Rural development in Stavropol Krai: Assessment based on statistics and local perception

Russian Journal of Economics. 2023. Vol. 9. No. 4. P. 386–406.

Bobryshev A., Baydakov A., Olga S. Zvyagintseva, Sergey I. Lugovskoy

The article studies rural areas using the systems approach, which is based on identifying their key subsystems—natural, social, and economic. The study aims to develop and implement a procedure for creating a multi-aspect assessment range of rural development levels relying on the combined use of multivariate statistical analysis and the computational and expert comparison of objective and subjective structured information about examined objects. The grouping of rural territorial entities carried out on this basis is intended to identify a set of common patterns representing their targeted development, taking into account both the existing social and economic situation in the territory and its perception by the population. The correlation between the objective and subjective assessments of the natural, social, and economic conditions of rural territorial entities serves as the basis for identifying three groups of development patterns.

Results were obtained through the combined application of multivariate statistical methods—cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. The first method was used for an objective ranking of municipal districts in the region using official statistical data, while the second method was used for structuring the rural survey results.

The main study result consists in the design and implementation of the procedure for the multi-aspect grouping of rural areas, which enables the objective and subjective assessment of their key subsystems—economic, social, and natural—to be integrated into a single assessment tool. Its application helps to establish a range of general patterns representing rural development.

The study results can be used in the creation and updating of object- and subject-differentiated programs for the development of rural territorial entities.

Keywords: cluster analysis, кластерный анализ, multidimensional scaling, многомерное шкалирование, паттерны развития, rural area, Сельская территория, development patterns

Publication based on the results of: Пространственный анализ как ключевой инструмент управления сельским развитием в регионе: принципы, методы, практические рекомендации (2024)