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The purpose of the study is to examine the role and importance of this tax when forming revenues of consolidated budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the context of federal districts, and its impact on the formation of indicators characterizing the social sphere, as well as to analyze the positive foreign experience of personal income taxation. The general scientific methods of cognition (analysis, synthesis, generalization, grouping, comparison, tabular, etc.) were used. The study is based on official data of the Federal State Statistics Service and the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation. It has been established that personal income tax fulfills its fiscal function, and it is the main source of income of local budgets and regions. As for the social function, it is currently lost. It is reflected in the following: in four federal districts, where about half of the country’s population lives, wages are below the average Russian level; the coefficients of funds and Gini coefficient are not improving; deductions and benefits on personal income tax do not fulfill the social function, social justice is not ensured, and social stratification of society is increasing. In the context of the current unfavorable demographic situation and external challenges due to Western sanctions, it is necessary to strengthen motivation to work, considering foreign positive experience to introduce a real and workable progressive scale of personal income taxation.

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Ethnic diversity has an impact on many areas of social life, which has led to an extensive layer of research on relationships in this area. Many authors have studied in detail the impact of ethnic diversity on conflicts, instability, domestic politics, other various social and cultural aspects. At the same time, the relationship between ethnic fractionalization and economic parameters remains insufficiently studied, which leaves a wide field for relevant research, especially at the level of individual countries, since most of the work is devoted to cross-country comparative analysis of the relevant parameters. One of the most actual problems in the context of ethnic heterogeneity is its relationship with income inequality. This article presents the results of a study of the relationship between ethnic diversity, estimated on the basis of the ethno-linguistic fractionalization (ELF) index, and two indicators of income inequality — the Gini coefficient and the inter-decile income share ratio (S90/S10). The analysis of this relationship was carried out on the example of one country — Kazakhstan — by comparing the corresponding indicators for seventeen regions. The results of the analysis showed the presence of a stable and noticeable relationship, expressed in the growth of income inequality as ethnic diversity grows in the regions of the country. It was revealed that in the most ethnically homogeneous regions, income inequality indicators are minimal, while in the most ethnically diverse regions they are much higher. A significant correlation was also found between ethnic fractionalization and indicators of income inequality. The results obtained are generally correspond to the results of a number of cross-country studies, but in the case of Kazakhstan they are more distinct, which can be interpreted as confirmation of the relationship between ethnic diversity and income inequality in general.

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of the structure and level of the tax burden on inequality of citizens, using the example of the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The hypothesis was that the structure and level of the tax burden affect citizens inequality. This hypothesis was tested using a correlation and regression analysis of the dependence of citizens inequality level on the tax burden structure by decomposing it into separate taxes. The Gini coefficient and the share of income of the tenth decile group were chosen as indicators of inequality. The calculations were carried out using the Data Analysis in MS Excel for the years 2000 and 2020 on the basis of statistical data from the World Bank and OECD. The data set formed for the study contains about 1 thousand indicators. The share of all taxes in GDP has the closest relationship with inequality: it explains the dynamics of the level of inequality by 53–74%. The severity of the tax burden has a more significant impact on inequality than its structure. The decrease or increase in the share of a tax in the structure of the tax burden characterizes the weakening or strengthening of the impact of this tax on inequality. The change in the structure of the tax burden in OECD countries in 2020 compared to 2000 contributed to the smoothing of citizens inequality by increasing the share of income tax while reducing the share of indirect taxes. The relationship between the indicators of tax burden and inequality is non-linear. It fits into the concept of A. Laffer. Establishing the type of this dependence will make it possible to solve the problem of optimizing the structure of tax burden in order to smooth inequality.

