AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF E-GOVERNMENT ADOPTION IN RUSSIA: ACCESS, RIGHTS, TRUST AND CITIZENS’ EXPERIENCE

The problem of low usage of e-government solutions is common in many emerging countries. Is Russia experiencing the same issue? Are there sufficient conditions to grow the usage of e-government solutions (internet penetration rate, rights for the citizens to approach the government remotely, trust in government, computer skills and usage perception, etc.)? Do the use rates for public e-services portals and e-participation platforms equal one another? Based on scholarly articles, analytical reports, laws, regulations, and the results of citizens’ surveys, the research considers some factors that influence e-government implementation in Russia. The findings highlighted that the penetration of the Internet in Russia is high and that citizens have the right to approach the government remotely and trust the government. The survey demonstrated that the users believe they have enough knowledge and skills for using public e-services portals and e-participation platforms. At the same time, within the same institutional framework, the level of use of public e-services was still low in 2018 (29% of the respondents), and it was even lower for e-participation platforms (17% of the respondents). This observation suggests that the nature of e-government solutions (whether it is a public e-service portal or e-participation platform) should be considered when governments are developing roll-out programs.

ETHICAL RISKS IN PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: THE CASE OF LAHORE WASTE MANAGEMENT COMPANY

The world is coming up with new solutions to old problemsin orderto improve efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) isarelatively new form of participatory governance. This approach is linked with New Public Management (NPM) and, since its inception, the private sector has taken over the entire world despite incongruence and incompatibility in indigenous values and cultures. PPPis also claimed to be the best solution in terms of service delivery; however, its effectiveness is yet to be achieved. The purpose of this study is to find the effectiveness ofthePPP mode of governance. This study is qualitative in nature and has taken one entity based on PPP as a case,i.e. Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC),in orderto study the impact of this solution to all,theills of public service delivery. Fourteen officialswere interviewed in this studyof LWMC (a quasi-governmental institution) and its private partners. Findings suggest that this PPP mode has major ethical risks in the form of lack of transparency in awarding contracts, equity-efficiency trade-off, overall conflict of philosophy of public and private sector, low professionalism, value for money (compromise on cost and quality), and weak accountability mechanisms.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR SOCIALLY ORIENTED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN RUSSIAN REGIONS

Currently, socially oriented nonprofit organizations (SO NPOs) in Russia are actively engaged in the process of social services provision. The support provided to them, including the financial support provided by the regional authorities, is extremely important for SO NPOs. This article describes the reasons why the state involves NPOs in social services provision and gives them support, and the advantages and disadvantages of NPOs in services provision. We analyze the size, structure and dynamics of financial support for nonprofit organizations at the regional level and factors related to the size of support, as well as the criteria for granting subsidies (one of the types of support). The criteria were analyzed based on the regional legislation of 52 regions of Russia. The analysis of the size, structure and dynamics of financial support was conducted on the data from registers of SO NPOs that received support of 43 regions of Russia for 2016-2018. Our analysis demonstrates an increase in the total amount of support and a significant intraregional and interregional differentiation in the size of support. Using the method of ordinary least squares, we found that the average per capita value of financial support provided to the SO NPOs at the regional level is positively associated with per capita regional budget revenues, the share of education expenditures in the total amount of regional budget expenditures and the quality of life in the region.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN REDUCING THE WAITING TIME FOR PLANNED MEDICAL CARE: THE POSSIBILITY OF APPLYING THIS EXPERIENCE IN RUSSIA

The imbalance between the demand for health services and their supply leads to a decrease in the availability of health care. The aim of the study is to analyze the key mechanisms of the policy on reducing the waiting time for planned medical care. The issues of ensuring the guarantee for maximum time limits are studied; the foreign experience of managing waiting times for medical care is reviewed, the possibility of applying it in Russian practice is analyzed; the possibilities of reducing waiting times at the level of medical organizations are considered. The review of foreign experience shows a purposeful state policy to reduce waiting times, and allows us to determine the most effective measures. In Russia, the guaranteed maximum patient waiting times are shorter than in most of the countries reviewed, however, state resources do not support these guarantees; there is no unified state approach for monitoring, and no well-thought-out mechanism for their regulation, based on both system capabilities and social needs. Taking into account the studied international and Russian experience, the recommendations for creating a system for managing the waiting time for planned medical care in Russia are proposed.

EXTERNAL AUDIT AND FISCAL TRANSPARENCY: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

The aim of this study is to examine the socio-economic, institutional, and political factors affecting external audit, with the use of an international comparison. In addition, the effect of external audit on fiscal transparency was analyzed. Although many empirical studies in the literature handle the factors affecting fiscal transparency, there are only a few empirical studies that focus on the factors affecting external audit and the impact of external audits on fiscal transparency. However, there is not one study dealing with the factors affecting external audit through making use of international comparisons. In this study we attempt to discover the factors affecting external audit and examine, using an international comparison, the impact of external audits on fiscal transparency. The Open Budget Survey published by the International Budget Partnership in 2017 was used to measure external audits. In the study, consisting of 115 countries, the effect of democratization level, government debt level, government balance, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, legislative budget oversight, the SAI's audit diversity and the effect of a judicial model of the SAI on external audit were investigated. The effect of external audit on fiscal transparency is tested for 115 countries using the Two-Stage Least Squares Method (2SLS). According to the analysis, it is determined that the level of democratization, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, budget oversight of the legislature, audit diversity of supreme audit institution and judicial model of supreme audit institution have significant and positive effects on external audit. It is also determined that external audit has a significant and positive effect on fiscal transparency.

