Real sector of the economy. Specifics of the real sector of the economy in Russia The real sector of the economy includes the market

Real sector of the economy- a set of economic sectors producing tangible and intangible goods and services, with the exception of financial and credit and exchange operations, which belong to the financial sector of the economy.

The term does not have a clear legal definition. Often used in political vocabulary and journalism without specifying the meaning. Many authors by the real sector mean only the sphere of material production and do not include services, trade, and science.

The real sector of the economy (real production sector) is the sector in which production is created. Includes industrial production consisting of and , .

The basis of the real sector of the economy is the production of industrial and agricultural products. It is in the sphere of production that the producer interacts with nature and new material goods are created. The quantitative and qualitative development of the production sector ensures the well-being of society, the growth of incomes of the population, and creates the material basis for the development of education, healthcare, and culture.

The state of the real sector of the economy is influenced by:

• level of development of productive forces;
• scientific and technical progress;
• states;
• budget policy;
• measures taken by the state to ensure investment growth;
• world price level;
• state of the country.

The real sector of the economy in the former USSR after World War II underwent several stages in its development. 1945-1950 – reorientation of industry from military production to peaceful ones (conversion); the period 1950-1970 was characterized by rapid and efficient economic development; 1971-1991 – relatively high, but fading rates of development. Since 1991, the process of transition to market economy, caused by a slowdown in economic growth, the emergence of inter-sectoral imbalances, a drop in capital productivity, efficiency capital investments, high level militarization of the economy former USSR. At the same time, the transition to market system accompanied by a number of structural, financial and systemic crises.

The state of the real sector of the economy is significantly influenced by:

• condition and, first of all, the level of interest rates, on which the ability of enterprises to resort to short-term and long-term funds to replenish depends working capital and making capital investments;
• the country's foreign trade balance;
• in the country, the presence of favorable conditions for investment, primarily direct;
• public policy that guarantees the rights of investors, provides opportunities for investment, and creates conditions under which it is impossible to revise the results of privatization;
• the presence or absence of restrictions in foreign economic activity.

The real sector is the basis of the Russian economy, which determines its level and specialization. It is dominated by the industries of raw materials and fuel extraction and energy and materials production. The fuel and energy complex, metallurgy, a significant part of the chemistry, timber industry complex, defense industry and the industries serving them (pipeline and sea transport) are oriented towards the external market; other industries are oriented towards domestic market.

The bulk of agricultural land has been privatized and passed into the hands of agricultural organizations, farmers, and individual citizens. Nevertheless, in general for the 1990s. Agricultural output declined radically and began to recover only in the next decade for most types of agricultural products.

It is the “backbone” of not only the real sector, but also the entire Russian economy. Our country produces 10-11.5% of the world's primary energy, supplying approximately half for export and half for the domestic market. The fuel and energy complex is represented by both a fully developed fuel industry and a powerful electric power industry, including nuclear.

, and make a greater contribution to exports. All of them produce less than in Soviet times due to reduced demand on the domestic market, although they managed to significantly compensate for the decline in domestic demand by increasing export supplies.

Over the past two decades, it has found itself in the most difficult situation of all sectors of the real sector, although there are exceptions. In the 2000s. domestic demand for engineering products began to grow, but it is largely satisfied through imports, which is caused primarily by the low technical level of Russian engineering products.

The output of military products in Russia is about a third of the pre-reform level, and the number of people employed in the defense industry over these years has decreased by more than four times. The basis of the complex began to consist of holdings and concerns, uniting companies wholly or partially owned by the state. They produce both defense and civilian products.

The deindustrialization of Russia has led to a strong collapse capital construction, i.e. construction, installation and other work on the construction, expansion, repair, reconstruction and modernization of non-residential buildings and engineering structures. Growing demand for housing in the 2000s. helped restore housing construction. But in general, construction volumes remain much lower than before the collapse of the USSR, and the number of people employed in construction has decreased.

In the 1990s. Freight and passenger transport turnover has sharply decreased common use, which began to recover only in the next decade, but remains much lower than Soviet levels. Freight turnover is dominated by pipeline transport (50%) and railway transport (43%). The weakest point of the Russian transport system is insufficient development transport network and its low technical level.

Communications and telecommunications are developing contradictorily: mail and space communications are lagging behind, telephony and Internet use are growing dynamically.

Specifics of the real sector in Russia

As in other countries of the world, in Russia the real sector is the basis of the national economy, determining its level and specialization. It employs the population and produces approximately the same share of GDP.

The real sector is represented by a wide range of industries. However, it is dominated by the mining of raw materials and fuels and the production of energy and materials. On the one hand, this is a consequence natural resources, especially mineral ones, which allows Russia to actively use its natural competitive advantage. On the other hand, this is the result of the deindustrialization of Russia: the preservation or slight reduction of raw materials industries in the last two decades was accompanied, unlike Soviet times, not by the growth of other (non-resource) industries, but by their strong fall. The resource industries managed to weather the disaster of the 1990s better. and take more active advantage of the boom of the early 2000s. due to the high global market demand for their products. The products of other sectors of the Russian real sector are generally not competitive enough (although there are exceptions, especially the defense industry). Before the crisis of 2008-2010. production volumes in many sectors of the real sector were radically lower than pre-reform levels, especially in mechanical engineering (production of machinery and equipment reached only half of the pre-reform level).