Efficiency of economic activity of 85 regions of the Russian Federation is analyzed in this article. The purpose of the research is assessment the interregional inequality of the Russian regions. The analysis was based on the total tax revenues collected within all the Russian regions. The research was based on methods of analysis and synthesis, analogy and generalization, comparison and comparison, induction and deduction, economic-mathematical and statistical methods of estimation of income inequality. For its implementation, coefficients and indices were used: Lorentz, Ginny, Robin Hood, Theil, Atkinson, and Herfindahl-Hirschman. Part of the analysis was performed in the analytical module of the information system “Taxes of the Russian Federation”. Based on the Russian Federation subjects’ economic activity model, it is concluded that the total tax revenues collected on regions reflect the effectiveness of its functioning. A more accurate picture is described with the quotient of the tax revenues’ division by the labor resources engaged in their creation. Based on the methods used and data provided by the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation and Rosstat, was made of the uniformity of tax revenue collection among 85 subjects of the Russian Federation in the period from 2015 to 2020, all applied coefficients and indices were calculated. Using the share of employed population and tax revenues, the Lorenz curves and size diagrams (box plot) for the ratio of these shares (r) in the period under consideration are constructed and the emissions (outlier) in the distribution of tax revenues are determined. The dynamics of tax revenues and their variation are estimated. The obtained values of inequality indicators and indices showed that the distribution of tax revenues among 85 regions of the Russian Federation is uneven. Simultaneously, this situation is evident throughout the period under review. The subjects whose tax income values can be attributed to outliers have been identified. It is concluded that the problem of uneven development of regions of the country is traced through centuries. A way out of this situation is to use differentiated financial and tax policies in relation to different regions of the country.

Introduction. Alcoholism is still a pressing socio-medical problem in Russia that needs to be considered within the broader socio-economic context. Therefore, this study focuses on socio-economic indicators and their association with the incidence of alcoholism and alcoholic psychoses. Aim. To study the correlations of socio-economic indicators with the incidence (the number of new cases) of alcoholism and alcoholic psychoses in Russia, 1992‑2020. Materials and methods. Correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationships between a set of socio-economic indicators, cases of alcoholism and alcoholic psychoses. Data analysis was conducted using the SPSS software package. Results. The incidence of alcoholic psychoses correlates with the Index of Economic Freedom (r= –0.427 | moderate association), Human Development Index (–0.629 | noticeable), unemployment rate (0.655 | noticeable), poverty level (0.482 | moderate). The incidence of alcoholism correlates with Gini coefficient (–0.595 | noticeable), Human Development Index (–0.975 | strong), unemployment rate (0.765 | high), poverty level (0.803 | high), price of vodka (0.769 | high). Public health expenditure in relation to GDP (%) does not correlate with the incidence of alcoholic psychoses and alcoholism. Conclusion. The results of the study showed significant associations with 6 out of 7 socio-economic indicators. This may indicate that the incidence of alcoholism and alcoholic psychoses is largely caused by the socio-economic situation.

The Scandinavian welfare model is a political economic model which, among other things, Denmark other Nordic countries, like Sweden and Norway, developed after the end of World War II. The basic principles behind this model imply that all citizens in society have access to social benefits regardless of their social background or origin, and that the benefits are not linked to insurance contributions or other forms of user payment. The model is referred to as the universal welfare model, because everyone has the right to a number of benefits, e.g. state pension and child allowance. The citizens of the Scandinavian countries are thereby financially secured in connection with illness, unemployment and in old age, to which are added supplementary measures, e.g. support for housing costs and expenses for children. In addition, there are a number of highly developed services in the form of day-care centres, health care, home care, etc. In this article we will be analysing and comment the origin, the development and the contemporary universal Scandinavian model. Furthermore we will try to get an answer to the question: will this universal welfare model survive the next three decades, and at all exist in 2060?

The existing wage imbalances, low rates of income growth, and their high differentiation have a negative impact on the socio-economic development of Russia, which determines the relevance of this study. The purpose of this work is to analyze the impact of economic growth rates in Russia on the dynamics of per capita income of the population and inequality in its distribution. Methods. Methods of analysis, synthesis, and comparison were used. The main method of research is the method of statistical analysis based on the requirements of an objective and comprehensive analysis of the income of the population. Results and conclusions. Statistical data for the period from 2000 to 2020 are analyzed, showing the growth in the increasing inequality in the distribution of monetary incomes of the population by the amount of per capita monetary income in the country as a whole for the analyzed period. The relationship between the rates of economic growth and the level of differentiation of the population by income is statistically determined. The reasons for this process in Russia are highlighted. After analyzing the degree of differentiation by a set of indicators, among which the main ones were the fund ratio and the Gini coefficient, it was found that economic growth alone does not solve the problem of economic inequality. During the analyzed period, high rates of economic growth in Russia were accompanied by increased differentiation of the population by income, which has its justification. It was also revealed that the real income of the population grows when the economic growth rate, expressed in real GDP growth, exceeds three percent. At the same time, a more tangible improvement in the financial situation of the population is observed at real GDP growth rates of over five percent.

