The presented study analyzes current trends in the spreading of the sustainable development concept in regional management practices.

Aim. The study aims to evaluate the reflection of sustainable development problems in regional management practices.

Tasks. The author examines the concept of sustainable development in the context of the modern approach to territorial development management; analyzes the way problems of sustainable development are represented in modern studies of regional economy; determines the degree of involvement of regional authorities in the promotion of sustainable development goals.

Methods. This study uses general scientific methods of cognition to examine the specific features of representation of sustainable development goals in scientific discourse on the regional economy and the extent of regions’ involvement in the achievement of sustainable development goals (through the example of the environmental factor). The study uses information publicly available on the official websites of the UN and the Russian Federal State Statistics Service. The author’s opinion is based on the materials presented in analytical reviews of events at business forum, economic publications on the sustainable development of the regional economy. and the author’s own calculations.

Results. The formation of the sustainable development concept and a mechanism for controlling the achievement of goals into which the process of sustainable development can be decomposed is described. Scientific discourse on the directions of regional economic studies that address the problems of sustainable development is analyzed. The performance indicators of regional authorities in achieving sustainable development goals are analyzed.

Conclusions. National development management requires active interaction between the federal center, regional authorities, administrative bodies, and businesses in the development of the national agenda and integration of sustainable development goals into it. At present, none of the actors in this process show significant signs of activity.

The presented study examines the essence, specific features of calculation, and trends in the dynamics of food affordability, as well as the development of tools to increase real disposable household income as a crucial factor for the formation of domestic demand for food under modern conditions.

Aim. The study aims to systematize theoretical approaches and analyze the institutional aspects of ensuring the affordability of food to substantiate promising directions for improving the national income and tax policy that would facilitate an increase in the aggregate demand for food.

Tasks. The author examines the adjustment of the essence of the concept of “affordability” of food in the new edition of the Food Security Doctrine as a reflection of new global challenges and internal risks; assesses the current state of affordability of staple foods among the population in general and in the context of specific income groups, the dynamics of real disposable household income, and changes in the structure of effective demand; substantiates recommendations for the development of the institutional component of real income regulation and taxation of individuals.

Methods. This study uses comparison, systems analysis, systematization of information, and the monographic method.

Results. The ratio of actual consumption of staple foods, rational consumption rates for Russian households in general and in the context of specific income groups are analyzed. Food products that are currently not affordable are identified. Structural changes in the consumer demand of low-income groups are determined. The parameters of inter-industry, intra-industry, and regional wage differentiation that have a negative impact on the quality of life and affordability of food are analyzed. The conducted study shows that there is currently a high tax burden on individuals in Russia, composed of direct and indirect taxes.

Conclusions. The author substantiates the advisability of including a decrease in real household income and the ensuing insufficiently high aggregate domestic demand for food in the list of economic risks provided by the Food Security Doctrine; shows that adhering to the monetarist model of economic development leads to a low inflation rate but does not create conditions for accelerated economic growth and exacerbates the problems of poverty and socio-economic differentiation; proves that under modern conditions it is advisable to improve the national income policy by increasing the real disposable income of the most deprived part of the population and developing small forms of agribusiness and food trade to expand the competitive environment of the food market. The author emphasizes the importance of improving the institutional aspects of regulating various types of wage differentiation and concludes that there are objective prerequisites for the transition to progressive taxation and introduction of a non-taxable part of income at a subsistence level for the most deprived segments of the population.

The presented study examines the specific aspects and processes of the functioning of regional economies and interregional interaction.

Aim. The study aims to analyze the existing mechanisms of the functioning and interaction of regional economic systems.

Tasks. The authors present a general scheme for the functioning of a regional economic system; examine the principles of interaction between regional economic systems; determine the specific aspects of inter-sectoral interaction as a form of interregional cooperation.

Methods. This study uses general scientific methods, including systems analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction, specification and generalization, and modelling.

Results. The authors substantiate a general scheme for the functioning of the regional economic system as an object of management. Its structural elements include the region’s production-economic and socio-economic complexes and the fiscal sphere. It is shown that interregional interaction is now particularly important as it facilitates joint production of goods. Interregional interaction involves the exchange of goods and services, migration processes, and financial exchange. Interregional cooperation should be based on the existing federal and regional strategies. It is established that inter-sectoral interaction and formation of regional sectoral clusters are efficient forms of interregional cooperation.

