Spatial Structure and Factors of Economic Development of Asian Russia

Regional Research of Russia. 2023. Vol. 13. No. 3. P. 375–385.

E. A. Kolomak, A. I. Sherubneva

The paper examines the spatial features of development of Asian Russia; the territorial unit of the analysis is municipalities. Based on a study of the distribution of economic development characteristics, a conclusion is made about the heterogeneity and inconsistency in development of the East, both in the latitudinal and meridional directions. Econometric methods are used to asses the impact of resource, geographic, infrastructure, agglomeration, and market factors on the development of municipalities in Asian Russia. The sample includes 271 municipalities, and the observation period covers 2015–2018. Regression estimates showed that the resource economy and natural resource rent continue to play an important role in the economy of the East. However, despite the low density of business activity and high transport costs, agglomeration and market factors are significant and form the spatial proportions of Asian Russia. The influence of the market mechanism is ambiguous, in the interactions of regional centers with the environment, washout effects dominate, while horizontal intermunicipal relations create a positive externality that overrides the negative impact of interactions with the regional capital. The results argue in favor of strengthening the connectivity of the macroregional space and supporting interregional and intermunicipal cooperation. The solution to this problem includes a technical component, involving the implementation of infrastructure projects, as well as an institutional component aimed at strengthening cooperative and reducing competitive incentives for spatial interaction.

Keywords: эмпирический анализ, пространственное развитие, empirical analysis, municipalities, муниципалитеты, spatial development, Asian Russia, Азиатская Россия