It is known that partitioning a society into groups with subsequent averaging in each group decreases the Gini coefficient. The resulting Lorenz function is piecewise linear. This study deals with a natural question: by how much the Gini coefficient could decrease when passing to a piecewise linear Lorenz function? Obtained results are quite illustrative (since they are expressed in terms of the geometric parameters of the polygon Lorenz curve, such as the lengths of its segments and the angles between successive segments) upper bound estimates for the maximum possible change in the Gini coefficient with a restriction on the group shares, or on the difference between the averaged values of the attribute for consecutive groups. It is shown that there exist Lorenz curves with the Gini coefficient arbitrarily close to one, and at the same time with the Gini coefficient of the averaged society arbitrarily close to zero.

Purpose: this research study focused on analyzing the conditions of income distribution and the determinants of the low Gini coefficient, namely the sectors that have the highest contribution, including the industrial, agricultural and trade sectors and labor productivity in the industrial sector in Kepulauan Bangka Belitung Province.Methods: the income distribution phenomenon in Kepulauan Bangka Belitung Province during the 2007-2018 period became the basis for analyzing the determining variables of income distribution including the industrial sector, the agricultural sector, the trade sector and the industrial labor productivity. The income distribution indicator was measured from the Gini coefficient value using the Panel Data Regression approach to determine the effect of these variables on the Gini coefficient in all regencies / cities in the Kepulauan Bangka Belitung Province.Results: the results showed that the agricultural sector, industrial sector and trade sector had a negative and significant effect on the Gini coefficient. Meanwhile, labor productivity in the Industrial Sector had a significant positive effect on the Gini coefficient. The results showed that the determinant of income distribution was the agricultural sector. Further findings prove that the agricultural, industrial and trade sectors improved the income distribution.Conclusions and Relevance: this study implied for the efforts to increase the agricultural market orientation towards high productivity which was inversely contrast to the output of workers in the industrial sector proven to reduce income distribution. Therefore, the structural transformation towards industrialization and market-oriented efforts from the agricultural sector were necessary.

One of the most important characteristics of the labour market is labour mobility that allows assessing the economic efficienc y o f labour . A comparativ e analysi s i s necessar y fo r determinin g th e degre e o f mobility . I n term s o f spatia l and sectoral characteristics, the paper assesses the degree and dynamics of mobility in the Russian labour market based on previously published studies, as well as the authors’ findings. To determine the degree of mobility, the research uses various approaches, applying both direct (mobility costs, transition matrices) and indirect indicators (structural unemployment, wage differentiation, unemployment rate, gross regional product (GRP)). The analysis uses the data of the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey — Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE) and Federal State Statistic Service (Rosstat) for 2000– 2016. The obtained results demonstrate a relatively low intersectoral and interregional mobility in Russia compared to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Low intersectoral mobility may indicate weak exchangeability of the sectors and high mobility costs. The largest number of transitions is observed in trade, where employees do not need any specific knowledge. Generally, other transitions are made between related sectors that require similar knowledge from employees. The lowest intersectoral mobility is characteristic for the education and health sectors. According to the Shorrocks index, in Russia, interregional mobility is lower than intersectoral mobility. Low spatial mobility is explained by high migration costs, including those associated with “poverty traps”, the peculiarity of statistical accounting of migrants and the size of Russian regions. The obtained results are correct for the examined period and the applied criteria. The changes in labour mobility in Russia caused by global digitalisation of the economy and the transition to remote working require a separate study.