Conclusions. A specific feature of the functioning of regional economies is that it is regulated simultaneously at the macro- and meso-level. Regulation at the meso-level involves the implementation of regional economic development strategies with allowance for the socio-economic features of individual administrative and territorial units. At the macro-level, the regional economy functions within the existing strategy of the federal center and also involves interregional and inter-sectoral interaction.

Innovation-driven development of the Russian economy requires a consistent national policy aimed at boosting scientific and innovative activity in the regions, which would facilitate the development of entrepreneurship and technology. It also plays an important role in ensuring the socio-economic progress of the regions and efficiency of income distribution.

Aim. The presented study aims to examine the potential directions for optimizing scientific and innovative activity in regional socio-economic development and to identify factors that facilitate the intensification of innovative activity in the regions.

Tasks. The authors conduct a correlation analysis between scientific and economic development of the regions with allowance for such factors as the level of education of the population and the number of researchers engaged in research and development (R&D). They also assess the current state of scientific and innovative activity and the national policy on the formation of the scientific and innovative potential of the regions.

Methods. The methodological basis of the study of the scientific and innovative aspects of regional economic development includes correlation-regression analysis and abstract logical methods.

Results. This study substantiates the role of scientific and innovative activity in regional economic development; determines a positive correlation between regional economic growth and the number of researchers; establishes an inverse correlation between scientific and economic development based on the dependence of innovative activity in the regions on the accumulated scientific potential; empirically assesses the impact of innovative factors on regional economic growth and proposes directions for improving the efficiency of the regional system of science and innovation.

Conclusions. Concentrations of knowledge are analyzed as agglomerations of expenses on research and development, science and technology. This leads to an increase in the number of scientists, engineers, scientific and technological personnel of innovative enterprises in various Russian regions. A correlation analysis between scientific and economic regional development shows that per-capita GRP growth rate by the number of researchers is statistically significant, which means there are several factors affecting this dependence: geographical accessibility of higher education, university expenses on infrastructure and services, job creation, additional revenue from students from other countries and regions. It is established that efficient regional higher education systems and innovative development have a positive effect on regional economic development. The conducted analysis shows that a policy on the innovative development of resource regions should be based on government support that would facilitate the creation of innovations and strengthening of scientific potential.

In 2017, the digital revolution reached a new global milestone: every second inhabitant of our planet was connected to the Internet. The Digital Economy Program approved by the Government of the Russian Federation in July 2017 aims to address ambitious tasks dictated by new requirements to the public administration system and the organization and structure of the state apparatus of the Russian Federation. The mission of implementing digital technologies in public administration should involve improving the quality of the latter, primarily the quality of public services and management of the implementation of national projects (programs) aimed at ensuring Russia’s economic growth.

Aim. The presented study aims to determine priority areas and directions of public administration in the context of the implementation of digital technologies at the federal and regional levels.

Tasks. The authors rank the constituent entities and federal districts of the Russian Federation by the extent to which the potential of digital technologies is realized in all aspects of national economic activity and identify the leading constituent entities and federal districts of the Russian Federation in terms of the implementation of digital technologies in public administration.

Methods. This study uses general scientific methods of cognition and the scientific sociological quantitative method for ranking the constituent entities and federal districts of the Russian Federation in terms of the implementation of digital technologies in public administration.

Results. The authors conclude that regulatory and legal acts need to be specified at the federal level in matters of project implementation in the context of digital technologies. With respect to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the study identifies factors that affect the uneven development of digitalization, particularly the under-qualified staff, lack of project funding in regions, digital divide, and problems of creating a new regulatory environment.

Conclusions. The development of digital technologies requires close cooperation between public bodies across all levels of the executive branch. It should be noted that the methodology of forming a digital government itself facilitates the establishment of the necessary conditions for addressing national economic challenges, including those associated with strategic planning based on unified digital information platforms. This aspect is crucial for the development of the Russian economy. Thus, digitalization should lay the groundwork for the further implementation of results-based management by the government.

The presented study examines and undertakes to overcome contradictions in modern enterprise management systems, providing a deeper insight into the new knowledge, skills, and role of an individual in business activities.

Aim. The study aims to determine a range of problem situations in the people-oriented management of enterprises and organizations at the stages of building knowledge about the profession and accentuating knowledge, skills, and abilities relevant to the intended professionalization, and the resource potential of employees within the existing economic and organizational framework of personnel management.

Tasks. The authors conduct comparative studies with allowance for the spatial and temporal transformations in the use of tools for improving the efficiency and quality of the operation of Russian enterprises, and make comparisons with data on the operation of modern foreign corporations, determining the dynamics, new value orientations, and motivation among the personnel.

Methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of this study includes works of Russian and foreign scientists on improving the operation of enterprises and organizations through the principles of people-oriented management of educational potential, professionalization and motivation of employees, and interviews of different age and professional groups of employees.

Results. The authors determine the primary causes of the low level of professionalization among young people within the system of disseminating family relations, spontaneous choice of profession by university students, inconsistency between new knowledge generated during education and its actual use in the operation of enterprises and organizations, lack of consideration among the management for the social expectations of employees and their ideas on improving the quality of life, inadequacy of employee motivation measures to the task of improving the efficiency and quality of work. The study also formulates directions for overcoming modern inconsistencies in the people-oriented activity of enterprises and organizations as well as systemic motivation mechanisms for different employee groups.

Conclusions. Definition of the range of problem situations in the people-oriented management of enterprises and organizations combined with theoretical and empirical analysis of professionalization and employee motivation makes it possible not only to determine the scope of contradictions in the emerging social and labor relations, but also to develop a program of actions to resolve them.

The presented study examines the effects of financial and economic factors on the competitiveness of enterprises, with a particular focus on the impact of the price factor. It analyzes the major parameters of cost engineering as a type of consulting services and assesses the practicability of its implementation in the activity of enterprises to create additional competitive advantages.

Aim. The study aims to determine the effects of cost engineering on the competitiveness of economic entities and its correlation with competitiveness factors.

Tasks. The authors define cost engineering and the specific features of this type of consulting services, determine the impact of the price factor on the competitiveness of enterprises, and substantiate the potential for using cost engineering in the implementation of projects as a way of enhancing competitiveness.

Methods. This study is based on the systems approach as well as logical, comparative, factorial, and structural analysis using the theoretical framework of analysis of economic processes.

Results. The study proposes using cost engineering as a fundamental link in the integration of planning, funding, and pricing processes at the enterprise level. The practicability of using this particular type of consulting services is further substantiated by the direct correlation between cost engineering and competitiveness factors.

Conclusions. Application of cost engineering at the modern stage of development of the national economy can have a positive effect on the competitiveness of economic entities, while also creating and developing their additional competitive advantages.

The relevance of the issues of scientific justification of approaches to the formation and transformation of the management structure in the agro-food industry is evident in the context of the ongoing development of the agro-food system and accomplishment of the objectives of the Food Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation for 2020.

Aim. The presented study aims to trace the development and evolution of economic thought exploring management theories, particularly in the context of new external threats and internal risks, and to systematize the fundamental provisions of classical economic theory and new theoretical and methodological aspects in the field of management.

Tasks. The authors systematize and analyze management theories, identify trends and specific features of the conception and development of various theories depending on the country’s economic situation and other external factors, and consider the subject in the context of the agro-food industry.

Methods. This study uses the methods of systems analysis, empirical research (description, comparison), evolutionary-institutional theory, historical approach, and content analysis.

Results. Different schools of thought and approaches to the scientific justification of building a balanced and efficient management system for the agro-food industry are examined. The historical aspects of the subject are thoroughly examined. The factors that affect the formation and development of the management system in the agro-food industry are identified, and methodological recommendations for improving this system are provided.

Conclusions. Based on the analysis of management theories, the authors identify opportunities for their implementation in the agro-food industry, address the issue of designing an optimal management structure for the agro-food industry and its regulation by the government, propose a methodological approach to management system design and adjust the principles of the systems approach to ensure rational organization of the management system in the agro-food industry.

The author analyzes the innovation development programs of 11 Russian companies with state participation and state corporations and compares the achieved results with innovation development plans. The results of the analysis show that the existing relationships between the performance indicators of the companies’ innovation activity for 2014–2016 are not considered or reflected in the programs of innovation development until 2020. This study indicates the causes of the current situation and proposes directions for improving the efficiency of innovation development planning.

Aim. The study aims to examine the mutual influence of indicators in innovation planning at enterprises.

Tasks. The author analyzes the existing innovation development programs of large state-owned companies and the correlation between the performance indicators of innovation activity, assesses the actual results of the implementation of innovation development programs for 2014–2016 and the validity of the planned indicators of innovation development until 2020.

Methods. This study uses the methods of systems and correlation-regression analysis.

Results. The analysis shows that the actual relationships between the performance indicators of the companies’ innovation activity for 2014–2016 are not considered or reflected in the programs of innovation development until 2020. This study indicates the causes of the current situation and proposes directions for improving the efficiency of innovation development planning. A matrix for determining problem situations in innovation development planning is developed.