As a result, the real sector remains split into two parts:

• industries oriented to the foreign market - export-oriented (fuel and energy complex and metallurgy, a significant part of chemistry, timber industry and defense industry) and industries serving them (pipeline and maritime transport). This part of the real sector is small in terms of the number of employees (about 5%), but brings in more than half of all profits in the country, providing at this expense the bulk of state budget revenues and a very significant part of effective demand in the domestic market;
• industries oriented to the domestic market (all others). This part of the real sector is unprofitable due to its low competitiveness (except for trade and construction, which actively satisfy the internal demand of workers in the first sector); the incomes of its workers are therefore small, which determines the generally low internal effective demand of the bulk of the population and enterprises in Russia.

This situation is typical of the “Dutch disease” with its redistribution of income and economic resources in favor of export-oriented raw materials and industries serving them, as well as the replacement of local production with imports. This disease does not affect all countries with large reserves raw materials (there is a lot of it in the USA, Canada, Australia, Norway), and countries with imperfect economic and political institutions (bad governance), the elite of which are not able to resist the “big money” from the export of raw materials and agree to postpone modernization and active industrial policy(in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, oil exports even slowed down the economic growth, giving rise to the so-called resource curse).

The cure for the “Dutch disease” is active support for the manufacturing industry, especially the knowledge-intensive one, but Russian government didn't do much industrial policy and only in last years turns to it more as part of the country's modernization strategy. Thus, the Concept 2020 highlights high-tech industries in which Russia has or claims to have serious competitive advantages - the aviation industry and engine building, the rocket and space industry, shipbuilding, the nuclear energy industrial complex, the radio-electronic industry, information and communication and medical technologies, as well as energy efficiency and energy saving.

The real sector of the Russian economy includes:

• agro-industrial complex;
• machine-building complex;
• fuel and energy complex;
• military-industrial complex;

Metallurgical, chemical and timber industry complexes

After the fuel and energy complex greatest contribution The metallurgical, chemical and forestry complexes contribute to the export-oriented part of the real sector. All of them produce less than in Soviet times due to reduced demand on the domestic market, although they managed to significantly compensate for the decline in domestic demand by increasing export supplies (see the above example with the production of mineral fertilizers).

Metallurgy produces about 5% of Russian GDP and provides about 14% of domestic exports. Ferrous metallurgy produced 94 million tons of steel in 1988, in the 1990s. reduced its production by half, but by the end of the next decade increased it to 72 million tons (2007), second only to China, Japan and the USA, and taking 3rd place in world exports. However, for the production of special steels and alloys, intended mainly for mechanical engineering, production volumes have decreased significantly, the equipment is outdated and worn out, and some technologies have been completely lost.

In non-ferrous metallurgy for the production of aluminum (about 4 million tons), Russia is second only to China, in aluminum exports it ranks 1st, in production (0.3 million tons) and exports of nickel - also 1st place in the world (largely thanks to its large geological reserves). In gold production (about 160 tons per year, i.e. at the pre-reform level), Russia occupies only 5th place, although it has the third largest gold deposits in the world and has a good chance of increasing gold production to 250 tons per year. The process of transition from depleting alluvial deposits to abundant but time-consuming gold ore deposits is hampered by a lack of funds and technology.

Good export income allowed in the 2000s. to re-equip the metallurgy with modern equipment (mostly imported), so the depreciation of fixed assets here is 44% for ferrous metallurgy and 42% for non-ferrous metallurgy, i.e. at the level developed countries.

In the Development Strategy of the Metallurgical Industry prepared in 2009 Russian Federation for the period until 2020, an increase in the production of all metals in the country is projected, primarily due to own funds metallurgical companies, since many of them have them in abundance, actively acquiring metallurgical assets abroad.

Chemical complex covers a wide range of industries (primarily mineral fertilizers, chemical plant protection products, synthetic resins and plastics, synthetic rubber, tires, rubber products, artificial and synthetic fibers and threads, paints and varnishes, synthetic detergents). All these industries together provide about 2% of Russia's GDP and 6-7% of exports. As in Soviet times, the problem remains that in domestic chemistry primary processing of natural resources is established, secondary processing is worse, and higher processing is even weaker. As a result, the country ranks only 20th in the world in the production of chemical products, although it exports large volumes of simple goods, primarily mineral fertilizers, synthetic rubber, synthetic resins and plastics, while importing more complex chemical goods for approximately the same amount.

Export supplies helped support the above-mentioned chemical production, and rapidly growing domestic demand stimulated the production of tires, but the production of chemical fibers and threads, varnishes and paints, chemical plant protection products and a number of other industries, in the face of decreased demand and/or increased quality requirements, could not withstand foreign competition and has decreased significantly (in 2008, the capacity for the production of paints and varnishes was 38% loaded, plant protection chemicals - by 26%).

The development strategy of the chemical and petrochemical industry of the Russian Federation for the period until 2015 provides for the growth of almost all chemical production on the basis of their modernization and the development of research and development, but without an increase in government funding.

Adjacent to the chemical complex (but not part of it) pharmaceutical industry. It is in severe decline, which began in the Soviet decades due to the growing inability of this industry to meet the country's needs for modern medicines. As a result, the share of domestic drugs in the domestic market is 68% in volume terms and 19% in monetary terms (2008).

The Strategy for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry of the Russian Federation for the period until 2020, approved at the end of 2009, suggests increasing this share in monetary terms to 50% through modernization of the industry based on foreign and domestic technologies, with significant government financial support, and even predicts a sharp increase the current small export of Russian medicines.