The problem of income inequality is globally relevant, receiving the attention of both scientists and pol- iticians. Lithuania as a small country has made significant progress in approaching the standard of liv- ing in Western Europe. However, there are still differences in economic growth between separate popula- tion groups. Thus, the problem of income inequality remains very acute. Currently, researchers are widely discussing the risk of income inequality to the country’s society by analysing its causes and proposing var- ious solutions. Although scientific debates address income inequality across regions, such studies are often limited to examples of large countries. Meanwhile, there is a lack of studies on regional income inequality in small countries, so the question of whether a small country is characterised by regional income inequal- ity remains open. This research aims to examine the level of regional income inequality in Lithuania. We hy- pothesised that Lithuania has a high level of regional income inequality and this is one of the causes of the high income inequality in the whole country. To estimate regional income inequality, we used the most com- mon measures: Gini coefficient, decile ratio, and the coefficient of variation. The analysis was performed at level 3 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), according to which Lithuania is divided into 10 administrative counties. For this research, we chose the indicators illustrating income per capita on various levels, i.e., gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, average disposable household income per cap- ita, and gross hourly wages, as the various types of income can be used. For the estimation of GDP per cap- ita and average disposable household income, we analysed the data provided by the Lithuanian Department of Statistics (Statistics Lithuania) for 2014–2017. Due to a lack of data to estimate gross hourly wages, we examined the statistical data from the Lithuanian Department of Statistics for 2014. The results show that the hypothesis has not been confirmed. According to the research results, there is a small distribution of in- come between different regions of a small economy, although the level of economic development of different regions differs. The study findings are important not only from an academic perspective for identifying the causes of income inequality and raising questions for further research, but also for regional economic policy makers. The obtained results show that decisions related to a more equal distribution of income in Lithuania as a small country are determined not only by the specificity of its regions but also by the general trends of the country.

Purpose of research. The differentiation of the population in terms of welfare is part of the reality of the modern society and becomes the subject of acute debate. There is a need for a comprehensive assessment of the level of economic inequality and poverty to further substantiate the mechanism of coordination of activities to address the problems of their reduction. The joint use of monetary and non-monetary approaches allows achieving the goal of the study – a comprehensive and objective statistical assessment of the level of economic inequality and poverty of the Russian population.Materials and methods. The information base of the study was the data of the Federal State Statistics Service, as well as materials of analytical and scientific reports “Report on inequality in the world 2018”, “Poverty and income inequality in Russia and abroad”, “Russian society after the presidential elections – 2018: a request for change”, etc. Monetary indicators of economic inequality were used as statistical tools: decile coefficient of funds and Gini coefficient and non-monetary (subjective) approach. The subjective approach to poverty assessment is based on the data of the sample survey of household budgets in 2018.Results. A comparative analysis of economic inequality on a global scale shows that there are significant cross-country differences in income inequality, ranging from lower levels in Europe to high levels in the Middle East. Russia is one of the countries with a strong stratification of the population into rich and poor, where the value of the upper decile is 46% of the national income. The analysis of the dynamics of monetary indicators of economic inequality in the Russian Federation showed their increasing trend over the period from 1995 to 2018 and exceeding the established thresholds. According to the data of 2018, the value of the decile ratio of funds is 15,5 – that is, it is so many times the average income of the rich population exceeds the income of the poor. Gini index value of 0,41 for the same period indicates that the expected income difference between the two randomly selected income pairs will be 82% of the average income. The results of the non-monetary (subjective) approach to assessing economic inequality and poverty showed that the financial situation of 34,4% of households is unsatisfactory (incomes are barely enough for food, buying clothes and paying for housing and communal services are difficult). Even by 53,9% of households noted the lack of funds for the purchase of durable goods.Conclusion. The current situation with the increasing disproportion in the distribution of income of the population of Russia testifies to the active process of stratification of society. The results of the study showed excessive inequality in income of the population of the Russian Federation and the concentration of national wealth in the hands of the “upper” part of the first decile. The subjective approach to poverty assessment confirms the social stratification of society: more than 88% of Russians consider themselves to be poor.

Based on data from official American statistics, the issue of wages in the United States of America manufacturing industry has been considered. This study is an important area of study of modern social and economic problems of the United States. Manufacturing plays an important role in the economy of the US, because it creates a material basis for all other industries. The trends and problems in this area have been revealed in the article. For a comprehensive analysis a systematic approach, economic-statistical and logical research methods have been used in the paper. A comprehensive study of wages in the most important sectors of the national economy has been carried out, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor. Separate attention has been paid to the category of “production workers”, whose share is about 70%. The statistical data on the average annual wage of production workers by industry according to the NAICS have been adduced. The significance of the manufacturing industry in creating, maintaining and returning jobs for the US economy has been shown.The difference in wages depending on the level of education, work experience and profession has been analyzed. The data on the highest paid industrial professions have been adduced. The uneven distribution of the manufacturing industry by states has been shown. It has been noted, that the reduction in the coverage of the trade union movement of American workers is another factor, affecting the level of wages. The correlation between production volume and Gini Coefficient in the USA in the period from 1947 to 2014 has been presented in the article. It has been noticed, that the growth of inequality in the US income and the decline of the manufacturing industry are interrelated.

