Municipal Budget Expenditures and Per Capita Incomes in the Russian Arctic

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study assesses the financial capacity of Russia’s Arctic municipalities and evaluates the wages of Arctic employees working in the education and health care sectors. Research was conducted in three areas: the budget capacity of the social spheres; the standard of living and incomes of employees working in socially significant areas; and the social orientation of municipal budgets in the Russian Arctic. The author’s method of assessing the participation of the state in the life of the population made it possible to formulate a number of proposals for improving the social spheres of the urban districts of the Russian Arctic. The study shows that education and health care have declined in the urban districts of the Russian Arctic, due to lower budgetary spending and a slowdown in the growth of wages. It is concluded that socially significant industries must be further developed using both budgetary and extrabudgetary resources, which could be procured through public–private partnerships.