The article considers a wide range of questions pertaining to possible and applicable harmonization of business accounting and the SNA which would, if implemented, facilitate the improvement of the information base for the compilation of national accounts and consistency of analysis of economy at micro and macro levels. The authors note that total harmonization of the two systems of information cannot be achieved due to diff erences in their key objectives. The harmonization of selected indicators and classifi cation, however, is possible and useful. In this context, the views on this matter of internationally-recognized national accounts experts, such as R. Ruggles (the USA) and F. Bos (the Netherlands), are commented on. A comparative analysis of concepts and defi nitions of some indicators of both systems is presented in the article. In particular, the diff erences between the income defi nitions. For instance, it is noted that the SNA defi nition of income is based on the concept developed by J. Hiсks and it excludes income from sales of assets and holding gains, whereas in business accounting this method is not adopted. The diff erences between two systems in defi nitions of sale of output, input, profi t and methods of valuation of indicators are also described in the article. The authors substantiate the possible directions and sequence of individual steps to the harmonization of the SNA and business accounting in the Russian Federation. They emphasize the need for close interaction between Rosstat and the Ministry of Finance of Russia in carrying out this vital work, which is necessary for creating single information, statistical and methodological space in Russia, to improve the quality of statistics and accounting, analytical work in general and management decisions.

The article elaborates on the macro-analysis as related to the aggregated National Transfer Accounts (NTA), the topic originated in the prior publications in Voprosy Statistiki journal (Issues 4 and 11 of 2019), and builds upon the research conducted by HSE National Research University in 2020 as part of Russia’s participation in the global National Transfer Accounts project. The author explored various models of funding the economic life cycle deficit (various support system), adopted by separate groups of economies, through the lens of population savings in these countries. The article was profoundly examined how “excessive” household consumption is supported by public transfers and the correlation between the scale of such transfers and the household sector’s appetite for savings. By taking this research angle, the author aimed to develop deeper understanding of the underlying forces that drive savings into investments within the household sector. The author summarized key parameters of aggregated NTA for Russia in 2017–2019 to produce early quantitative assessments of the deficit funding structure. A closer look into relations between the funding models and incomes saved by population allowed to make cross-country comparisons and map Russia in global environment. The article discussions will be useful to the readers with an interest in demographic studies and socio-economics.

The article presents the results of a study aimed at proving the existence of systematic error in traditional calculations of long-term growth rates of agricultural production based on chain indices of agricultural production. According to the authors, the article also introduces a more accurate assessment of its dynamics with the account to the structure of the relationship between prices and the volume of agricultural production. The paper describes a theoretical model that is a methodological basis for the study and explains the discrepancy in assessing the dynamics of agricultural production using chain indices and indexes at constant prices. It allows establishing differences in the ratios of the Laspeyres, Paasche, and Lowe indices for crop and livestock production, due to factors in the formation of demand and the complex structure of the relationship between the price level and the volume of production. The adequacy of the constructed theoretical model is proved based on aggregated data that eliminated the influence of incompleteness of the initial information. As a result, it was established that livestock production is characterized by time-distributed changes in prices and quantity of products, which makes it possible to assess its dynamics using both chain indices and symmetric indices. It is proved that the dynamics of crop production cannot be adequately described using chain indices, since a positive correlation of prices of the previous period and production volumes of the current period causes an overstatement of the index in comparable prices of the previous year. Based on calculations within the proposed aggregated model, it is proved that the use of constant prices as the Lowe index weights, updated every five years, is an acceptable approximation of the Fisher symmetric index. Application of the indicated methodology for calculating the index to the data on Russian agricultural production by main types of products in 1990-2018 allowed to establish an overstatement of dynamics by 11.9%. The main difference falls on crop production (+ 19.6%), while for livestock - the differences are insignificant (-0.7%).

