Ideological and financial spaces of budgetary responses to COVID-19 lockdown strategies: comparative analysis of Russia and Ukraine
Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management
ISSN: 1096-3367
Article publication date: 5 October 2020
Issue publication date: 24 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
To compare Russian and Ukrainian central governments' reaction to the pandemic, reflected in extraordinary budgetary allocations and to provide our understanding of how those allocations can be attributed to the two countries’ different social, economic and political contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is built on secondary data analysis over a six-month period, i.e. January–June 2020, during which the real-time events were documented in a research diary. The data sources included budgetary and other relevant legislature, official reports from international agencies, news, press conferences and videos of interviews with key stakeholders.
Findings
The findings showed that uncertainty caused by COVID-19 and the corresponding lockdown policies in Russia and Ukraine have produced two divergent patterns of budgetary allocations: step-by-step budgetary allocations in Russia vs one emergency budget decision in Ukraine.
Originality/value
The paper explains the divergence of the central governments' budgetary decisions based on the same lockdown policy, in light of the different ideological and financial legitimized action spaces that frame governmental decisions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank anonymous reviewers, whose comments contributed to improvement of the manuscript. The authors also grateful to our colleagues for creating stimulating and supporting environment during challenging time of COVID-19.
Citation
Vakulenko, V., Khodachek, I. and Bourmistrov, A. (2020), "Ideological and financial spaces of budgetary responses to COVID-19 lockdown strategies: comparative analysis of Russia and Ukraine", Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 32 No. 5, pp. 865-874. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-07-2020-0110
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited