The Role of NPOs in the Socio-Economic Development in the Russian Region

The Russian non-profit organisations (NPOs) went through the long pass from political actors to social-oriented assistances and then to some drivers of socio-economic development [1]. Avoiding the engagement of the population in political actions, the Russian government pays significant attention to involving people in socio-economic decision-making processes and creating and developing a non-profit sector. The indicators measuring NPOs’ activities have been included in a wide range of official governmental documents and projects. However, the non-profit organisations remain invisible on the socio-economic landscape of Russian regions. One the one hand, there is a lack of theoretical understanding of the role of NPOs in regional socio-economic development. On the other hand, the official statistics do not have enough basic information on NPOs scope, structure, financing, and contributions in socio-economic development. As a result, some contradictions between official proclaimed targets of NPOs involvement in socio-economic development and measurement of these results occur. This paper provides an analysis of the situation on a regional level. Using the Nizhny Novgorod region as a case study, we explore how different governmental bodies operate with statistics about NPOs and how this information is collected by the official statistics office. The findings based on a set of interviews, analysis of governmental reports and plans for official Federal statistics work plan. These efforts point the way toward putting the NPOs on the economic map of the Russian region for the first time in a way supporting participatory mechanism of regional socio-economic development. All articles must contain an abstract. The abstract text should be formatted using 10 point Times or Times New Roman and indented 25 mm from the left margin. Leave 10 mm space after the abstract before you begin the main text of your article, starting on the same page as the abstract. The abstract should give readers concise information about the content of the article and indicate the main results obtained and conclusions drawn. The abstract is not part of the text and should be complete in itself; no table numbers, figure numbers, references or displayed mathematical expressions should be included. It should be suitable for direct inclusion in abstracting services and should not normally exceed 200 words in a singl

Internet behavior and social stratification in a single-industry town: overcoming or perpetuating inequality?

The paper analyzes the use of the Internet by various property groups of a Russian single-industry town. According to the criterion of correlation of income with the subsistence minimum, five property groups are identified, and for each a description of socio-demographic characteristics and survival strategies is presented. Based on the concept of three levels of the digital divide, the relationship between economic and digital capital is studied. Conclusions and results were obtained on the basis of statistical data collected during a survey of 500 households in the town of Pavlovo, Nizhny Novgorod region, representing the model of a Russian single-industry town. The analysis reveals that the hypothesis of a strong correlation between social inequality and the digital divide is confirmed: the higher the level of material well-being of a family, the higher the level of its digital capital. At the same time, a characteristic feature of single-industry towns is a reduced level of material and property stratification between the allocated groups, due to the low resource content of the territory as a whole. The novelty of the study lies in obtaining results that characterize the relationship between the material security of the family and the level of its digital capital in a single-industry town. In this regard, the problems and prospects for the design and implementation of various programs aimed at reducing the digital divide in single-industry towns are identified. The results of the study can contribute to the improvement of the social management system and the implementation of the state social policy objectives in the accumulation of digital capital of various social groups of residents of single-industry towns as one of the factors for overcoming territorial socio-economic and cultural inequality in Russian society

Poverty in small towns of Russia in a ten-year perspective: changing views on the development of participation at the local level

No abstract available

Dynamics of monetary incomes of population in municipal units

The article presents dynamics in the levels, structure and differentiation of the population money income in the city of Taganrog. The information base was formed on the data from sample household surveys of city residents carried out in 2000 and 2014. Socio-economic and demographic factors impacting the dynamics of population income are given a close consideration. The analysis was performed by groups with different per capita income levels. There were identified five groups of households — from poor (with family income below the subsistence minimum) to relatively well-off (with family income above 4 subsistence minimums). There is also shown the difference in the levels of per capita money income of families of different demographic types and families’ self-assessment of their well-being

Social technologies in poverty reduction in Russia: from internal factors to external challenges

Methodologically poverty research has gone a considerable way from the problem-oriented approach to a participatory paradigm. Problem-oriented methods emerged as a response to the requirements of the transformation period in Russia concerning tactical decisions in the sphere of social management. Participatory approach including all most effective international practices provides the basis of long-term research projects for development of strategies for overcoming poverty. The second turning point in poverty research, besides changing the paradigm, was shifting the focus of risk assessment from internal factors to external ones. At present an important role in the dynamics of poverty risks is played by international conflicts and growing public awareness of the cross-country competition between the quality of life models. The authors consider proactive approach that implies changing the reaction to the current events, as the basis for external poverty risks hedging in local communities

Dynamics of monetary incomes of population in municipal units

The article presents dynamics in the levels, structure and differentiation of the population money income in the city of Taganrog. The information base was formed on the data from sample household surveys of city residents carried out in 2000 and 2014. Socio-economic and demographic factors impacting the dynamics of population income are given a close consideration. The analysis was performed by groups with different per capita income levels. There were identified five groups of households — from poor (with family income below the subsistence minimum) to relatively well-off (with family income above 4 subsistence minimums). There is also shown the difference in the levels of per capita money income of families of different demographic types and families’ self-assessment of their well-being

Spatial Mobility of Youth

The article explores how young people’ spatial strategies connected to their ideas regarding study and leisure activities, and future career, which are considered as important indicators for understanding changes in attitudes and values of this age group. More specifically, using the data from the series of qualitative studies conducted in the UK and Russia since 2010, the article evaluates how university students assess and plan their capabilities of spatial mobility

Social technologies in poverty reduction in Russia: from internal factors to external challenges

Methodologically poverty research has gone a considerable way from the problem-oriented approach to a participatory paradigm. Problem-oriented methods emerged as a response to the requirements of the transformation period in Russia concerning tactical decisions in the sphere of social management. Participatory approach including all most effective international practices provides the basis of long-term research projects for development of strategies for overcoming poverty. The second turning point in poverty research, besides changing the paradigm, was shifting the focus of risk assessment from internal factors to external ones. At present an important role in the dynamics of poverty risks is played by international conflicts and growing public awareness of the cross-country competition between the quality of life models. The authors consider proactive approach that implies changing the reaction to the current events, as the basis for external poverty risks hedging in local communities

Grant programs as tools for the third sector development

The paper is devoted to the timely challenge of understanding how implementing long-term grant competitions organised by non-governmental founds develops the Russian third sector. The focus of the investigation moved from the direct results of grants implementation to indirect influences on third sector infrastructure. On the one hand, the third sector cannot be effective under strict official government regulation. On the other hand, spontaneous development of this sector which is oriented only to grassroots activities and market demand, decreases its effectiveness. Our investigation is based on materials of implementation of concourse “Active generation”, which is provided by regional NGOs by support from Elena and Gennady Timchenko Foundation 2011—2019. The empirical base is formed by investigating a comprehensive range of sources such as statistical reports of grant receivers, semi-structured interviews with regional operators, internet survey of organisations-applicants and face-to-face interviews with beneficiaries of the projects. According to our findings, a long-term grant programme which is implemented by partnerships between regional resource centres creates new social networks between all participants of this concourse and strengthens not only work with the oldest generation but also increased intensity of other social services. At the same time, the effective development of the third sector infrastructure depends on the synergy between all stakeholders such as official bodies, NGOs, social services and clients of social services. Due to the influence of the concourse, which is the outside factor for a particular region, all stakeholders can pull together for the realisation or split apart/compete and can create some barriers for development. Our research identifies the main vectors of interaction and formulates recommendations for their settlement