The paper deals with the problems of measuring uneven wealth distribution in the bitcoin ecosystem. All existing bitcoin distribution models depend on the analysis of bitcoin wallets and bitcoin addresses. They are based on the Bitcoin Rich List. This approach is insufficient due to the inscrutable relationships between people owning bitcoin, bitcoin wallets, and bitcoin addresses. In this paper, we used the methods of comparative analysis resulted in graphics as represented by Lorentz and Lamé curves and distribution of the Gini coefficients and the Kolkata index. We identified empirical cumulative functions of wealth distribution and the number of addresses with positive balance during the bubble and after its explosion. Approximations of the distribution of ‘poor’ and ‘rich’ addresses have been obtained and compared with the other results from the cited literature. The general public views the equality of network members as synonymous with the equal distribution of wealth among them. Emerging financial bubbles, especially in the US financial markets, lead to an increase in income inequality. However, after a bubble explodes, the inequality falls to the initial level.

The article is aimed at developing a model of the inclusive-oriented growth of the economy taking into view the basic principles of such growth and researching the place of Ukraine in the overall ranking of countries according to the level of socio-economic and inclusive development through individual indicators. The article substantiates the fundamental necessity of rethinking and changing the existing models of economic growth in order to overcome the growing socio-economic inequalities in the context of global economic instability. The modern conception of inclusive development is defined as such, which forms a new basis for the sustainable growth of modern economic systems, orienting them towards the principles of justice and equality, ecological safety. The priority components of inclusive development are proposed in the form of a model. The indicators of inclusive development for the world economies and Ukraine are researched as well; the rating of individual developing countries is compared according to the inclusive development index and the place of Ukraine in this rating is determined. Prospect of further researches in this direction is monitoring of the key indicators of efficiency and dynamics of the main factors of welfare in Ukraine by means of the information panel with the purpose of elaboration of priority directions of further socio-economic and inclusive-oriented development.

The aim of the study is to identify regions with the highest dependence on imports and assess the impact of imports on the dynamics of the manufacturing industry’s growth. The methodological framework of the study involves the use of well-known processing methods of regional static data. The paper presents an empirical study of imports volume and structure in the regional manufacturing industry for the period from 2005 to 2014, and groups them on the basis of the assessment of sustainability indicators. At the regional level, intermediate imports are characterized by a high heterogeneity both in absolute and relative terms. The significant volumes of imports are concentrated in few regions with a high industrial concentration. It allows to allocate regions with the greatest risks for the manufacturing sector in negative external environment. The study demonstrates the relationship of the intermediate imports with the growth dynamics of the manufacturing industry in a certain set of macroeconomic conditions, assuming the economic growth with the stable exchange rate and relatively high growth rate of the producer prices on the domestic market. We also found a positive impact of imports on the growth rate of manufacturing industry in this period due to the effects of market substitution. Thus, the limitation of import substitution in specialized regions at preservation of the basic external factors is emphasized. The obtained results can be used for strategic planning at various levels of management, defining the model and direction for growth of the industrial sector of the region and improving the methodological tools for further empirical research.

The paper established a number of "stylized facts", one of which is a confirmation of the S. Kuznets’ hypothesis of the nonlinear dependence between the degree of inequality in income distribution and welfare economic systems on the example of a group of Russian regions for the period 2002–2012. It is shown that, for a given sample, the welfare and economic growth factors amplify their influence on inequality in income distribution in the post-crisis period. The monotonous growth of income inequality which was observed before the crisis of 2008 is slowing in the process of raising the per capita gross regional product (GRP) during the post-crisis period, and for the foreseeable future, in some regions, its direction can be reversed, while maintaining a trend of socio-economic development. Despite the persistence over time of a convex nature of S. Kuznets’ curve for Russian regional data, its parameters changed during the reporting 2002–2012 period. The maximum point of the curve shifts to the left, its convexity increases. These facts indicate that the income inequality growth of the Russian regions’ as a result of growth of per capita GRP is slowing. For some regions in the post-crisis period, the income inequality does not grow with the growth of per capita GRP, or it even reduces. This fact can be attributed to the implementation of the Russian federal socially oriented projects and programs in recent years. The results can be used for the development of regional economic policy in order to regulate the level of income distribution inequality in the regions of Russia.