Timber industry complex(forestry, woodworking and pulp and paper industries) provides 2.5-4% of Russian exports. The volume of production in the timber industry is gradually growing - in 2007, the export of industrial wood from the forest reached 134 billion dense cubic meters (excluding large illegal logging), although it is unlikely that in the future it will be able to approach the Soviet volume (250-280 billion dense cubic meters ) due to the transition of the economy to other construction materials and more rational use of wood. About 40% of unprocessed wood and lumber is exported.

The restoration of domestic demand, especially in construction, has helped the growth of the woodworking industry, but it is hampered by the low quality of products, which does not allow increasing exports (an example would be domestic furniture).

In the pulp and paper industry, which has long been export-oriented (half of its products are exported), and also with a noticeable presence foreign capital, there are fewer of these problems, but nevertheless this industry is not even among the top ten global producers, largely due to the fact that domestic pulp and paper mills (165 pulp and paper mills) still do not produce many high-value products in significant volumes, for example coated paper, high-quality cardboard. The problems of the timber industry complex are largely a consequence of the lack of roads (they don’t allow good access glued raw materials), credit, as well as the rapid increase in tariffs for the electricity needed by the pulp and paper mill in large quantities.

Light industry

The Russian light industry is very dependent on the conditions that develop on world markets. On the one hand, this industry is highly susceptible to competition from Asian manufacturers, some of whose products are imported into the country illegally. On the other hand, Russian light industry relies mainly on foreign raw materials, components and equipment.

Domestic clothing production has decreased by several times (suits, jackets) and tens of times (coats, dresses, shirts) and tends to further decline. It was possible to stop the sharp decline in fabric production and partially restore it, although production volumes are incomparable with the Soviet level (2.5-2.8 billion sq. m per year compared to 8.4-8.7 billion sq. m). A turning point has been achieved in the production of leather shoes, and it is growing (almost doubling in the 2000s - to 58 million pairs in 2009), although here production volumes are radically inferior to Soviet ones (385 million pairs in 1990). . The situation in the production of carpets and carpet products is better - it is 2/3 of the Soviet level.

Construction complex

This complex consists of both capital (investment, production) and housing construction, as well as production building materials. The deindustrialization of Russia led to a strong curtailment of capital construction, i.e. construction, installation and other work on the construction, expansion, repair, reconstruction and modernization of non-residential buildings and engineering structures. Growing demand for housing in the 2000s. helped restore housing construction (see Chapter 12). But in general, construction volumes remain much smaller than before the collapse of the USSR, and as a result, the number of people employed in construction has decreased from 7 to 5-5.5 million people.

The decrease in construction volumes entailed a decrease in the production of basic building materials, the restoration of production of which began to occur only in the first decade of the 21st century: cement production in 1985 amounted to 84.5 million tons, in 2000 - 32 million tons, in 2007 . - 60 million tons, building bricks - 24, 11 and 13.5 billion pieces, respectively. conditional brick.

Transport complex

In the 1990s. Freight and passenger turnover of public transport decreased by more than 40%, which began to recover only in the next decade, but remains much lower than Soviet indicators. Freight turnover is dominated by pipeline transport (50%) and railway transport (43%). The weak point of the Russian transport system is the insufficient development of the transport network and its low technical level, due to which an amount exceeding 3% of GDP is lost annually, and the mobility of the population is sharply reduced.

IN rail transportation dominates state company"Russian railways", to which together with her subsidiaries(they do not operate according to state tariffs) account for about half of the cargo transported. The rest is transported mainly by private companies. The Strategy for the Development of Railway Transport in the Russian Federation until 2030, approved by the government in 2007, provides for an increase in freight turnover by 1.6 times based on the construction of 16-21 thousand new railway tracks and an increase in passenger turnover based on the construction of high-speed lines.

Automobile transport It occupies a small share in cargo turnover, but dominates in terms of transportation volume, as it transports cargo mainly over short distances. This is largely due to the fact that in Russia the network of paved roads remains small (about three times less than the needs), technically outdated (only 56% of federal roads meet the necessary strength criteria) and is also slowly increasing ( 1-2.5 thousand km of new and repaired roads are put into operation annually, which is many times less than in Soviet times). Created in 2009 for the construction and reconstruction of highways and expressways, the state company "Russian car roads"(Avtodor) has government-approved plans for construction and reconstruction in 2010-2015. approximately 1.4 thousand km of federal roads. It is planned to spend 1.5 trillion rubles on this, i.e. 1 billion rubles each for every kilometer (several times more expensive than in Germany and the USA), and besides, some of these roads are planned to be made toll. According to the Concept 2020, in 2015-2020. 5-10 thousand km of roads will be introduced annually.

Domestic transportation of goods and passengers by water transport(sea and inland waterways) ceased to play a significant role due to a more than threefold reduction in the volume of these transportations. This happened as a result of rising tariffs and the deterioration of the fleet, port facilities and inland waterways. In addition, Russia lost most of its own ports on the Baltic and Black Seas and sharply reduced “northern deliveries” due to the cessation of development of the North. True, in external transportation the role water transport much more noticeable, since maritime transport provides the bulk of Russian foreign trade (67% of exports and 9% of imports). Although under the control of Russia there is a maritime transport fleet with a deadweight of 18 million tons, however, 67% of the tonnage is operated under foreign flags in order to evade taxes, and as a result, only 5% of the volume of domestic foreign trade cargo is transported by ships under the Russian flag, on which Russian shipping companies annually lose $9-11 billion

Air Transport after reduction in the 1990s. the number of passengers began to quadruple their transportation (in 1990 - 91 million people, 2000 - 23 million people, 2008 - 51 million people). Here there is an acute problem of updating the fleet, which is in many ways obsolete and therefore the number of long-haul aircraft of foreign manufacture is increasing (in 2008 there were 320 of them, and their share in the total passenger turnover reached 50%).