The article reflects some of the results of the author’s research on improving the accuracy of statistical assessments of inter-regional differences in the standard of living of the Russian population. Regional differences that have taken place over the past 15 years in the Russian Federation are measured using important indicators of living standards such as average per capita monetary income and final consumption per capita. The author states that the inter-regional differences in the period under review, although present, were quite small and relatively stable over time. Treatment of the results from international comparisons conducted under the auspices of the OECD and according to the author’s calculations related to a set of Russian regions confirms the presence of the Balassa-Samuelson effect. The adjustment of indicators under review to the territorial price index is carried out, as a result of which the level of differentiation of regions becomes noticeably lower, in full accordance with this effect. At the same time, the order of regions in the series ranked by cost of living indicators changes slightly, which leads to the conclusion that the reduction of differentiation by taking into account inter-regional differences in the price level is mainly due to the compression of the range of changes in the monetary indicators of living standards. To check the adequacy of the obtained conclusions, a comparative inter-regional analysis was carried out using some indicators that reflect the standard of living, such as per capita consumption of meat and meat products, housing security, and average life expectancy at birth. To obtain a comparative benchmark for the same set of differentiation measures, differences in living standards are measured for the aggregate of countries in the world as a whole and the aggregate of EU countries in particular. According to the author, the comprehensive use of methods and techniques for inter-regional statistical analysis of the well-being of the population confirms a positive trend in the implementation of one of the directions of current Russian socio-economic policy.

The article reveals some aspects of one of the latest trends in increasing the analytical capabilities of modern socio-economic statistics - the formation of business demography. The relevance of substantiating the statistical and methodological base for studying the processes of creation, stability and liquidation of economic entities is obvious due to the fact that such demographic characteristics of the life cycle of enterprises are increasingly becoming markers of the quality of the country’s economic development as a whole. The authors consider the main provisions of the methodology for the formation of business demography indicators in accordance with the Eurostat and OECD recommendations. Based on official Rosstat data, the dynamics of the rates of creation (birth rates) and liquidation (death rates) of organizations both in Russia as a whole and in federal districts and types of economic activity has been analyzed. Statistical analysis of business survey data indicates the inconsistency and variability of the business climate, the differentiation between regions and sectors of the economy in terms of business demography, as well as the manifestation of negative trends that have developed, according to the authors, in Russian entrepreneurship in recent three to four years. Thus, following substantive logic of the author’s conclusions: economic and statistical analysis based on a minimum set of indicators, including using methods of comparative interregional analysis, is very useful for making specific management decisions and choosing the priority of their implementation (depending on the characteristics of individual regions and the nature of the activities of economic entities), allowing to overcome a certain stagnation in the private enterprise sector.

Agriculture is one of the most important branches of the national economy and the main supplier of food and raw materials for many industries. Agricultural sector in Russia has recently been undergoing renewal and growth due to the intensifi cation and application of modern innovative technologies for monitoring the state of fields using satellite images based on computer vision systems. At the same time, there is still a number of problems and challenges that require prompt solutions. One of them is developing new forecasting models and methods for key resulting indicators of agricultural development and have an advantage over existing models. To improve the accuracy of forecasting models, it is necessary to rely on a broad range of available statistical indicators and new modern econometric tools. The paper presents a set of methodological developments for modeling and forecasting crop yields based on the use of new econometric models that allow working with a truncated regression by limiting the range of possible negative values, statistical estimations of the introduced indicators that focus on the ecological component, as well as structural and general economic indicators. The suggested models allow obtaining more accurate forecasts compared to traditional popular models based on the least squares method. The work relies on Rosstat data for 100 agricultural fields located in municipalities of 43 regions of Russia, selected in proportion to the volume of crop production in this region. The results of this study are of interest to international and Russian organizations of various levels, whose activities are related to the issues of making managerial decisions aimed at ensuring food security of the country, improving the level and quality of life of the population, as well as organizations designed to provide modern conditions for farming on the ground.

The article presents some results of the author’s research to assess the impact of several socio-economic factors on life expectancy. As determinants were considered socio-economic factors, namely welfare level, housing provision and nutrition structure, characteristics of the healthcare system, lifestyle indicators, as well as factors that affect comfort and safety of living. These factors are within the scope of several social programs currently being implemented in Russia. The study is based on 2005-2016 data of the Federal State Statistics Service, as well as on information and statistical materials related to the budgets of the regions and territorial compulsory health insurance funds. Additionally, for the analysis, the author used a fixed effects panel model separately for men and women. The article presents estimates of the elasticity of life expectancy to the change of the set of factors. The article shows, in particular, to what extent an increase in healthcare expenditures leads to an increase in life expectancy. Differences in the degree of influence on the life expectancy of an increase in total expenditures on health care and positive changes in the welfare and lifestyle of the country’s population are empirically determined. At the same time, the elasticity coefficients for all the considered factors turned out to be higher in absolute value in the model for men than in the model for women. The author states that in both models the greatest dependence relationship is observed between the life expectancy dynamics and the intensity of the change in well-being characteristics, namely the value of per capita income and the total area of living quarters per inhabitant. Hence, it is concluded that identifying the degree of sensitivity of life expectancy to changes in each of the factors considered can be a useful tool in developing state policy, taking into account regional characteristics, aimed at improving the health of the population.

