Subnational Officials and Subnational Development in Contemporary Russia

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel brings together four papers studying subnational elites and regional and local policy outcomes in contemporary Russia. Separately, these papers advance our understanding of the selection of political elites, which factors affect their rewards and punishment, how different types of elites interact with the center and between each other, and how such interactions impact policy outcomes.
In his paper, Buckley untangles the peculiarities of the elite networks in Russia and shows how personal connections can lead to risks or rewards for loyalty and competence. Subsequently, Buckley et al. analyze the prosecution cases against Russian mayors to examine the factors that impact mayors’ arrests. In their respective papers, Garifullina and Gasparyan exploit institutional differences at the local level to study the municipal-level policy outcomes. Garifullina explores the municipal level officials who participated in private-public partnership to estimate which local officials are more willing to make risky choices. Gasparyan studies the interactions between regional and local executives to understand the accountability trade-offs of local officials, and how these trade-off choices impact local development.
Together, these papers provide a more nuanced empirical outlook on what shapes potential risks, rewards and punishment for subnational officials, on the incentives of these officials to perform in different ways (to take risks, to be efficient and competent or to signal their loyalty to the center) and on how these factors can impact regional and local development in contemporary Russia.

Sub Unit

• Division 13: Politics of Communist and Former Communist Countries

Individual Presentations

• Only Best People: Loyalty, Competence, and Connections in Russian Elite Networks - Noah Buckley, Higher School of Economics; Trinity College Dublin

• Staying Out of Trouble: Criminal Cases Against Russian Mayors - Noah Buckley, Higher School of Economics; Trinity College Dublin; Michael Rochlitz; Ora John Reuter, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

• Private-public Partnership in Russian Municipalities: Which Mayors Risk More? - Guzel Garifullina, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Accountability Trade-offs of Russian Mayors - Olga Gasparyan, Hertie School

Chair

• Joshua A. Tucker New York University

Discussants

• David Szakonyi Higher School of Economics

• Quintin H. Beazer Florida State University