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The paper provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of fiscal decentralization within Russian regions in 1994-2001. The conventional view that more decentralized governments are found in regions/countries with higher income, higher ethnolinguistic fractionalization, and higher levels of democracy is not supported by the data. This motivates a more refined analysis of the determinants of decentralization that points to the link between decentralization and the structure of regional government revenue: access to windfall revenues leads to a more centralized governance structure. The degree of decentralization also depends positively on the level of urbanization and regional size and negatively on income and general regional development indicators such as the education level.

The paper analyzes the current state and performance of Russia’s think tanks operating in the area of economic analysis. It identifies the main stages of development of this sector, which is new for the country, and the factors shaping its key characteristics. It is argued that overall economic think tanks in Russia have reached a stage of relative maturity, but at the same time the sector has been facing serious problems limiting its further development. The paper emphasizes that in the situation of economic crisis there should be a larger role for independent expertise in supporting development of new economic policies. However, the potential of Russian think tanks could be utilized effectively only if there is a change in the current composition of demand for expertise, to be driven by emergence of new stakeholders who are interested in quality policy research. To maintain professional standards and promote high quality of expertise, collective actions of think tanks themselves are equally important. The paper relies on the results of two surveys of Russian think tanks, undertaken in 2012-2013 and 2015, and also on the interviews with a group of their managers.