Abstract:

The article offers a methodological approach of decentralization level evaluation of the current economic federalism model in the Russian Federation, that has the analysis of relations between entities at all levels of the Russian hierarchy of governance. The problem this article focuses on is evaluation of the actual economic state of a region through revealing peculiarities in the independence degree of the fiscal relations between the region and both federal and local authorities. Possibility of regional authorities to implement their functions, sufficient funding sources and independent local authorities located in a federal subject (a region) of the Russian federation are the core of economic federalism relations. Systematic approach and universal indices application allow the authors not only to estimate regions' decentralization level in the Russian hierarchy of governance. ("federation — region", "region — local authorities"), but also provide rationalization for the key idea of "asymmetry" of the current economic federalism model from the both angled of vertical relations and content asymmetry of relations. between expenditure powers and available resources.