Pipeline transport is developing most dynamically: the network of main oil and gas pipelines continues to grow due to the intensive construction of new export pipelines.

Communications and telecommunications

This type of economic activity in Russia is developing in a contradictory manner. Every year, launching quite a few foreign satellites on commercial terms, Russia for many years has not been able to bring the domestic global navigation system (GLONASS), an analogue of the American GPS, to the required number of satellites. The domestic postal service, dominated by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Post, is in poor condition, largely due to the reduction in subscriptions to newspapers and magazines by 18 times, and the sending of parcels by 3 times.

At the same time, in the post-Soviet years the number telephone sets public networks doubled (to 46 million), the number of connected cellular phones significantly exceeded the population (about 200 million), and the number of Internet users exceeded 40 million people.

Trade and consumer services

In trade and repair ( vehicles, household products and personal items) employ a lot of workers - almost 18% and produce a very large share of GDP - about 21%.

The large number of people employed here is partly explained by the fact that, given the continuing high unemployment in Russia and neighboring countries, this type of activity is a kind of “buffer” that absorbs excess workers who are willing to accept low wages.

Concerning high contribution trade in GDP, then, of course, main reason is the market nature of the Russian economy. But in Russia, a constant motive is complaints from manufacturers about the large number of intermediaries in the sale of their goods. It can be suggested that this is a consequence of the power of the bureaucracy, which, with the help of entrepreneurs affiliated with it, organizes chains of intermediary firms, which it is impossible for the supplier to bypass due to the administrative resource the bureaucracy has. Another reason is the frequent (to minimize taxation) separation from manufacturers of sales companies (an example would be trading companies in the oil and gas sector), whose activities are classified as trading in statistics.

Russian trade also shows us an important macroeconomic feature - a high share imported goods in retail turnover (45-47% of total retail turnover in the pre-crisis years). For a large economy with a relatively large market and large exports, this is evidence of the low competitiveness of domestic consumer goods and the economy’s orientation towards “eating” export earnings, and not for its investment.

Methodology for analyzing the real sector

Although the SNA is based not on industries, but on types of economic activity, when analyzing the real sector, the industry approach remains a common approach, more precisely, based on grouping individual industries (types of economic activity) into industry complexes (for example, the agricultural-industrial complex) or into enlarged industries ( for example, light industry). In Russia, this approach prevails partly because our country in statistical accounting only since 2003 switched from the All-Union Classifier of Sectors of the National Economy (OKONKH) to the All-Russian Classifier of Types of Economic Activities (OKVED) in accordance with the recommendations of the SNA. But the more important reason is that sectoral analysis allows us to better describe the state of the real sector.

In the practice of studying the national economy, various divisions of the real sector into industry complexes and enlarged industries have developed. Here's one option:

• agricultural-industrial complex (AIC);
• fuel and energy complex (FEC);
• metallurgical complex;
• chemical complex;
• timber industry complex;
• machine-building complex;
• the military-industrial complex (MIC), often called the military-industrial complex (MIC), although the former refers to the defense industry and military R&D, and the latter refers to the alliance of the army, the state apparatus and the military industry;
• light industry;
• building complex;
• transport complex;
• communications and telecommunications;
• trade and catering, hotels and consumer services.

A simpler division of the real sector is also possible: agriculture, industry (mining and manufacturing), construction, transport and communications, trade. It is resorted to when the national economy is small or when national statistics are weak.

Agro-industrial complex(APK). AIC covers:

• Agriculture;
• industries supplying material resources for Agriculture(tractor and agricultural engineering, production of fertilizers and chemicals for agriculture);
• industries processing agricultural products (food industry, primary processing of agricultural raw materials for light industry, for example, cotton gins);
• infrastructure activities serving agriculture (procurement, transportation, storage and trade of agricultural products, etc.).

The more developed the country, the smaller the share of agriculture in the entire agro-industrial complex. However, publicly available statistics from the AP K will provide detailed data primarily on agriculture itself. When using these statistics, mistakes are often made, primarily such as focusing on annual rather than average annual indicators of agricultural production. But agriculture is highly dependent on weather conditions, and therefore it is advisable to use average annual data for three years, or even better - for five years.

The above also applies to indicators of agricultural efficiency - primarily the yield of leading agricultural crops and milk yield per cow (for temperate countries). In turn, the efficiency of agriculture depends on the level of agricultural technology, the indicators of which include, first of all, the application of fertilizers, chemicals and the use of tractors and agricultural machinery.

In the absence of direct data on the efficiency of agriculture, one can also use a comparison of the share of agriculture in the country’s GDP with the share of people employed in this industry.

Fuel and energy complex (FEC) consists of the electric power and fuel industry, which covers the extraction of coal and peat, oil and gas. The fuel and energy complex in a number of countries constitutes the main part of such activities (according to the SNA) as “Mining” and “Production and distribution of electricity, gas and water”.

Studying the country's fuel and energy complex involves studying the balance of electricity production by power plants and the balance of energy resources. The first balance gives an idea of ​​how electricity production is distributed among types of power plants (hydroelectric power plants, thermal power plants, nuclear power plants). Let us also pay attention to the fact that electricity production per capita correlates with the level of social economic development country (but does not match, because a country can trade electricity with neighboring countries). Therefore, there is a higher correlation between the indicator of electricity consumption per capita and the level of development of the country, although it is not equal to unity.