The article reflects the author’s position on the adjustment of the so-called substitution bias, which affects the value of the consumer price index, currently calculated using the Laspeyres formula. The author proposes a solution to the problem of the adequacy of statistical measurements of the dynamics of consumer prices in the case when, as a result of changing cost of the consumer basket, a buyer replaces a relatively expensive product with a relatively cheaper one. This solution is based on the existing index construction methodology (axiomatic, economic and stochastic approaches). The article substantiates the use of the Törnqvist formula, which has better properties in comparison with other formulae used in the construction of superlative indices. The authors calculated the Törnqvist price index for Russia based on Rosstat methodology and data using country-level quarterly group price indices and shares of consumer spending. To evaluate the results of empirical testing Laspeyres price index was compiled using the same quarterly data as the Törnqvist index. The values of the Törnqvist price index in most cases are less than the price dynamics obtained according to the Laspeyres formula. This conclusion is proved both theoretically and empirically, and it is confirmed for Russia as well. However, due to the non-observance of the conditions of smooth trends in consumer prices, the difference between the values of the Törnqvist and Laspeyres indices is significantly larger in certain quarters than that presented in empirical studies in other countries. Consumer price index, calculated using the Törnqvist formula, in the system of indicators of price statistics in Russia can be defined as an indicator that specifies the main consumer price index. Calculation of its value is necessary for a more realistic description of the processes taking place in the consumer market.

In the introduction of the article, the authors argued the critical relevance of the subject under consideration and described results of studies conducted both by international organizations and individual experts assessing the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic for the European Union and the available information and methodological foundations of a qualitative study of the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The article describes in detail the economic consequences of a coronavirus attack for the European region. The authors analyzed the main barriers to rapid economic recovery, the effects of the European Commission’s anti-crisis actions, short-term trends, forecasts of international organizations, and risks that emerged in the first half of 2020. According to the authors, many anti-crisis measures were taken in the region too gradually and heterogeneously across countries. Economic uncertainty and risks are still high. The divergence of countries, associated with the exit from the coronavirus crisis, is increasing. The authors also analyzed well-known composite indicators of business cycle surveys that reflect the short-term changes in economic sentiments of entrepreneurs and consumers in the European Union and the euro area and are published more quickly than traditional quantitative observations. The authors’ assessments are confirmed by the results of surveys conducted by international and national organizations, which indicate that all negative trends that characterize the «economic anxiety» of European managers and consumers have begun to slow down.

The paper is devoted to one of the most acute problems in the world economy - regional uneven development of agriculture. The author determined the system of indicators that describe the uneven distribution of agricultural production between different regions of the world, studied the factors of efficiency of agricultural production - labor productivity, land productivity, capital productivity (capital return). The article demonstrates further consolidation of the trend of the second half of the XX century that manifested in the redistribution of agricultural production from North America and Europe to Asia, Africa, and Australia. The GDP created in agriculture in Asia already exceeded other regions of the world in 2000, and by 2017 the gap was even wider. Africa, having surpassed Europe in this indicator, ranked second in the world. The unevenness of economic growth in world agriculture manifested itself in the disproportions between the factors of efficiency of agricultural production - labor productivity and land productivity. Labor productivity was lowest in Asia and Africa, and the highest in Australia. Land productivity was characterized by diametrically opposite dynamics: the highest values were achieved in Asia, and the lowest - in Australia. The paper explains the disparity between labor productivity and land productivity by various technological modes of production (TMP) that have historically developed in agriculture in the East and West: land-saving TMP - in the East, and labor-saving TMP - in the West. The influence of informal institutions operating in traditional rural societies on the uneven development of agriculture is also studied. The disproportions in the development of the livestock sector of agricultural production, affecting the regional uneven development of the agricultural economy, are considered. The main forms and methods of organization of the livestock sector - from high-intensity to traditional - are analyzed. Special attention is paid to nomadic cattle breeding, which is currently preserved in various forms in 50 countries of the world. It is considered as a special nomad production mode. The article concludes that there is a need for a multipronged approach to conducting an international comparative analysis of capital productivity (index of capital return) in the agricultural sector of the economy that takes into account capital-labor ration a large-scale increase in labor productivity - a strategically important factor of economic growth in any country in the world.