Assessing the Innovative Solvency of Regional Exports in the Russian Federation

Aim. The presented study aims to develop a methodology for assessing the innovative solvency of exports from Russian regions and to identify the leading exporting regions in the development of the country’s innovative exports. Tasks. The authors clarify the definition of ‘innovative solvency of regional exports’; develop a methodology for assessing the innovative component of regional exports; test methodological recommendations for assessing the innovative solvency of exports through the example of industrial regions. Methods. The approach to determining the innovative solvency of regional exports is based on a matrix measurement method using two-component evaluation tools. This method also makes it possible to compare the level of the region’s existing foreign economic relations with the level of the regional production system when considering the latter as a resource and a prerequisite for further increasing the level of innovation in exports; to assess the degree of regional potential realization through a separate comparison of the indicators of commodity production and exports of goods and indicators reflecting the level of production technologies and their exports. Results. A typology of exporting regions is proposed based on the synthesis of two criteria: the level of development of the innovative component in the exports of the region and the level of development of advanced innovative technologies in the region. The study confirms the hypothesis about the heterogeneity of Russian regions in terms of the innovative component of their exports, which has a direct impact on the development of the corresponding regional development strategies. Of the 34 exporting regions analyzed, only 16 regions can be identified as exporters of innovative goods. Conclusions. The methodology proposed by the authors makes it possible to qualitatively assess the innovative component of regional exports based on quantitative data, which reveals the potential of the regional production system for innovative production, and to compare it with the existing and projected levels of innovative exports. The practical significance of this study consists in the formation of a list of regions leading in innovative exports, which can be useful for public authorities when adjusting programs aimed at stimulating innovation activity and forming an export-oriented national economy.

ДРУШТВЕНИ КАПИТАЛ У ФУНКЦИЈИ УНАПРЕЂЕЊА РЕГИОНАЛНОГ РАЗВОЈА

Regional development strategies should be based on the sound assessment of regional resources, capabilities, competences and core competences, as well as on dynamic capabilities aiming to develop the resource configurations in order to form their regional competitive advantage. Therefore, new regionalism is basically a bottom-up process, because the prerequisites for its successful implementation are the leadership and vision of local actors and administrations, civic participation, the growth of social capital and administrative decentralization and devolution of power. In that sense, the paper deals with important issues regarding the intangible determinants of regional economic development. The research method that will be dominantly used in this paper is the case-study method which aims to fully and thoroughly reconstruct the presence and role of social capital (primarily its structural dimension - social network platforms) in the regional development of world-famous and successful regions such as Silicon Valley, Baden-Wurttemberg and Emilia-Romagna. The overall conclusion of the paper is that regional growth is a function of the social capital stocks of respective regions to a significant extent. Social capital is positively linked to regional development and economic prosperity by reducing transaction costs, articulating collective actions, encouraging innovation and technology dissemination, discouraging opportunism and increasing monetary and non-monetary cost of fraud.

Assessing and strengthening budgetary security of regions and their amalgamated hromada in an unstable economy: A case for Ukraine

An essential determinant of the economic growth of regions and amalgamated hromada is budgetary security, the weakening of which causes the strengthening of financial imbalances of territories and the emergence of budget risks and threats in different time lags. The paper aims to assess budgetary security of regions and amalgamated hromada in Ukraine in an unstable economy. The assessment of budgetary security and risks of areas and amalgamated hromada is carried out based on a multidimensional statistical analysis of budget indicators, calculation of the aggregate indicator of budget risks, and the level of budgetary security by a multiplicative method. The study sample included the regions of Ukraine and 22 amalgamated hromada in terms of cities of regional significance, urban, township, and rural territorial assemblies, which are represented by different areas in Ukraine. According to the assessment, Poltava, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv oblasts are characterized by a low level of budget risks, which indicates high budget stability. On the other hand, the strengthening of budget imbalances, deterioration of the strength of local budgets, in particular in 2019–2020 in urban amalgamated hromada (Druzhbivska and Malovyskivska (6-8 points)); in village areas (Malynivska (5 points), Steblivska (7-7 points)); in rural amalgamated hromada (Chmyrivska (8-7 points)). The study results can serve as an analytical basis in the practice of local governments in the development and justification of regional and local budget policies, the nature of inter-budgetary relations, the formation of regional development strategies, etc. AcknowledgmentsThe study has been conducted within the framework of Applied Research “Financial determinants of the provision of economic growth in the regions and Amalgamated hromada based on the behavioral economy” with the support of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine (M. Dolishniy Institute of Regional Research of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Grant Reg. No. 2020.02/0215, 2020–2022).

