Suchergebnisse

The article analyzes the influence of bank lending on the dynamics of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the regions of Russia in 2012—2023. Was the dynamics of bank loans to SMEs an essential factor of development and employment of the sector? This is an important issue, since expanding the availability of lending is often considered as a key method for supporting SMEs and diversification of the economy. We use data of the Federal State Statistics Service on the turnover and the number of employees in small, medium and micro enterprises in Russian regions, on the one hand, and the data of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on the bank lending to SMEs, on the other. We estimate how changes in SMEs lending amounts affect SMEs turnover and employment using the Alellano—Bond dynamic panel regression approach. It has been found that lending dynamics was a significant factor in changes of the turnover in the SMEs sector, and, to a lesser extent, employment in small enterprises. However, a significant increase in lending is required to significantly increase the size of the sector and its share in the country's economy and employment.

The article analyzes the relationship between the price of housing and the volume of issued housing loans in Russia in 2009—2021. Has the development of the mort- gage lending market in recent years driven up housing prices; as has often been claimed? Using data from Rosstat and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on average housing prices and lending volumes in Russia as a whole; as well as in Russian regions; the significance of mutual influence of their quarterly and annual changes is estimated using vector autoregression and panel vector autoregression models; taking into account exogenous variables. It has been found that mortgage lending dynamics was not a significant and stable factor in the growth of housing prices. The latter largely depended on the households' solvent demand; macroeco- nomic conditions; the state of regional economy; and dynamics of the housing stock.

This work examines the current world experience in assessing the sensitivity of household mortgage borrowing to interest rates. The data of the "bank— region—year" format are used to estimate supply and demand equations for housing loans issued by banks in the regions of the country in 2015—2018. Our estimations have revealed that the demand on the mortgage market in the regions is sensitive to the price of loans: when weighted average rate at which a bank issues mortgages in a region is lower by 1 percentage point it is associated with an increase in demand up to 20—25%, all other things being equal, that is, when taking into account the number of offices of a bank in that region, the economic situation and region's characteristics in that year. Demand for mortgages is elastic at interest rates, which means that by lowering rates on mortgage programs, banks can expect an increase in demand, due both to an increase in overall demand for loans and to an overflow of borrowers from other banks. Consequently, it was confirmed that high interest rates on mortgages hinder the development of housing lending.

The article considers how the spatial concentration of the banking sector in Russia, associated with the formation of an increasingly centralized and state-owned banking system, affects lending in the regions of the country. Foreign research in the field of financial geography indicates that spatial centralization of the banking system may hinder sufficient lending to regions remote from financial centers, as well as small and medium-sized businesses, especially in times of crisis. We analyze these conclusions in relation to Russia in 2010—2017. Centralization of the Russian banking system is largely predetermined by the centralization of the economy as a whole and contributes to the redistribution of credit resources from the capital to the regions of the country, but adequate lending to SMEs is a problem in this situation.

This study estimates the relationship between school quality and housing prices in the regional centre of Russia using the case of Novosibirsk. We obtained a valuation of public response on school quality using "discontinuity design" approach. Results show that urban housing the case prices are affected by the quality of the assigned school and magnitude of this impact corresponds with the results of various researches in this area.

The article examines the global and Russian experience in analyzing the influence of concentration and competition on the functioning of the banking sector, including the mortgage market. The information on housing loans issued by banks in the regions of Russia is used and the level of concentration in the regional housing lending markets is estimated. It is shown that regional housing loan markets are highly concentrated. It has been revealed that the concentration level negatively affects the dynamics of housing lending in the regions of the country. High concentration is also associated with slightly higher lending interest rates and their smaller spread. This may be the evidence that high concentration hinders the development of lending in the regions of Russia, which means that the level of competition in the banking sector is insufficient.