Conclusions. The actual relationships between the indicators that characterize many aspects of innovation development at various stages of the innovation life cycle are not fully considered in the planning of innovation development. The conducted study confirms a formal approach to estimating the target values of the examined indicators, which disregards the actual relationships between them. The outcome of this can be seen in the programs of innovation development until 2020 developed by corporations. It is possible to make allowance for the actual relationships in the planning of the target values of innovation development indicators by using the methods and tools of dynamic modeling.

The presented study serves the purpose of developing the theoretical and methodological framework for the digital transformation of commercial banks and the development of scientific and practical recommendations on its implementation for the managers of financial and credit organizations.

Aim. The study aims to provide a theoretical justification and explore the essence of digital transformation based on the experience of Swiss experts in financial consulting, and to develop a comprehensive solution for its implementation by commercial banks in the context of society’s transition to a new paradigm.

Tasks. The authors specify the conceptual framework associated with the transition of the banking business to a digital format and examine the practical aspects of the digital transformation of commercial banks.

Methods. This study uses a systems approach and general scientific methods of cognition to show and substantiate the mechanism of transformation of commercial banks under the influence of digitalization processes.

Results. The concepts of digitalization, automation, and digital transformation are specified. Recommendations are given for adapting a banking business to modern macroeconomic conditions, which bring about changes in the preferences of the clients of traditional banks and make it impossible for banks to continue operating within the current paradigm.

Conclusions. Commercial banks should rely on a comprehensive approach to digital transformation to ensure long-term competitive advantages. The Swiss model is premised on simultaneously addressing the bank’s strategy, organizational structure, and corporate culture. Methodological recommendations for each of these aspects are provided.

The presented study examines e-commerce technologies a new conceptual framework of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries.

Aim. The study aims to identify factors for the implementation and acceptance of e-commerce among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries.

Tasks. The authors utilize tools of G. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory to describe the emotional attitude of an individual to the use of technology.

Methods. This study examines various aspects of the method of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), which is implemented in many studies of behavioral intentions of individuals in the adoption of new technologies.

Results. For the first time, a conceptual (predictive) model based on four moderating variables is proposed. The variables include such cultural dimension parameters as power distance index  (PDI), individualism/collectivism  (IDV), uncertainty avoidance  (UAI), and long-term/short-term orientation (LTO). These moderators boost the effect of the basic constructs on the behavioral propensity for the use and application of technologies.

Conclusions. Based on the considered conceptual framework, the authors propose a number of recommendations for the development of tools that would ensure the required level of employee engagement in the acceptance and use of e-commerce technologies among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. Another promising direction involves using the tools of G. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory to examine the specific aspects of the acceptance and use of information technology among organizations belonging to different national business cultures.

The presented study examines the problems of public and private funding in the innovation domain of the national economic system. Based on the analysis of foreign experience, the authors propose creating federal and regional innovation funds within the Russian economic system driven by publicprivate partnership.

Aim. The study aims to substantiate potential directions for the program of public-private funding of the national innovation system.

Tasks. The authors examine the existing mechanism of innovation funding from the perspective of development of the national economic system; analyze the foreign experience of public funding of innovation-driven development of the economic system; examine approaches to solving the problem of public innovation funding in Russia; substantiate the implementation of innovation funds based on the principles of public-private partnership into the national economic system.

Methods. This study uses the methods of institutional and structural analysis and the systems approach to formulate proposals and substantiate the implementation of innovation funds into the national innovation policy.

Results. Based on the analysis of the funding mechanism of the national innovation policy within the national economic system, and considering the experience of the world’s developed innovation-driven economies, the authors substantiate the implementation of innovation funds based on the principles of public-private partnership and aimed primarily at providing financial support for the corporate sector of the national economic system in the field of innovative technologies.

Conclusions. With a view to create an efficient funding model for the innovative development of the national economic system in Russia, the study substantiates the need to establish a system of federal and regional innovation funds based on public-private partnership. Their functions would include accumulation of funds and their allocation among individual innovation projects with clearly defined results. The activity of the established federal innovation fund can be differentiated to cover the most important directions and critical technologies, thus improving Russia’s position in the global competition. The purpose of regional funds is to ensure technological development that would enhance the competitiveness of regions at the national level (with allowance for regional specialization and development of mass innovative entrepreneurship). Combined with the use of such market tools as providing financial guarantees on investments in innovation, this will ensure positive dynamics of innovative development of the national economic system as a whole.