Methodological Approach to the Formation of the System of Criteria

and Indicators of Economic Security at the Regional Level

E. V. Gradoboev

and I. Yu. Solskaya

ISMAPgE – Branch Campus of the FSBEI FPE RMACPE MOH Russia,, Yubileiny Avenue, 100, Irkutsk, Russia

Irkutsk State Transport University, Chernishevsky Str., 15, Irkutsk, Russia

Keywords: Regional Socio-economic System, Socio-economic System Structure, Threats, Status Indicators, Thresholds,

Development Trends.

Abstract: Domestic scientists have repeatedly studied the issues of assessing the state of the regional socio-economic

system. The results of these studies have been reflected in numerous scientific publications and strategic

documents of the Government of the Russian Federation. Permanent changes in the economic conditions of

individual groups of economic agents, as well as the development of exogenous conditions of national socio-

economic systems functioning, imply the emergence of new threats to the sustainability and risks to the

functioning of socio-economic systems at all levels. The article proposes the development of established

methodological approaches to analyzing and assessing the state of economic security at the regional level and,

in particular, to the selection and justification of the system of criteria and indicators of the state of regional

socio-economic systems. Based on the key premise of the necessity and possibility of balanced development

of the region, trends of national security, and consideration of exogenous threats, the formation of the system

of indicators - factors that characterize different spheres of life of the region - is proposed. Each sphere of life

activity can be characterized by potential risks and threats in terms of deviation from thresholds. The

assessment of the "quality of life" as the main component of the social component of the socio-economic

system is proposed as an indicator of the state of the region's socio-economic system.

1 INTRODUCTION

The prerequisite for forming the methodological

approach to the study and selection of criteria and

indicators assessed within the state of economic

security of the region was the axiom about the need

for balance and sustainability of the national

economy. A balanced and sustainable national

economy means a balanced and sustainable state of

interaction between:

 National and global economies; at this level,

foreign economic security is interpreted as a

state of the economy in which the necessary

balance between openness and closedness of

the national economy (its involvement in the

world economy) and the ability to

sustainability and development is not

violated (Pushkareva, 2018);

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9149-2439

 Subjects and structures within the national

economic system; in this context, intra-

economic security is a state of the economy

in which the necessary balance of the

economic system, as a way of ordering,

organizing, and self-organizing the

economic life of the country and its ability

to sustainability and development, including

in the geo-economic space, is not violated

(Ekonomicheskaya bezopasnost' Rossii,

2018).

Thus, theoretically, the region's economic security

as a subject of the national economic system acts as a

dynamic concept of balanced and sustainable

economic development of the entire national socio-

economic system, supported at the mesolevel, and

formed to counteract threats formed at the regional

level and inter-regional interaction.

Gradoboev, E. and Solskaya, I.

Methodological Approach to the Formation of the System of Criteria and Indicators of Economic Security at the Regional Level.

DOI: 10.5220/0010664800003223

In Proceedings of the 1st International Scientiﬁc Forum on Sustainable Development of Socio-economic Systems (WFSDS 2021), pages 115-122

ISBN: 978-989-758-597-5

115

The reasons for the gap in the development of

methodological issues of criteria and indicators of

economic security of the regions various researchers

associate with different circumstances: the lack of

modification of used indicators, characterizing the

economic security of specific regions in modern

conditions, the contradiction of different

methodological positions, the problem of unification

of regional statistical data that are used to assess the

level of regional economic security.

In this case, the author's scientific hypothesis is

that it is proposed to proceed from the formulated

most common views on the economic security of the

region when this term means the state of protection

from external and internal threats, in which economic

conditions for the implementation of strategic

national priorities of the Russian Federation, in

general, are provided, basic criteria for assessing the

state of the socio-economic system (Ukaz Prezidenta

Rossijskoj Federacii from 31.12.2015 №683), as well

as indicators of stability of regional socio-economic

system of the region(Karanina Е, 2017;

Innovacionnoe upravlenie tekhnologicheskim

razvitiem promyshlennosti regiona, 2018).

