors on Green Bond Issuance: A Look Back to 2021. Financial Journal, 15 (2), 90–102 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31107/2075-1990-2023-2-90-102
© Tarasova Yu.A., Lyashko E.I., 2023
Yu.A. Spletukhov
Environmental Insurance: Insurable Risks and Losses Subject to Compensation, p. 103-115
Abstract
The article discusses issues related to the implementation of environmental insurance. Its purpose is to consider a number of problems, the solution of which can contribute to increasing its role in the compensation of losses caused by environmental pollution. To this end, it is proposed to expand the circle of legal entities obliged to provide financial guarantees of compensation for such losses and to use environmental insurance as one of the mechanisms of such guarantees. The effectiveness of guarantees provided by concluding insurance contracts can be ensured by regulating its conditions in a separate regulatory act. In turn, the preparation of the latter requires consideration of some aspects related to the mechanism of conducting environmental insurance. The article, in particular, characterizes the types of environmental pollution and, on this basis, draws conclusions about the possibility, expediency and specificity of insurance in relation to each of them. The insured event in environmental insurance contracts, according to the author, should be the consequences of accidental, sudden and unintentional pollution, i.e., those caused by an accident, disaster or other emergency events of man-made or natural nature. Another problem considered in the article is related to the range of losses that should be included in the scope of insurers’ liability under the insurance contracts concluded in order to provide financial guarantees of compensation for damage caused by environmental pollution. According to the author it should include losses caused by the insured to other legal entities and individuals in the form of damage to natural objects and associated with the implementation of measures aimed at reducing the damage caused by the insured event. A significant place in the article is given to the peculiarities of assessment of damage to be compensated by insurance companies. First of all, it concerns how to calculate the losses caused by damage directly to the natural environment. The results obtained in this part of the article include, in particular, the conclusion that when choosing a method of assessment of such damage one should mainly take into account the amount of costs for environmental restoration.
Keywords: environmental insurance, insurance risks, losses, reimbursable damage
JEL: G22
For citation: Spletukhov Yu.A. (2023). Environmental Insurance: Insurable Risks and Losses Subject to Compensation. Financial Journal, 15 (2), 103–115 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31107/2075-1990-2023-2-103-115
© Spletukhov Yu.A., 2023
O.V. Obukhova, A.S. Bogomazova
General Expenses in the Provision of Public Health Services in Hospitals, p. 116-129
Abstract
Specific expenses for general business needs as a part of the basic standard cost rate for a public service in the healthcare sector reflect the costs for the infrastructure facility itself, including the area of subdivisions of medical organizations in which a public service is provided, the conditions for providing medical care, and the capacity of the medical organization. Calculation of costs for this part of the basic rate is usually carried out by the method of the most effective institution or by the median method. This leads to high differentiation of the value of the basic standard cost for the corresponding public service, and to artificial and unreasonable use of correction coefficients individualizing the costs of medical organizations, which contradicts to the state policy on control of efficiency of the use of budgetary funds. The purpose of the study is to develop proposals for changing the methodology for accounting general expenses in the structure of the standard of financial costs for public health services on the example of the state service “Specialized medical care (except for high-tech medical care), not included in the basic program of compulsory medical insurance, according to the profile Phthisiology”, provided in hospital conditions.
Keywords: general business expenses, public service, state assignment, healthcare, state medical organizations
JEL: H51, H54, H61
For citation: Obukhova O.V., Bogomazova A.S. (2023). General Expenses in the Provision of Public Health Services in Hospitals. Financial Journal, 15 (2), 116–129 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31107/2075-1990-2023-2-116-129
© Obukhova O.V., Bogomazova A.S., 2023