BUSINESS IN THE DEPUTY CORPS OF MUNICIPALITIES (EXEMPLIFIED BY THE SVERDLOVSK REGION)

Abstract

The purpose of the given article is to determine the representative bodies composition of municipalities and the place of the business community representatives in the deputy corps. The paper formulates research issues about the share of the business community representatives in the deputy corps; factors influencing the level of business representation in the city councils; whether the municipal deputies who come from business are a consolidated group and what it depends on.
The "state capture" concept, proposed by J. Helman, G. Johnson and D. Kaufman, the World Bank experts, made the theoretical and methodological framework of the article.
The empirical basis of the research was the biographical database of local deputies. The source of biographical information was the official websites of the representative bodies of the municipalities of the Sverdlovsk region. The total sample was 40 municipalities. The data source for municipalities was the official websites of local administrations. The list of monocities of the Middle Urals is provided on the official website of the regional Ministry of Investment and Development. The quantitative data analysis method was the statistical methods, including the multiple linear regression method. The statistical calculations were made with SPSS Statistics software.
It is shown that the commercial organizations representatives make up about 40% of the total number of municipal deputies. The author came to the conclusion that the economic development level of municipalities does not affect the representation degree of people from commercial structures. The paper notes that the presence of a city-forming enterprise in the municipality is a key factor. It is emphasized that neither an absolute majority of deputies-entrepreneurs, nor the mere presence of a city-forming enterprise is a guarantee of a city council "capture".