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The key legislative provisions of the Russian

Federation are formulated based on the fact that the

content of economic security includes not only

assessment but also the management of the state of

sustainability of national and regional socio-

economic system ("ensuring economic security -

implementation by public authorities, local

authorities and the Central Bank of the Russian

Federation in cooperation with civil society

institutions of a complex of political, organizational,

socio-economic, informational, legal and other

measures aimed at countering challenges and threats

to economic security and protection of national

interests of the Russian Federation in the economic

sphere").

Therefore, the selection and justification of

criteria and indicators for assessing the socio-

economic system of the region require a deeper

disintegration of the objects of analysis, including the

level of system-forming subsystems.

In practice, the system of national accounts

(SNA), which, under the methodological provisions

on statistics, is a system of interrelated indicators used

to analyze and assess macroeconomic processes in

more than 150 countries with market economies

(Building the System of National Accounts, 2014),

and used as a system of target indicators of economic

development.

The system of national accounts employs the

grouping of economic agents by sectors, which is a

set of institutional units with similar objectives,

homogeneous in terms of functions performed and

sources of financing, which determines their similar

economic behavior. It should be noted that production

and income generation accounts are compiled not

only by the economy as a whole and by sectors but

also by industries. Aggregation of indicators at the

mesolevel makes it possible to assess the state of

sectoral production complexes. The methodological

problem is as follows:

 On the one hand, the production and income

generation accounts are not generated

regionally. Therefore, their use as an

information base for selecting criteria for

assessing the targets of sustainable

development of the region is problematic.

 On the other hand, aggregating indicators does

not at all imply simply summing up threats and

hazards.

Therefore, in our opinion, it is erroneous to form

the economic security model of the socio-economic

system of the region based on disaggregated

evaluation criteria used in the economic security

model of the national socio-economic system.

Moreover, as a rule, the current budgetary and tax

legislation does not take into account the industry

specifics of the region, the specifics of productive

forces location within the formed financial and

industrial groups, natural monopolies, transnational

companies. Hence, the system of criteria and

indicators involves significant differences in

threshold values for different regions.

The analysis of methodological approaches to the

assessment of economic security of socio-economic

systems has allowed us to formulate the basic

provisions used to form a system of criteria and

indicators, namely:

 Economic security is as hierarchical as security

in the most general sense;

 The concept of economic security is complex,

as it includes the main types of security;

 The subjects affecting the state of economic

security are the threat sources themselves, as

well as the interaction between them;

 An essential role in the formation of economic

security at all levels is played by the state

administration, including the system of state

regulation of economic relations.

As an element (subsystem) of the macroeconomic

system of the national economy, the region is

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connected and dependent on other regions. Therefore,

the complex and multi-level system of economic

security involves studying its state not only at the

macro level but also at the level of individual

territorial entities, i.e., at the mesolevel. Therefore, it

seems fair to conclude that economic security is

presented as a system of different levels: macro-level

- national, mesolevel - regional, micro-level -

economic entity, individual.

The regional socio-economic system, being a link

between micro and macro levels, has the property of

integrity and uniqueness by virtue of its attachment to

specific natural and climatic conditions. In addition,

the regions have significant autonomy and powers in

the economic and legal spheres. Assessing the

existing model of regional governance as

insufficiently effective, the researchers conclude that

this model has led to the fact that, for a long time, the

development rate of the regions productive sector has

been many times higher than the rate of social

evolution, assessed by most domestic scientists based

on the integral criterion "quality of life"

(Rossoshanskij, 2016).

The peculiarity of assessing economic security at

the mesolevel is that the region is a complex integral

socio-economic and political entity, part of the state's

unified socio-economic and political system.

Accordingly, when solving the problems of economic

security of the region, one should take into account

the criteria related both to the state as a whole and to

the specifics of economic security of individual

organizations and enterprises operating in this region.

The economic security essence of a region's socio-

economic system consists of the ability and capacity

of its economy to improve the social sphere (quality

of life of the population), which is subject to the

influence of internal and external threats. Thus, the

object of assessing the economic security of the

socio-economic system of the region is the social

system considered in the location of the region's

territory and all elements of its economy within this

territory.

