Социальная политика как фактор инновационного развития региона

The style of Tomsk regional administration could be characterized as liberal paternalism. Regional economic policy has never demonstrated the tendency to restore quasi socialism amidst the emerging free market. At the same time the regional policy has perceptively been pro middle class and innovation friendly. However, among external factors somewhat inhibiting regional social initiatives especially important are: ‐ The prevailing federal monopoly over the social policy as a whole ‐ Disproportional distribution of tax money between the regions of the Russian Federation and the federal center ‐ Federal selectiveness towards the regions of the Russian Federation and rather different attitude towards the latter At the same time, recent social and economic crisis demonstrated that the regional authorities were not operating strictly within the framework of sheer administrating for the crisis itself has been not only dampered but has been used as a starting point for speeding up the innovations in Tomsk region.