Social Policy as an Innovative Factor: the Case of Regional Development

The style of Tomsk regional administrationcould be characterized as liberal paternalism. Regional economic policy has never demonstratedthe tendency to restore quasi socialism amidst the emerging free market. At the same time the regionalpolicy has perceptively been pro - middle class and innovation friendly.However, among external factors somewhat inhibiting regional social initiatives especially importantare:‐ The prevailing federal monopoly over the social policy as a whole‐ Disproportional distribution of tax money between the regions of the Russian Federation andthe federal center‐ Federal selectiveness towards the regions of the Russian Federation and rather different attitudetowards the latterAt the same time, recent social and economic crisis demonstrated that the regional authoritieswere not operating strictly within the framework of sheer administrating for the crisis itself has beennot only dampered but has been used as a starting point for speeding up the innovations in Tomskregion.

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