It is fundamentally important to understand that

the economic security of the socio-economic system

of the region should be considered as a projection of

the problem of ensuring national economic security at

the regional level. Accordingly, the economic

security on the meso-level is provided by identifying

and preventing actions of internal and external threats

in the economic, social, environmental,

informational, and other spheres of life of the region

on the state of the socio-economic system of the

region.

Therefore, quantitative and qualitative criteria of

the state of the national socio-economic system (and

their thresholds, exceeding which causes a threat to

the country's economic security) should also be valid

for the meso-level.

We believe that quantitative criteria developed for

the country as a whole should be disintegrated for

each of its regions. In this case, the composition of

criteria and indicators of economic security of the

Russian Federation of the socio-economic system of

the region should correspond to the corresponding

components of criteria and indicators in part relating

to the economy and national interests of Russia as a

whole. Qualitative indicators of the state of the

national socio-economic system - indicators should

be formulated, first of all, considering the uniqueness

of the social component of the regional socio-

economic system.

3 RESEARCH RESULTS

Based on research and systematization of quantitative

assessment indicators - economic security criteria and

for localization of possible threats to the social

subsystem of the regional socio-economic system

such areas of life as economy, health care, education

and culture, environmental situation, law

enforcement system are highlighted.

The author's methodological approach to the

selection of criteria and indicators is based on the

following provisions:

 The integral characteristics of the state of the

social sphere, corresponding to the spheres of

functional impact on the quality of life, were

chosen as criteria;

 The values of the criteria are formed depending

on the values of quantitative indicators - factors

associated with a particular area of functional

impact;

 Trends in the factors characterize the

probability of potential threats to the quality of

life;

 The most likely threats to the quality of life are

quantified by the development of trends within

(or beyond) the

Based on the set of criterion values, it is possible to

judge the presence of a critical level of threats arising

in a particular area of functional impact. The

aggregate values of the criteria make it possible to

judge the presence of probable consequences for the

state of the "quality of life" indicator (Table 1).

As early as 1997, experts of the Security Council

of the Russian Federation developed an approximate

Methodological Approach to the Formation of the System of Criteria and Indicators of Economic Security at the Regional Level

117

Table 1: Most likely threats to the regional socio-economic system, affecting the quality of life.

Scope of

functional

impact

Integral

characteristic of

the state of the

social sphere

Indicator - factor Trend Most likely threats

Economy Population well-

being

Gross domestic product, RUB

mln

Decrease Decrease below

threshold, %

Official unemployment rate, % Decrease Decrease below

threshold, %

Ratio of average per capita cash

income to the subsistence

minimum, %

Decrease Decrease below

threshold, %

Population with incomes below

the subsistence minimum, %

Decrease Decrease below the

subsistence minimum,

Social

conditions of

life

Total floor area of residential

premises per resident, m2

Decrease, m2 per

inhabitant

Commissioning of residential

uildin

s, m2

Decrease, m2

Level of housing amenities

(gas, water, sewerage, heating,

tele

hone

)

, %

Decrease to

level,%

Health State of health Life expectancy at birth, years decrease (-), years Decrease below the

established level,

ears

Natural increase, population

decrease

decrease (-), pers. Decrease below

threshold, %

population loss, pers. decrease (-), pers. Decrease below

threshold, %

Capacity of outpatient clinics,

thousand visits per shift;

Decrease,

thousand visits

er shift

Decrease below the

normative level, %

Education and

culture

Educational and

cultural level

Graduation of specialists by

specialized secondary and

higher educational institutions,

thousand people;

Decrease, pers. -

Number of visits to cultural

institutions (theatres, museums,

exhibitions) per 1,000 people

decrease, number

of visits per 1,000

eople.

