Local Government Budgeting Reforms in Russia: Implications and Tensions (BUDRUS), 2017

This project focused on research in the field of budgeting especially local government budgeting reforms in Russia. The primary objective was to strengthen research competence in producing high quality scientific knowledge in the field of public sector reforms in Russia, their implications on budgeting processes and transformation of local government institutions. The knowledge developed is of relevance to the actors involved in the Norwegian-Russian cooperation, the international scientific community, various authorities, professionals, as well as society at large.

The BUDRUS-project consists of subprojects. This dataset includes data from the PhD project "Budget, Strategy and Accounting. Managing institutional change in Russia's governments" (Igor Khodachek). In its four articles, this thesis addressed institutional change in Russia's governments. The fifth article reflects on the other four and summarizes its findings. While descending from macro to micro level, the studies employ various empirical evidences from public sector reform concepts, budget provisions and regional strategies to participant observation notes and in-depth interview transcripts. The findings of the thesis are relevant both for public sector practitioners and for government accounting researchers. The broader international audience may find the relevance of the thesis in its contribution to the accountingization literature. Apart from accounting, the thesis develops such concepts as budget, strategy, New Public Management (NPM) and hybrids. The historical accounts of the thesis unveil the roots of centralisation and personalisation of governance in contemporary Russia, connecting these features of the Russian context to the period of the Golden Horde (the Tatars) and the Soviet legacy (centralised planning).