Relocation as a Socio-Economic and Legal Institution

The authors problematize the formation of the socio-economic and legal institution of relocation in Russia. During the research, the following results were obtained: The dynamics of the use of the unit «relocation» in the Russian-language discourse (primarily scientific) from the 1990s up to the present moment is recorded. The emphasis is on the diversity of areas of scholarly knowledge that incorporate the term «relocation» in its basic sense of «transposition» while linguistic and special Russian-language dictionaries published before 2022 do not fix it; a special focus is laid on the widespread usage of the term in the law enforcement practice. It is established that from 2011 to 2022 the application of the word «relocation» is growing rapidly in academic papers; regulatory and law enforcement acts and this process indicates a legally competent inclusion of the unit into the Russian-language discourse. Upon that, the usage of the term is significantly restricted to the spheres of economics, finance, and labor relations. It is noted that behind the word/term «relocation» there is a concept that is extensional in content and scope of the situational component that enables to fix the presence of a socio-economic phenomenon and a separate institution – relocation. The authors point out the factors of the formation of the socio-economic institution of relocation in Russia: migration processes and attraction of workforce from the countries of the former USSR; production optimization and the problem of company towns, which led to the movement of workers, equipment, structural units of enterprises to other regions; development of large businesses: federal retail chains, financial institutions, communications service providers, etc., that moved production processes, structural divisions, and personnel to the regions; localization of production facilities of foreign companies in Russia; growth of international investment in the development of Russian companies; «offshoring» of the Russian economy; development of information technologies; change of generations; pandemic and possibility of remote work; geopolitical factors that are associated with Russia’s desire to form a multipolar world. It is claimed that the socio-economic institution of relocation, like any other institution, functioning of which is ensured by the established, formalized rules, leads to the formation of a special legal institution of relocation. It is also emphasized that the presence of subjects of institutional relations, a clearly expressed goal of relocation processes, a system of specially created supervisory government bodies regulating the process of relocation, a system of rules and mechanisms for the legal regulation of relocation processes is confirmation of the need to recognize the existence of relocation as a socio-economic and legal institution.