Table 1. Post-Soviet countries: electricity consumption per capita in 2004, kWh

A country's energy balance consists of rows and columns: rows cover production, reserves, exports, imports and consumption of energy resources, and columns contain different types energy resources - natural fuel (oil and gas condensate, natural gas, coal and peat), fuel processing products, combustible by-product energy resources, electricity, heat energy. A simpler version of the energy resource balance is a breakdown of energy consumed in the country by type (in Russia in 2005, of all energy consumed in the amount of 647 million tons of oil equivalent, natural gas accounted for 54%, oil and gas condensate - 21%, coal - 16 %, nuclear energy - 6%, hydropower, solar, wind and geothermal - 2%, biomass and waste - 1%)."

Metallurgical complex covers both ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy of the country. Chemical complex consists of quite large quantity subtypes of economic activity, as well as a timber industry complex. A particularly large number of subtypes of economic activity are included in machine-building complex.

Defense-industrial complex (DIC) not represented certain types and subtypes of economic activity, so it can be difficult to distinguish military products from civilian ones. Due to the fact that the defense industry is developed in few countries, it is often omitted when analyzing the real sector. Let us add that in countries with a developed defense industry, mechanical engineering is sometimes divided into civil and military.

Light industry It is represented primarily by the production of fabrics (textile production), clothing, footwear, leather and leather goods. Sometimes the production of fabrics and clothing is combined under one term - “textile production”.

Construction complex covers construction (new construction and renovation), as well as the building materials industry. Construction itself is often divided into industrial, civil (for example, construction office buildings) and housing.

Transport complex (transport) traditionally divided into rail, road, aviation, sea, river, and pipeline transport. When analyzing transport, indicators such as cargo transportation (in tons or in cubic meters in the case of natural gas), cargo turnover (in ton-kilometers, i.e. in tons of transported goods multiplied by the distance over which they were transported) and passage and turnover (number of passengers transported).

Communications and telecommunications how the industry complex covers different types economic activity, existing primarily on the basis of mail, telephony and the Internet.

Science and scientific service included as a subspecies in such type of economic activity as “Operations with real estate, rent and provision of services.” The problem of combining economic resource and industry analysis is especially applicable to science and scientific services. In this case, the following approaches to solving it are also possible: moving the analysis of science and scientific services into the analysis of scientific resources or combining them together when analyzing the real sector.

Trade and catering, hotels and consumer services As an intersectoral complex, it occupies a very prominent place in developed countries, but in a number of post-Soviet countries its importance is even greater. For example, trade weighs more in Russian GDP than in US GDP. This is primarily due to the fact that retail(especially individual entrepreneurship) is a reservoir of hidden unemployment. Another reason for the particularly high weight of trade is the active use by a number of countries of their transit position (an example is Kyrgyzstan, which re-exports a huge part of the Chinese consumer goods it purchases to neighboring countries).

Recreation and entertainment, culture and sports as a complex cover a wide range of industries, including tourism.

In conclusion, we note that when studying the real sector, the concept is used "production infrastructure". It covers electricity, gas and water supply, transport complex, communications and telecommunications.

Essence, structure and functions of real Russia

economic sectors

O.A. Zueva,

Ph.D. econ. Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Disciplines, Russian New University (190103, Russia, St. Petersburg, Kurlyandskaya St., 5; e-mail: [email protected]) O.S. Zybin,

Ph.D. econ. Sciences, Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of Foreign Economic Activity and Trade Affairs, St. Petersburg State Trade and Trade the University of Economics(194021, Russia, St. Petersburg, Novorossiyskaya St., 50; e-mail: [email protected])

E.V. Kharitonova,

Ph.D. econ. Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics of Organization and Pricing, St. Petersburg State University of Trade and Economics (194021, Russia, St. Petersburg, Novorossiyskaya St., 50; e-mail: [email protected])

Annotation. The article presents theoretical aspects definitions of the real sector of the economy, criteria for determining the essence of the real sector are highlighted and their explanations are given. The features of the reproductive structure of the real sector of the economy are noted and its analysis is carried out. The purpose of the real sector is revealed in its functions, which are highlighted, classified and described.

Abstract. The paper presents the theoretical aspects of the real economy, highlighted criteria to define the essence of the real sector, and their explanations are given. The features of the reproductive structure of the real economy and carried out the analysis. Purpose of the real sector is revealed in its functions, which are selected, classified and described.

Key words: real sector, methodology, structure, subsector of non-financial services, functions, economic system.

Keywords: real sector, methodology, structure, Sub nonfinancial services, functions, economic system.

When studying the role of the real sector, it is necessary to determine the essence of this sector.

From a theoretical and methodological point of view, the approach to the traditional definition of the real sector of the economy is closely connected with the understanding of productive and unproductive labor, and therefore with the definition of the reproductive sector areas where GDP and income are produced. Consequently, the question is actually raised about the essence, functional significance of the real sector in the reproduction process.

At the end of the 19th century, in most developed countries GDP was formed mainly due to the branches of material social production of the real sector of the economy. Economic activity of the XXI century. - this is the exit of humanity beyond the boundaries of the industrial system, the traditionally understood sphere of material production of the real sector. At the beginning of the 21st century. Information resources in time and space become of great importance.

Active attempts are being made to reconsider the essence of the real sector of the national economy. Consequently, the question arises about the legitimacy of using the concept of “real sector” in relation to a highly developed post-industrial economy, due to the fact that almost all types of economic

These activities become valuable, socially significant, useful and recognized by society, and, therefore, participate in the creation of GDP. Currently, it is difficult to identify certain types of economic activities that do not contribute at all to the creation of GDP. The real sector of Russia should play the role of a “managing subsystem”, since value is created in it, and the financial sector should play the role of a “managed subsystem”, where value is redistributed.