- Ecology Environmental

situation

Air pollutant emissions from

stationary sources, thousand

tonnes

Increase, thousand

tonnes

Increase above MPC

levels, thousand tonnes

Law

enforcement

subs

stem

Moral state of

society

Number of registered crimes

per 100,000 people

Increase, crimes

per 100,000

list of indicators - factors for determining the criteria

of national economic security of the Russian

Federation (Lukin, 2021). Researchers criticize the

developed system of criteria and their thresholds

precisely to evaluate the integral criterion "quality of

life" (Mulugeta Tesfaye Teshome, 2019). Thus,

Andrey Illarionov, in his article "Economic Security

Indicators by S. Glazev's Methodology" notes that

"the threshold value of the indicator "volume of gross

domestic product" of 75% of the average for the G7

countries (and equivalent in 1996 to 1670 billion

dollars at PPP in prices of 1993) does not meet not

only Russia but also all the countries of the modern

world except for the three largest - the United States,

China, and Japan. Therefore, if we follow the

methodology of S. Glazyev, it turns out that

according to this indicator, almost 99% of countries

and more than 72% of the world's population are

"behind the critical line" of economic security"

(Illarionov, 1996).

Generalization of the information presented in

various training and methodological materials

allowed us to compile Table 2, developed by the

author and characterizing various aspects of

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functional systematization of the criteria of threats to

economic security in the socio-economic system of

the region. In constructing Table 2, we formed the

author's idea of the content of the set of classification

attributes corresponding to the security threats to the

main spheres of life of the social subsystem of the

socio-economic system of the region, which includes

social and economic components.

Table 2: Grouping of threats to the main spheres of life and their likely consequences for the socio-economic system of the

region.

Functional

group of

criterion

formation

The most likely

threats

Likely

implications

Possible and feasible measures

counteraction (FTP. funded from the

federal budget as of 2020, regional

rams, etc.

)

Econom

GRP Fall in GRP Deindustrialization of the

economy

State and regional regulation of economic

development. Federal target programs for

the development of territories (FTP

"South of Russia (2014 - 2020)"

(approved by Russian Government

Resolution No. 1297 of December 26,

2013, "Economic and Social

Development of the Far East and Trans-

Baikal Region for the period until 2018"

(approved by Russian Government

Resolution No. 480 of April 15, 1996),

etc.

)

Innovations Reduced regional

budget revenues

for science

develo

ment

Technological backwardness,

destruction of intellectual

potential

Increased allocation for the

implementation of innovative projects

FEA Increased share of

imported

products, the

reduced share of

manufacturing in

the region's

orts

Dependence of the region's

livelihoods on imported

products, colonial (raw

material) economic structure

Targeted agro-industrial development

Strengthening of

differentiation in

incomes of the

population by

regions

Weakening of intraregional

ties, extinction of territories

(municipalities)

Fiscal and budgetary management

Intergovernmental fiscal transfer system

Shadow

economy

Increase in the

share of the illegal

sector in the GRP

structure

Decline in the country's

economic development,

reduction of budget revenues

Strengthening the fight against

corruption, tax regulation

Centralization

(globalizati

on)

Reduced

competitiveness

of local producers

Curtailment of production by

local producers

Implementation of programs to prepare

industries and production facilities for

integration into the global production

stem

State of the

biosphere

Global

environmental

pollution

Increased number and

severity of emergencies and

disasters

Improvement of measures to prevent

environmental pollution and technogenic

accidents Federal Target Program

"Protection of Lake Baikal and Socio-

Economic Development of the Baikal

Natural Area for 2012 - 2020 Federal

Target Program "Ensuring Nuclear and

Radiation Safety for 2016 - 2020 and for

the Period until 2030

Methodological Approach to the Formation of the System of Criteria and Indicators of Economic Security at the Regional Level

119

Table 2: Grouping of threats to the main spheres of life and their likely consequences for the socio-economic system of the

region (cont.).

Functional

group of

criterion

formation

The most likely

threats

Likely

implications

Possible and feasible measures

counteraction (FTP. funded from the

federal budget as of 2020, regional

rams, etc.

)

Social s

here

Population

growth

Decrease in

natural increase

Depopulation Increase in allocations to the Federal

Target Program "Development of

Physical Culture and Sports in the

Russian Federation for 2016 - 2020".