Many publications on inter-regional inequality use weighting by region’s share in the national population in estimating an inequality index. This paper demonstrates that, first, such an approach is conceptually inconsistent, yielding a (very rough) estimate of interpersonal inequality of the country’s whole population rather than an estimate of inter-regional inequality, and second, an inadequate weighting leads to the incorrect value of an inequality index. The author illustrates distortions caused by the use of weighting with the help of the income inequality among Russian regions (measured by the Gini coefficient)

The article examines intra-regional income disparities in Russia and estimates its determining factors. As methods of research the author uses absolute and relative deflation, correlation and regression analysis and calculation of elasticity coefficients. According to the results the researcher draws some conclusions. First, on the basis of the analysis by the subjects of the Russian Federation in 2004-2013 the study reveals generally positive (but different by regions) impact of real income and real wages on the rate of intra-regional differentiation of population income (the Gini coefficient). Second, the author identifies five groups of income differentiation factors and estimates their influence on the Gini coefficient and the poverty rate in the regions of the Russian Federation. Third, on the basis of the Russian regions data as of 2013 the researcher builds the regression model of dependence between the Gini coefficient and the real labour productivity, the ratio of wages and profits in GRP, the share of social transfers in the income of the population and the economic structure of the region described by a measure of wages dispersion by aggregate economic activities. The results can be useful in evaluating the effectiveness of different tools of social policy at both regional and national levels

The article examines the dynamics and factors of intra- and inter-regional per capita income differentiation and convergence among the subjects of the Russian Federation in 2004-2012. The analysis is based on converting nominal GRP to real GRP using the cumulative index-deflator and nominal income to real income using the index of relative cost of living in the region. The author reveals the fact that in the majority of Russian regions the reduction in inter-regional differences in per capita income was accompanied by growth of intra-regional inequality in its distribution. The paper also shows that the gap in income and its differentiation between «bottom» and «top» regions is gradually filling up. Using the constructed index of «social well-being of the region» that takes into account both mentioned phenomena the author considers the b type of inter-regional convergence although this process has a more subtle form and noticeably slowed down after the crisis. Converting the statistical concentration indices (Gini and variation coefficients, Herfindahl- Hirschman and Theil indices) to the uneven distribution ones, the author estimates the reduction degree of inter-regional disparities in per capita rates of nominal GRP and nominal and real income during 9 years. The comparison of mentioned indices allowed us to identify that the state redistributive policy has a significant and increasing impact on the reduction of inter-regional income differentiation and the variance of cost of living in the regions has less significant but stable influence

The subject of this article is the types of relationship between economic development and degree of income inequality in the regions of the Russian Federation. Research methods: testing the modified Kuznets hypothesis; relative deflating of regional parameters; calculating the differentiation and localization coefficients; constructing the Lorentz curves; correlation and regression analysis. Obtained results: 1) for Russian regions author discovered significant direct statistical relationship between the Gini and funds coefficients and the level of real per capita income with increasing returns, as well as less strong direct relationship between coefficients of differentiation mentioned above and the real GDP per capita with diminishing returns; 2) the “social wellbeing” coefficient is proposed and calculated for the regions, which based on localization index of real per capita income relative to the differentiation coefficient, and 3) the degree of interregional disparities in the Russian Federation is evaluated on the basis of the Gini coefficient, coefficient of variation and relative entropy for the nominal and real income and GRP per capita, and Lorenz curves for them are constructed. In this paper, author concluded: 1) presently the level of economic development of the Russian Federation regions negatively affects their income equality due to most of them are on the ascending branch of the S. Kuznets curve, 2) “social welfare” coefficient changes the positions of the middle-income regions more, than that of other regions, and 3) two factors have a positive impact on reducing the regional disparities: more ratio of total personal income to GRP in poor regions relative to rich ones (i.e. greater “social orientation” of poor regions), and positive correlation between income and the cost of living in the regions. The obtained results can be used by researchers in further testing the modified Kuznets hypothesis, as well as by local authorities in the income policy optimization at the regional level.