Therefore, the criterion for determining the essence of the real sector of the economy from the point of view of the participation of certain types of activities in the creation of GDP is still decisive at the present time.

The concept of “real sector” implies a management subsystem of the national economy, consisting of non-financial activities, including the corporate subsector and the subsector of non-financial services and determining the system-forming connections in the national economy.

V. Cherkovets defines the real sector as the sphere of material production, trade and the sphere of intangible services. From his point of view, the real sector in the economy is opposed only by its financial sector. At the same time, part of the financial sector, represented by the intermediary activities of banks and insurance companies, contributes to GDP and, consequently,

Consequently, it can also be classified as a real sector. However, transactions related to the acquisition financial obligations and financial assets as redistributive assets do not participate in the creation of GDP and form an unreal financial sector of the economy. The core of the real sector is the sphere of material production.

Many economists by the real sector mean only the sphere of material production and do not include services, trade and science. The real sector of the economy is a sector of the economy directly related to material production, making a profit and filling the budget. So in economic dictionary A. I. Arkhipova, the real sector of the economy refers to the concept of the production sector (international - real sector of economy). This view does not fully reflect economic content essence of the real sector.

V. Kirichenko divides the national economy into the real and financial sectors

By “real sector” he means the sphere of material production. From his point of view, “when solving the problems of reforming the real sector, the most relevant are the mobilization and rationalization of the use of investment resources, as well as the training of qualified personnel capable of mastering the latest achievements of scientific and technological progress and production management technologies”

In accordance with the System of National Accounts (SNA), economic sectors are divided into financial and non-financial sectors, the latter of which implies the real sector.

In Russia, the concept of “real sector of the economy” appeared in government documents. On April 25, 2000 in Moscow, at the II All-Russian Congress of Commodity Producers, the “Program for the development of the real sector of the economy (proposals of domestic commodity producers)” was adopted. It did not include the sectoral composition of the real sector. Was given it general characteristics, based on which it was actually identified with the non-financial sector in its traditional sense.

When analyzing the essence of the real sector, characteristic of the domestic national economy, it is advisable to adhere to the following methodological provisions:

1) the real sector is considered as one of the subsystems of the national economy, the boundaries of which are constantly changing in the process of development.

2) the process of economic development of the real sector is studied as an institutionally determined process. The trajectory of its transformation is determined by the historically established institutional matrix. As is known, the institutional matrix is ​​pre-

is a stable system of uniquely interconnected basic economic, political and legal institutions. The type of institutional matrix determines the content of the dominant institutions in the state. At the same time, societies operate institutions that are characteristic of an alternative type of institutional matrix. However, they are of an auxiliary, additional nature and ultimately contribute to a more effective manifestation of the dominant basic institutions.

3) each institutional matrix is ​​based on its characteristic type economic system. That's why, functionality real sector are implemented through institutional forms and institutional mechanisms corresponding to the existing types of economic disequilibrium of the national economic system under study.

4) the organization and structural orientation of the processes occurring in the real sector as a kind of basis of the national economy, reflect system functions, differ in institutional design and can be reduced to a finite number of types.

5) the effectiveness of the real sector is determined by the institutional structure, the system of instruments for the dominance of some economic entities over others and the corresponding structure of systemically important flows (financial, commodity). The latter influence the dynamic characteristics of the national economy as a whole.

When implementing these methodological provisions, the question of the structure, functions and classification of the domestic real sector is of particular interest.

Based on the historical approach to studying the essence of the real sector of the Russian economy, it is necessary to note the features of the reproductive structure of the real sector, which directly determines the creation of GNP value. In this structure, the leading role is occupied by the raw materials industries.

In modern Russian economy a large share of gross value added is produced in primary industries. Key parameter the functioning of the economy becomes the price of oil. This structure of the real sector does not lead to sustainable, long-term economic growth, and instability oil prices makes such an economy in financially unstable, accordingly increase sharply investment risks and investment activity decreases.

The socio-economic development, geopolitical position and role of Russia in the world community at present and in the future are largely determined by its mineral resources potential and state strategy its use.

Russia is one of the largest powers in the world, possessing powerful mineral resources.

but a raw material base. Russia's share in world oil reserves is 12-13%, gas - 32%, coal - 11%, iron - 26%, nickel - 36%, cobalt - 18%, lead - 10%, zinc - 15%. In terms of reserves of diamonds, platinum group metals, gold, silver, titanium, zirconium and a number of other minerals, Russia ranks 1-3 in the world. The gross value of proven and estimated reserves is $28.5 trillion. Main specific gravity in the extracted value (about 11%) falls on the share of fuel and energy resources^].

The mineral resources sector occupies a leading place in the Russian economy: its share

ZUEVA O.A., ZYBIN O.S. - 2013

The essence of the economic sector

One of the main systems studied economic theory, is a national economic system. Its effectiveness is determined by macroeconomic indicators that describe the aggregate performance results for a certain period. It is worth noting that the country’s economy is a complex system consisting of many elements. The study and research of its processes requires a more detailed approach, therefore the country’s economic system is conventionally divided into economic sectors.

Note 1

An economic sector usually includes many business entities whose activities are similar and have approximately the same goals. Each of institutional units performs similar functions and has the same sources of funding as other entities in this sector.

