Instruments of regional policy: Assessment of the efficiency

Abstract

The methodology for assessing the effectiveness and results of federal programs, projects of investment funds, and creation of special economic zones, used in the regulation of regional development, is analyzed. These tools are at the disposal of various agencies that are governed by their own criteria for selecting objects of selective support by using particular rules for monitoring and assessing the impact of measures implemented in the development of a region, as defined in relevant regulations. It is shown that a real assessment of effectiveness is only carried out at the stage when the above-mentioned tools are justified for application, and the monitoring of projects and programs is only carried out for indicators of allocation and development of investment resources. Thus, in the currently used techniques for evaluating effectiveness, a comparison of the effects arising from the use of various tools is not intended.

A comprehensive approach to the comparative analysis of the effectiveness of these tools of support of selective regions was developed and implemented. The main problem is that the only indicators that are tracked in relation to all tools are budget investment and the amount of private investment per ruble of budget investment. Accordingly, it is only possible to compare different instruments in terms of their impact on regional economies by indicators of financing and actual disbursement of funds. An analysis shows that in 2008–2009 federal target programs were the most financed ones. Obviously, this conclusion does not refer to evaluating the effectiveness of different instruments. Ways of improving procedures and monitoring processes, providing an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of regional policy instruments, are suggested.