Assessing the Impact of the Share of Employees in Microenterprises on the Average Wage Level in the Regions of the Russian Federation

<jats:p>The article presents an attempt to assess the impact of the share of employees in microenterprises on average wage levels in the regions of the Russian Federation. The relevance of the study stems from the need to identi-fy potential opportunity costs associated with possible reductions in funding for microenterprise support measures or increases in the tax burden for such enterprises. The research problem lies in the presence of prerequisites for the displacement of the coefficient characterizing the magnitude of the desired effect, due to the issue of endogeneity. To overcome these challenges, the study employs the instrumental variable method, considering various set of tools for analyzing annual regional data. The results from the quasi-experimental methods indicate that a 1 % average increase in the share of employees in microenterprises in the regions of the Russian Federation leads to an increase in the average wage of 0.15 %, In contrast, basic regression analy-sis demonstrates a statistically insignificant – and occasionally negative – effect. These findings offer valuable insights for informing regional policy decisions and determining key parameters of microenterprise support programs at the regional level.</jats:p>