Division into sectors can be made based on various characteristics:

• According to the owner of the property, the public and private sectors are distinguished.
• Depending on the production cycle, they speak of the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors.
• The peculiarity of economic activity forms the non-productive, manufacturing and financial sectors.
• Regarding the main economic entity, the sectors are divided into the public sector, the household sector, enterprises and external agents.

One of the most important economic sectors is the real sector. It is here that most of the goods consumed by society are produced. Next comes the process of distribution, exchange and consumption of products or services. The production process is always accompanied by a counter-movement of finance. The real sector provides jobs for households and brings a significant share of income to the state budget. The development of this sector has a direct impact on the state of the country's economy as a whole.

Industry composition of the real sector

The work of the real sector is important, first of all, to ensure the well-being of the population and the sustainability of the country’s economic system. The development of this sector is given great attention in different countries. Structurally, the real sector is a rather complex system, represented by many different enterprises, commercial organizations and other forms of companies whose main goal is to make a profit.

The real sector can also be divided into subsystems. Most often, the spheres of material and intangible production are distinguished. The first represents the creation of products expressed in material terms. material form. Intangible benefits are usually represented by intellectual property, various kinds of patents, and licenses. This area provides consulting, information and other types of services that will also allow you to generate income.

Typically, the real sector of the economy is considered as a set of sectors of the national economy. The ratio of their shares shows the economic orientation of the country’s economic system, its potential and ability to withstand environmental factors. Regarding industries, the real sector can be considered as a combination of two areas:

1. Export-oriented industries and industries serving them. If we talk about Russia, then this group is formed by the fuel and energy complex, timber industry, and pipeline transport. Their share in the entire structure of the economy does not exceed 5%, while they bring up to half of the total income of the country’s economy.
2. Industries whose products are aimed at the domestic market. They are characterized by a low level of competitiveness, so they do not bring significant income.

However, construction and trade can bring higher incomes to the employed population.

Note 2

There is a national classification of sectors of the national economy, although in practice it is customary to divide the real sector according to a simpler principle. They include agriculture, industry, transport and communication services, trade and construction. Each industry has its own specific product and method of making a profit. At the same time, they can form industrial or other types of complexes, where several industries are in mutually beneficial cooperation with each other.

It is worth noting that the spheres of material and intangible production are closely related to each other and cannot exist separately. Main source of income state budget At the same time, there remain industries whose products are exported.

Real sector enterprises

An enterprise is an economic unit primarily engaged in production economic benefits. It makes a profit by selling the created product or service.

In conditions market model economics, enterprises have the right to carry out independent activities that do not contradict the legislation of the country. Company owners have the right to freely dispose of part of the profits and use them at their own discretion. To generate income, all the property of the enterprise is used, as well as its own and borrowed funds. financial resources. The second goal of the activity of an economic entity is to satisfy the social need for a certain economic good.

Note 3

Since the main focus of the real sector business is the generation of income, the performance of this sector is also determined in monetary units. To understand the content of the real sector, it is necessary to analyze its infrastructure, which refers to economic relations between entities that contribute to the economic growth of the country.

The production infrastructure includes business entities that create benefits, as well as promote and sell them. This includes various types industrial enterprises, marketing companies, consulting, telecommunications and trade organizations. Non-manufacturing businesses typically do not create products and do not have a direct impact on the manufacturer-customer relationship. This subsector is usually represented by government and non-government institutions that produce public goods.

Enterprises in a specific industry produce relevant goods or services. Thus, the agro-industrial complex is characterized by the creation of agricultural products, livestock breeding, as well as special equipment and chemicals necessary for this field of activity.

Industrial enterprises specialize in the extraction of minerals, their processing and the creation of semi-finished products or finished final goods. The timber industry specializes in logging and also produces material assets made of wood. Enterprises in each industry have their own focus, their own product and method of making a profit.

The neoclassical approach involves the simultaneous and joint determination of all characteristics macroeconomic equilibrium. At the same time, for the purposes of analysis, these processes can be represented as a conditional sequence of connections.

First of all, taking into account the neoclassicals’ peculiar interpretation of the essence and role of money, we can separately consider the real and financial sectors of the economy.

The real sector includes labor, capital and goods markets. In a simplified case (without taking into account the state and external relations), its equilibrium is characterized by the following group of conditions:

where (we will explain only the newly appeared notation)

L* - full and effective employment;

Y* - potential GDP;

A - technology performance level;

E - planned expenses.

The first equation characterizes the neoclassical labor market model (Fig. 7).

Fig.7. Neoclassical labor market model L" - the entire working-age population

“Full employment” therefore does not mean 100% utilization. labor resources. In fact, what is meant is the correspondence of planned supply and demand, when everyone who wants to work at the current price of labor w* can realize their plans. Unemployment in the amount of (L" - L*) (and according to official statistics, even without taking into account the unemployed, it is about a third of the total population at the age of economic activity) is voluntary and has nothing to do with unemployment.

L* is simultaneously effective, i.e. the most productive and profitable employment. In this case, remuneration corresponds to its productivity and, in addition, a normal level of income from the use of other factors of production is ensured: the area of ​​the triangle located above the rectangle wages(w*‘L*), corresponds to income from property in the amount of (gK). Employment higher than efficient, for example (L" - L*), if paid at the level w*, would be unjustified and would be accompanied by losses, shown by the shaded triangle.

It is clear that in the presented situation, equilibrium is inevitable at full employment. It means, among other things, that the labor market has agreed production programs enterprises and population plans regarding the desired level of income and consumption and thereby also determined the parameters of the commodity market. In model (8), this connection of markets is realized using the production function (the second equation of the model). Assuming further that in the short run technology and the stock of capital change quite slowly, we arrive at the dependence of output only on the level of employment and, therefore, fix full use resources (Fig. 8).

