Regulatory Impact Assessment as a Mechanism of Searchingbalance Between Economic and Social Efficiency(On the Example of State Regulation of the Alcohol Market)

One of the main tasks of state regulation is to find and keep a balance between economic and social efficiency of management decisions, to balance the competition mechanism with social mechanisms of society’s existence. An effective mechanism of providing a positive impact on the development of competition, entrepreneurial and investment activities aimed at achieving the balance of economic efficiency and social-cultural functioning of society, is regulatory impact assessment. This article describes how to conduct regulatory impact assessment of draft regulatory legal act of the Ulyanovsk region, affecting regulation of retail sales of alcohol products.Procedure of regulatory impact assessment was based on the following stages:1) Defining the problem;2) Regulatory goals;3) Analysis of options «status quo»;4) Review of other solutions to the problem, given the results of public discussion a draft legal act;5) Evaluation of the impact on competition;6) Selection of options to solve the problem.According to the results of regulatory impact assessment of the project act was concluded that the absence of sufficient justification addressing the proposed control method, the presence of the provisions in the draft act, introducing redundant duties and prohibitions and restrictions for entrepreneurs, as well as provisions that contribute to the emergence of frivolous spending of businesses, the restriction of competition and the risks of negative social effects.Regulatory impact assessment not only allows to determine the focus and efficiency of decision making, but also a mechanism for the coordination of positions and interests of stakeholders, thereby improving the quality of the institutional environment by achieving a balance between economic and social efficiency.