GOOD LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN VIETNAM – BASED ON THE VIETNAM PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PERFORMANCE INDEX IN RECENT YEARS

Currently, public governance theory and "good governance" have a profound and positive influence on the government reform process in many countries around the world today. In essence, good governance is the set of principles and criteria on social management to maximize public interests as well as promote and ensure the harmonious and sustainable development of a country. It can be said that good governance is both the ideal state and the goal that government reform in countries is aiming for, and the guiding principles for the design and operation of the state apparatus, government or system. In recent years, reform of government as well as reform of local government, according to good governance theory in Vietnam, has achieved many outstanding results. This is evident in the improvement in the indicators of provincial governance and public administration (Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (hereinafter referred to as PAPI)) in Vietnam over the years. Based on the survey results of PAPI in recent years, the article analyzes the good governance level of the local government of Vietnam, offers comments and assessments and proposes solutions on how to increase and strengthen the reform of local government in Vietnam according to good governance theory.

EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS

Development institutions are the most important tool for stimulating innovation processes and infrastructure development. These organizations finance long-term investment projects that contribute to the socio-economic development of the industry, region or country. Such specificity of activity leads to significant difficulties in the assessment of their efficiency. At the same time, the development of a system for assessment of the development institutions’ efficiency, improving the efficiency of their work and ensuring positive economic growth rates in regions and states, are impossible without studying the approaches to the assessment of their efficiency. A growing interest in the activities of multilateral development institutions is taking place in today’s literature on public administration. However, there are currently no review articles that would consider the scope of work devoted to the assessment of the development institutions’ efficiency. The review examines modern research publications that assess the results of individual development institutions and their contribution to socio-economic development and some issues of economic efficiency. The article analyzes various approaches and methods for assessment of the development institutions’ efficiency. The study will allow us to assess the potential for use of modern approaches and identify areas for further application of the used methods. The materials of the review can be used as a general theoretical part for teaching the disciplines of "public administration" related to the assessment of the public administration efficiency.

STATE POLICY TOWARDS SMALL BUSINESSES DURING THE PANDEMIC IN THE ESTIMATES OF BENEFICIARIES

The article analyzes the perception of the nature of relations with the state by Russian small entrepreneurs and, in particular, the success of state support provided to small businesses during the pandemic. The data for the analysis were obtained during the summer (2021) survey of 580 small business owners, a sample of which was formed from the database of the Institute's project "Public Opinion Foundation" "Sociology of Small Business (SMBiz Project)". This database was gained in years of all-Russian population surveys conducted on random samples. The main hypotheses of the study were confirmed. They are formulated as follows: (1) Small business is not homogeneous in its attitude to the policy pursued by the state, which can be influenced by different circumstances and factors (experience in business, its success, location, etc.). (2) Participation in certain state support programs increases the level of confidence in the state and has a positive effect on the assessment of its policy. (3) The measures implemented by the Russian state during the pandemic have had different coverage and different effectiveness in the perception of their beneficiaries. In the concluding part, evidence and recommendations are formulated for the bodies implementing the policy on SMEs in Russia.

FUNCTIONS OF STATE REGISTRIES OF NPOS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD SECTOR: RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE

Development of the third sector in Russia is accompanied with its maintenance of open-access state registries of non-profit organizations. Compared to the NPO registries in other countries, those in Russia appeared 10-15 years later and became new tools for the development of the non-profit sector. The purpose of this article is to categorize the functions of NPO registries in other countries, as well as suggest those attributed to Russian NPO registries. The following hypothesis is put forward in the article: Russian NPO registries have similar functions as registries in other countries, but they are currently not being fully implemented. There are four registries in the focus of the research: the registry of NPOs by the Ministry of Justice of Russia and three types of registries of socially oriented NPOs – recipients of state support, providers of social services, and providers of social care services. The research was carried out by analyzing legal acts which set up the registries, as well as analyzing the registries located on the Internet. The following functions have been suggested: collecting, systematizing and disclosing the information on the third sector; aggregating the data on supply and demand for NPO services; promoting cooperation of NPOs with the state and intersectoral partnerships; promoting government support to NPOs; as well as ensuring accountability of NPOs to the state and society. The hypothesis was confirmed: the functions are not fully implemented due to the lack of clearly defined goals when setting up registries, weaknesses of their structure and formats. Several recommendations were formulated to enhance the system of existing registries and their structure.

LINKING DISTRUST OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR TO AWARENESS OF COVID-19: THE COVID DISSIDENCE PHENOMENON

In this study, we analyze the correlation between trust in government and official information with individual compliance to recommended measures, and between attitudes to government measures and people's behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic. We identified a group of respondents who refused categorically to believe in the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia – COVID-19 dissidents. They not only deny the pandemic but also refuse to comply with pandemic rules and restrictions. Then, based on seven national samples covering a combined total of 40,700 people in all regions of Russia, we established a link between the level of distrust of the public sector and the level of COVID-19 dissidence by means of linear regression. We proved that COVID-19 dissidents don’t trust official statistics and believe in low infection risks. They provide low evaluation of the medical aid quality which leads to underestimation of the risk of being infected and COVID-19 compliance rules. We recommend governments consider restoring citizens’ trust as one of the priorities in fighting the pandemic, alongside battling misinformation that feeds conspiracy beliefs. The level of public trust in government decisions is a critical factor that speeds up mass vaccinations and contributes to a quick exit from the pandemic crisis.