Rice. 8. Neoclassical production function

Let us note once again that the potential output and full use of resources are not understood in the sense of achieving the physical limits of the economy (such as one hundred percent employment of all able-bodied people and one hundred percent workload). production capacity), and in the economic sense - as a standard level of using the capabilities of the economy under normal conditions, allowing, among other things, some inevitable unemployment and certain reserves of capacity.

In fact, the economy can operate both above (for example, in wartime) and below (say, when there is a lack of demand) its potential.

The third equation of model (8) characterizes the national economic turnover as a whole, starting with the transfer factor income to the population and ending with the sale of the final product on the commodity market (see Fig. 1). Together with the fourth equation that follows from it, it shows that the correspondence aggregate demand output critically depends on the ability of the capital market to ensure that the investments planned by the enterprise sector match the savings planned by the population. The fourth equation thus represents a simplified one (it does not take into account, in particular, previously created production assets) capital market model that guarantees demand adjustment (Fig. 9).

Fig.9. Simplified capital market model

Of course, savings are converted into investments by the financial market (as shown in Fig. 1), and interest is certainly a price borrowed money and the subject of monetary analysis. On the other hand, one of the achievements of classical theory is the emergence of real concepts of interest, which linked it with the productivity of capital, economic growth, technical progress, people's preferences regarding present and future consumption and other factors related to the real sector of the economy. Neoclassical economists view interest as a specific and multifaceted price, a full explanation of which is possible only from the standpoint of general equilibrium. In this sense, there is no contradiction between Figures 1 and 9: Fig. 1 fixes the role financial market, and Fig. 9 characterizes processes related to the real sector.

Real investment, in particular, is determined by the demand for additional physical capital and depends on the dynamics of the marginal product of the latter (MP k) (one can also refer to the importance of new technologies, dependence on the general state of commodity markets and many other real factors). In balance real rate percent g* is equal to the marginal product of capital and, therefore, informs, among other things, about the productivity of the economy. The supply of capital (S) depends primarily on the structure of time preferences regarding present and future consumption, and in this capacity r* characterizes the compromise reached by the market: in accordance with Fig. 4, a rational consumer coordinates his individual preferences with the market standard, and in equilibrium he is indifferent to spending 1 ruble on consumption in the current period or (1 + g) rubles in the future.

In general, from the standpoint of Fig. 9 percent is a special relative price that regulates exchange processes over time: savings can, as has been repeatedly noted, be considered as an exchange of part of current consumption for larger consumption in the future, and this gain is realized by investing saved funds and resources in the expansion and development of the production apparatus and increase in its productivity. Unlike current exchanges, which are equivalent if the proportion is 1:1 (in value), exchange over time (and in fact this is nothing more than economic growth) is characterized by a specific proportion, since in this case a smaller amount of today's goods is exchanged for a larger amount of goods in future.

Let us explain this with a hypothetical example. Let’s assume that a business owner lent a ton of metal to his counterparty for one year. During this year, thanks to investment in metallurgy, its productivity has increased by 10 percent, and in the time during which 1 ton was previously produced, 1.1 tons are now produced, although the price of the metal has fallen by about 10 percent. In this situation, the return by the borrower of only 1 ton would be economically unequal: even if physical characteristics metal has not changed, in economically it has become a completely different product, since it is produced under different economic conditions, at a different level of productivity, in a different price system, etc. Therefore, a justified exchange in time is possible only according to the formula “1 today’s ruble (1 ton of today’s metal, oil, etc.) for (1+g) rubles (tons of metal...) in a year.”

The above also explains why interest serves as the basis or standard for discounting, which is a conditional settlement transaction, associated with bringing into a comparable form (namely, to the current time and current economic conditions) indicators that were different in time (and, therefore, reflecting different conditions). Discounting is practiced primarily in the field of investment calculations, since real investment, for example, typically involve long periods of design, construction and operation of facilities.

Discounting is based on simple equivalence relations. Since in the capital market 1 today's ruble is equivalent to (1+g) rubles in a year, then the today's equivalent of a ruble received as income in a year is the value of 1/(1+g) rubles. The fairness of this relationship is easy to check: we borrow 1/(1+r) rubles for a year at the interest rate r and ultimately get an income of 1 ruble: 1/(1+r)(1+r) = 1.

If at the end of the first year the lender decides to borrow his savings for another year at rate r, then at the end of the second year he total income will be (1+g) + (1+g)g = (1+g) rubles. In this case, for income received at the end of the second year, the discount factor will be 1/(1+r) 2.

By analogy, the equivalent of today's ruble in T years is the value of (1+r) rubles, and the discount factor for indicators related to period T is equal to 1/(1+r) T For example, with T=20 and r=10%, the coefficient discounting will be approximately 0.15; and this suggests that calculations that ignore the influence of the time factor may turn out to be too rough.

Using the discounting technique, a typical investment project can be assessed as follows:

where NPV is the net present value of the project;

I - investments related to the project (reduced to the beginning of operation of the facility);

PV is the current, or modern, value of future income;

D t is the net income expected from the operation of the facility in period t;

1/(1+r) t - discount factor for period t;

T is the total duration of the project.

NPV, therefore, represents the net profit for the entire period of creation and existence of the enterprise. The project is profitable if NPV > 0. If there are several competing options, the best one is selected based on the maximum NPV (maximum profit). It is clear that as r increases, both PV and NPV decrease, and, therefore, the earlier conclusion that investment is a decreasing percentage function is confirmed.