This is a printed version of the report presented by the author at the Extended Session of the Rosstat Board on 27 February 2018 in Moscow. The introductory part of the paper includes key objectives of the «Digital Economy of the Russian Federation» program that is aimed primarily at the transition of official statistics into improved technological foundation under the federal data management system. The digital analytical platform is a tool for creating such a system. Issues related to reducing the respondent burden can be addressed by using new technology. The author reviews basic directions for measuring the digital economy. The article considers the question of how the transformation of economic relations under the influence of the digital economy calls for changes in both the system of statistical indicators and the methodological approaches to their measurement. Characteristics of the interaction with the users of official statistical information, improving the expertise of specialists working in state statistics and the overall level of statistical literacy are amply discussed.

Statistics of mergers and acquisitions is a traditional direction of international statistics and a new direction of Russian statistical science. In accordance with recommendations of Eurostat and Organization of economic cooperation and development (OECD) for improving Russian business statistics as regards to methodological approaches to measuring integration activity of economic entities, the authors examined key directions of processing and analyzing information about integration transactions which contribute to the development of statistics on mergers and acquisitions in the Russian Federation. The paper presents statistical analysis of integration processes and primary development trends in the Russian market of mergers and acquisitions amid economic sanctions and import substitution, along with the econometric approach to measuring integration activity of Russian business entities. The article covers main directions of the statistics accounting and analyses different aspects of integration activities of the economic entities. The authors formulated suggestions for improving collection and processing of the data on integration transactions and suggested new approaches to collecting and processing data on merges and acquisitions for a more comprehensive and timely reflection of economic integration at the national and international levels in the global transformation processes. To classify sectors (branches) of the Russian economy by the level of their integration activity the authors developed a toolkit that is based on splitting the mixture model for probability distribution that allows identifying integrative branches of the national economy before and after economic sanctions against the Russian Federation were imposed.

This article presents results of non-quantitative observations and their processing methods, which significantly widen the analytical capabilities of the statistical measurement of the Russian IT market. There is a need to expand statistical tools to reflect current and future sectoral development trends in the IT sphere promptly and broadly, due to the rapid penetration of these services into the Russian market. With the help of business climate indicators and different homogeneous behavior models the author analyzed business trends in the financial and economic activities of IT organizations, highlighting their operating characteristics within the various cyclical episode of 2010-2017.

The article is devoted to analysis of international experience in compilation of regional accounts and in particular the experience of such countries as the USA, Canada and Netherland which implement the provisions of the SNA 2008. Special attention is paid to the methodology of estimation of gross regional product (GRP) which may present interest for Russian statistics: method of computation of GRP, valuation, treatment of enterprises in extraterritorial enclaves, sources of data, coordination of estimates of GRP and GDP for the country as a whole. The article contains consideration of possible directions in improving Russian regional statistics which is used by government bodies for analysis of regional economy, investment attractiveness of regions, for taking decisions on providing subsidies to regions and other questions of economic policy.

This article reviews the following aspects of statistical study of wages of various consumer groups of employees (workers) of the leading constituent entity of the Russian Federation that is the city of Moscow: - place and role of Moscow in terms of its wage level among other constituent entities of the Russian Federation and Russian economy in general are determined; - the distribution of employed persons in Moscow by consumer groups according to their wages is calculated, issues concerning people who are working in Moscow are identified; - in detail are considered the scale and dynamics of the employed with the wages of at or below the poverty line, the role of the following characteristics is defined: mode , median, average wage of distribution series in assessing the extent of poverty of employees (workers);- the author examined the issues of correlation between the federal and regional subsistence minimum and the way they are accounted for in the formation of minimum wage at both the federal and regional levels. On the basis of concrete calculations, it was concluded that the city of Moscow should start using the regional minimum wage as the main for employees of organizations that are financed not only from the regional but also from the federal budgets. In this regard, the state statistical bodies are invited to introduce systematic record of the process of reducing the number of employees who are paid a wage that is below not only federal but also regional minimum level; - the paper studies the scope and dynamics of the most rapidly growing consumer group with wages above the poverty line, as well as the group of the middle class, which still does not exert a proper influence on the economic development of the capital; - a lot of attention is given to the analysis of the degree of inequality in the remuneration of Muscovites and the role of the second prosperous group, that encompasses the number of employees with earnings above the level of the middle class. An important place occupies the analysis of the dynamics of the number and average wages of high-paid groups of employees (workers) with earnings of 1 million roubles and more. The author emphasizes the influence that a dynamic group of employees (workers) with high wages has on increasing the polarization of the distribution of employees on the poor and the rich; - the distribution of the employees by consumer groups is analyzed, based on their remuneration level by economic activity and ownership types; - the author raises question of the influence of unaccounted «gray» and «black» earnings on the real scale of poverty and wealth of employees (workers); - the paper suggests a way of accounting for «shadow» earnings in the questionnaire survey of the working population in the Rosstat Labour Force Survey.

The paper is based on the results of the Joint OECD/UNECE Seminar on Implementation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) which was held in Geneva on February 21-22, 2018. The authors - the seminar participants, presented brief overview of the seminar agenda, its goals and objectives, and outlined the contents of their presentations on the current condition and prospects of introducing the SEEA into the Russian Federation official statistics. The paper highlights the significance of the document adopted in 2012 by the UN Statistical Commission - «System of EnvironmentalEconomic Accounting 2012. Central Framework». It is recognised as an international statistical standard and is applied in many countries of the world to describe the interaction between the economy and the environment, and the stocks and changes in stocks of environmental assets. It is noted that publication in 2017 of the revised official Russian translation of the SEEA Central Framework was especially significant, for its terminology is harmonised with the notions of the national legislation and coordinated with all the main institutions engaged in environmental issues. Considering an important role of natural resources in the Russian economy the authors identify the following priority areas of the SEEA implementation in our country: development of environmental assets accounts and resource productivity measurement. The paper characterises principal phases of a research and development programme on monetary evaluation of environmental assets and resource rent calculation method to be used in valuation of fossil mineral and energy resources on the basis of statistical survey that was launched in 2018. Significant attention is paid to considering the experience of the Research Institute «Cadaster» (city of Yaroslavl) in research and development of accounting and economic evaluation of natural resources and the damage to the environment that were conducted on the basis of the SEEA methodology. It is noted that insufficiency of comprehensive enough data sources poses a significant challenge in solving the outlined tasks. The paper presents the overall characteristic of the Cadaster Institute activities in ecosystem services assessment in the regions of Russia. Summing up, the authors determine the main tasks of the SEEA implementation in Russia that goes in line with the UNECE and OECD seminar recommendations: design of the SEEA architecture adapted to the Russian conditions; application of the SEEA methodology for addressing current issues of economic policy; introduction of new data sources and their harmonisation with the existing statistical standards and classifications; joining efforts of Rosstat, ministries and government agencies to promote knowledge on the SEEA methodology within a wide range of information users; creating the conditions for inter-agency cooperation.

 

This article addresses the 80th anniversary of the birth of Yaroslav V. Sokolov - a professor, a world-renowned Russian scientist famous for his contribution to the development of theory and practice of accounting. The paper covers the scientist’s approaches, views and theoretical positions with regard to certain branches of economic statistics and statistical accounting that are still relevant today. The authors focus on those theses of Sokolov’s scientific research that referred to the need for coordination and harmonization of accounting and statistics within the integrated information space for different levels of management. The evolution of Sokolov’s views on the perception and interpretation of statistical data by the scientific community is considered. The paper analyses problems of humanizing statistical information and the place of statistics in the information space.