Fertility Declining fertility

rate

Depopulation

Social burden Increase in the

share of people of

retirement age

Aging population Increase in the retirement age

Funds ratio

(decile)

Increase in the

gap between

maximum and

minimum

incomes of the

opulation

Antagonization of the social

structure

Tax regulation, improvement of social

programs, state support for vulnerable

segments of the population

Wages Decrease in the

degree of excess

of the average

wage in the region

over the

subsistence level

Decrease in the motivational

function of wages, drop in

labor productivity

Unemployment Increase in the

share of the

unemploye

Dequalification of the labour

force

Improvement of the training and

retraining system

Deviant

behaviour

Increase in crime

rates, rates of

alcohol

consumption

Criminalization of society,

physical and mental

degradation of society

Promotion of healthy lifestyles,

involvement of young people in the

implementation of public and

government programs Federal Target

Program "Development of the Penal and

Correctional S

stem

(

2018 - 2026

)

Legitimacy of

power

Decreased level of

public confidence

in regional and

local authorities

Alienation of power from the

people

Increasing the degree of information

openness of the authorities. State

Program "Information Society". Target

Program "Development of Information

Technologies in the Irkutsk Region"

Population

rowth

Decrease in

natural increase

Depopulation Increase in allocations to the Federal

Target Program "Development of

Physical Culture and Sports in the

Russian Federation for 2016 - 2020".

Fertility Declining fertility

rate

Depopulation

Social burden Increase in the

share of people of

retirement a

Aging population Increase in the retirement age

Economic security of the region, as a subject of

the Russian Federation, is a component of the

economic security of the entire state, since the

subjects of the Russian Federation are not only public

entities, but also, from the perspective of the

economy, integral socio-economic entities and,

therefore, should be considered as part of the

economic system of Russia. It is natural that there is

no absolute economic security for the state and its

regions (as well as for the whole society and

individuals), because there are always some external

and internal threats to the economic system of any

country.

Therefore, the functional grouping of criteria

presented in Table 2, as well as the potential

consequences of factors going beyond the threshold

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120

values can be detailed when the impact of any of the

threats increases, supplemented or reduced when

additional threats to national economic security arise,

or when the probability of any of them decreases.

4 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

Based on the results summarized in Table 1 and Table

2, we can conclude that the economic security

criteria, their thresholds, and assessment

methodology is an evolving and methodologically

adjusted system of indicators, reflecting the strategic

development objectives of the region at a certain

stage of development of both the state and the world

community.

We believe that, in the context of resolving

theoretical contradictions that have led to the

problems of methodological approaches to the

selection of criteria and indicators for assessing the

economic security of the socio-economic system at

the regional level, it is necessary to specify the subject

of research, defining the way (principle) of

subsystems allocation in the socio-economic system

of the Russian Federation. As such, it is advisable to

consider the allocation of subsystems as the subject

allocation of regions of the Russian Federation when

the subject is allocated under the requirements of

budget and tax regulation (Osnovnye napravleniya

byudzhetnoj, nalogovoj i tamozhenno-tarifnoj

politiki, 2021).

Assuming that a prerequisite for the

implementation of national strategic objectives in the

field of economic security is the presence of a certain

critical level of health protection, Article 41 of the

Russian Constitution guarantees to every citizen the

right to health protection and free medical care in

state (municipal) institutions, which is implemented

through the payment of insurance premiums, budget

funds, and other revenues.

Based on the identified contradictions of

normative provision of strategic development tools

and problems of practical implementation of strategic

tools of public administration, it is logical to assume

that the level of health care development can be used

as a tool for analysis, assessment, and development of

economic security of a subject of the Russian

Federation.

From the summary of the formulated above

methodological ideas about the composition of

criteria and indicators of economic security of the

socio-economic system of the region, we can consider

that the main factor that provides interconnection and

interaction of subsystems, integrating the region as a

unified socio-economic system, is the activity of

people. Human is an organic part of each of the

subsystems. It is part of nature, the main component

of the productive forces of the national economy, and,

finally, part of the population, as it forms the socio-

territorial community proper through connections and

relations with other people.

5 CONCLUSION

The conducted study of the criteria and indicators of

economic security of the region's socio-economic

system allows us to judge the health sector as the most

important element of the region's socio-economic

system, the management of which will make it

possible to achieve the goals indicated in the strategic

programs for ensuring economic security.

Taking into account the formulated scientific

hypothesis, it can be considered that the state of

health care development as a tool to assess and ensure

economic security of the socio-economic system of

the region should be considered as a particular object

of modeling in the framework of the present study.

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