Russian Federation: Selected Issues
IMF Staff Country Reports, September 12, 2018
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- Russian Federation: Selected Issues
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Bibliographic details
- Published: September 12, 2018
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484376126.002
Summary findings
- The paper focuses on the Russian state's footprint in the economy.
- Available cross-country employment data suggests that the Russian state's is relatively large, like that of Scandinavian countries.
- In sectors where the state's share is high, economic concentration is larger, but concentration is large even in sectors where the state's share is low.
- IMF Staff estimates suggest that the state represented about one third of Russia’s value added (VA) in 2016.
- The Russian state represents close to 40 percent of formal sector activity and 50 percent of formal sector employment.
- SOEs are present in most sectors of activity.
- The state’s share in VA was approximated by its share in sales for market activities, and by employment for nonmarket activities.
- SOEs appear to underperform relative to non-state firms in a variety of economic activities.
State footprint metrics and measurement
- Estimated state share of value added (VA) in 2016: about one third.
- State share approximations:
- For market activities: state share in sales used as proxy for VA.
- For nonmarket activities: employment used as proxy for VA.
- Formal sector involvement:
- Formal sector activity share: close to 40 percent.
- Formal sector employment share: 50 percent.
Competition, concentration, and policy implications
- Cross-sector observations:
- Sectors with high state share exhibit larger economic concentration.
- High concentration is also observed in sectors with low state share.
- Policy recommendation:
- Existing policies to protect and promote competition, including in state procurement, need to be strengthened.
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) performance
- SOEs are ubiquitous across most sectors.
- Empirical observation:
- SOEs appear to underperform relative to non-state firms across a variety of economic activities.
IMF Staff Country Report No. 2018/276; Russian Federation: Selected Issues; September 12, 2018; Pages: 34; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484376126.002
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- Country Report