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This article analyses the changing place of family and children in life value priorities of the population of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Our research hypothesis is that the persistent significance offamily in the scale of life values is determined by the evolving family structure and completeness and increasing child-centrism. The article is based on the six sociological surveys conducted between 1993 and 2011 in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Such a long research period allowed us to trace the transformation of axiological views of the Yakuts on the value and importance of families and children in their lives. The classification of life values developed by the authors shows how significant each of the three designated groups is for confirming the hypothesis about the preservation of the traditional family lifestyle. We discover the differentiations of respondents' opinions on the competition between the values of family, socio-labor and personal orientations depending on the age, marital and social status of the survey participants. The main conclusion is that the family retains its priority in the lives of the Yakut population with an explicit child-centric orientation. For some young people social, labor, and personal orientations have little or no association with the family. There is a concern about their views on the existing forms of marriage, the relationship and obligations of spouses, and the desire to preserve their freedom.

The article reveals that both theoretical and practical aspects of public goods quality evaluation are insufficiently covered in scientific papers. The authors identify two types of pu0lic goods assessment: regulatory and consumer. Here we present a procedure for the consumer evaluation of public goods which considers their proximity and price affordability. The article presents the results of an empirical research on mixed public goods and their consumer evaluation, conducted in Yekaterinburg. The research determined the actual and desired frequency of public goods use. We have compiled a list of public goods that require additional funding and regulation. Our findings can be used in Yekaterinburg social policy development.

The paper presents the ethnic and social characteristics of Yakut territories within the area affected by the Power of Siberia cross-border gas pipeline. The construction of the pipeline will have a multidirectional social impact on the regions inhabited by indigenous peoples of the North. We reveal the results of an ethnological expert review on the pipeline construction and outline the main problems emerging from the influence that industrial projects exert over the ethnic and social development of territories.

The article offers a comprehensive analysis of expected effects and gains for regions from building petrochemical clusters in conjunction with the development strategies of mining companies within the East Siberian oil and gas complex (ESOGC) megaproject. The ESOGC megaproject is a tool for studying the commercial performance of companies' investment projects, state and regional tax revenues, and the balance of strategic investment intentions of Gazprom andSIBUR in the exploration of hydrocarbon deposits in Eastern Siberia and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). We examine the Amur and Irkutsk Oblast practices making a regional policy aimed at locating expected effects and benefits, as well as in working out organizational and managerial solutions for the implementation of gas-chemical projects of SIBUR and Gazprom.

The article describes the method of choice for a preferred implementation of large-scale investment project among other alternatives under radical uncertainty. Since projects of this scale are usually rather complex, the selection procedure begins with target structuring. A target system (objective tree) is quantified by using expert techniques. Similarly, the next phase involves building a hierarchy of scenarios describing the development of the economy within the completing projects' life cycles. These two steps result in a strategic evaluation matrix. After analyzing it, according to the decision theory, a researcher is able to select the preferred large-scale investment project. The method has been tested in the evaluation of the following competing projects: Lena-Kamchatka Mainline, Transpolar Mainline, and the reconstruction of the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Mainline routes.

The article presents a methodology for assessing the development level of interregional cooperation of a particular region within the borders of one country, which aims at optimizing the management decision-making process. We propose a new assessment system that allows evaluating not only the state of interregional cooperation but also the prospects for development of relations between regions. Considering the example of the Kirov Oblast regional executive authorities, we conclude that should these authorities use the research results, it will qualitatively improve the state regulation of interregional cooperation.

The paper considers the institution of public-private partnership (PPP) as well as its development level in the Russian mineral resource sector and investigates partnership arrangements as an effective government tool for assisting investors at the expense of the Investment Fund both in building the infrastructure and carrying out environmental measures in underdeveloped areas. In order to examine the properties of partnership, we designed special economic and mathematical tools that help effectively divide the costs required in mineral resource base development between the state and private investors. These tools are a combination of integer mathematical programming problem and a set of predictive models used to describe resource area operation processes. We demonstrate the technique in practice through the example of Transbaikal (Zabaykalskiy Kray), to which end we elaborate a development plan for a group of polymetallic deposits with the PPP mechanism and analyze the sensitivity of solutions to changes in its key parameters. The results of our numerical studies confirm that the mechanism is applicable to underdeveloped areas. They also suggest that, besides a well-thought-out approach to determining the scope of aid essential for infrastructure and environmental projects, it makes much sense to account for transaction costs since their level and structure affect the performance of both private investors and the state.

The paper studies key fiscal indicators in cities with a population of over one million people and offers a technique to assess their budget and intergovernmental fiscal flows. With the said technique, the author calculates these indicators over the years 2006-2014 and assesses the structure of municipal budgets (considering both local tax and non-tax revenues and the dependence on regional grants). In addition, we examine the possibility to use budget resources in order to fund the main areas of municipal spending. The megalopolises in the Russian Federation have significantly lost their budgetary independence over the period of analysis. We investigate the stability of the budget for Novosibirsk megalopolis by applying the budgetary coefficients technique and demonstrate where Novosibirsk stands among the megalopolises of Russia and the municipalities of Novosibirsk Oblast.

BRICS has come up as an economic bloc. But analysts believe that it is China-dominated and hence will serve the cause of Chinese economy rather than the cause of other economies of the bloc. It is also believed that it could be an alternative to the European Union. Thus, the present paper will explore how far this notion is correct. The paper also deals with the creation of the BRICS Development Bank and its role in the promotion of growth and development in the bloc.

Drawing on the UNDP report, the article examines the trends of human capital development and its national specificities in the BRICS countries for the period of 1980-2014. We introduce rankings for the BRICS countries according to human development indicators and compare the levels of social inequality and human development by country groups and socio-demographic groups of the population. The main indicators characterizing human development in the BRICS member states are the following: life expectancy, the length of upcoming education, and gross national income. The BRICS countries exhibit high and medium levels of human development; at the same time, there is a positive trend in human development. We conclude that the levels of human development and social inequality are inversely related; the current intense inequality of income distribution seems illegitimate for the majority of Russian citizens. We present an outline of social policy designed to mitigate social inequalities and elaborate promising measures for human capital development in the Russian Federation.