Analisis Pusat Pertumbuhan Ekonomi Pada Tingkat Kecamatan di Kabupaten Asahan Sumatera Utara

One of the regional development strategies that became the focus of this research was the determination of the growth center. This study aims to find out the areas that are the growth in Asahan Regency and the highest relationship between spatial interactions between the growth centers and the hinterland. This analysisi tool used area scalogram, centrality index, and gravity index.. The results showed that the area that had a hierarchy with a high upward categorization as the center of growth was Kecamatan Kisaran Barat. Kisaran Barat as the growth center with the hinterland region which has the highest interaction value is the Kisaran Timur District, Air Joman District, and Pulo Bandring District.

Following the Old Road: Organizational Imprinting and the Regional Development of Russia

ABSTRACT In this article, I draw from organizational imprinting theory to illuminate the impact of the Soviet legacy on contemporary Russian economic geography and regional policy. I argue that central coordination in the creation and regulation of Russian urban agglomerations is connected to a socialist imprinted paradigm associated with the Soviet economic regionalization model and territorial-production complexes (TPCs). I conduct a qualitative historical study to analyze the role of the foundational environment and the dynamics in the development of this imprint. I propose that this imprint effect is prone to reproduction in contemporary regional development strategies and community-based paradigms due to exaptation and cultural-cognitive persistence. The article extends the literature of socialist imprinting by demonstrating how imprints may emerge, transform, and affect localized organizational communities in transition economies and highlights the role of imprinted paradigms in policymaking and regional development.

Sources of funding regional smart specialization in Ukraine

Increasing the competitiveness level of regions based on smart-specialization is one of the foundations of regional development policy in Ukraine until 2027. Ukrainian regions have identified areas of their smart-specialization and formed projects for their implementation to achieve this goal. However, the smart-specialization projects require considerable financial resources. Identify and assess the financial sources for smart-specialization projects in Ukrainian regions, describe the weaknesses of the financial support mechanism for regions’ smart-specialization and suggest possible ways to eliminate them is the goal of our research. We analyzed regional development strategies and medium-term action plans of strategies’ implementation for identifying smart-specialization projects and the expected sources and scope of their financing. Then, we evaluated the possibility of financing the smart-specialization of Ukrainian regions from the expense of state and regional budgets, international organizations and domestic enterprises. State budget funds are the main financial resource for the introduction of regions’ smart-specialization. On average, almost half of the total planned funding for the regions’ smart-specialization projects comes from the state budget. The own funds of enterprises, grant funds, resources of international financial organizations, etc. – cover the second planned half of the regions’ smart-specialization projects’ cost. Funds from regional budgets will provide only a small need for funds for regions’ smart-specialization projects implementation. However, we found the absence of a separate financial support mechanism specifically for regions’ smart-specialization projects at both the state and regional levels. Conclusion. In Ukraine, there are sources of funds to start financing smart-specialization of regions. The range of tools for financial support of smart-specialization projects is quite wide. Besides, we propose to allocate part of the funds within the state and regional programs exclusively to the implementation of regions’ smart-specialization projects. We recommend introducing the funding for relevant projects on a revolving basis alongside non-repayable financial instruments to support regions’ smart-specialization.

Transitioning towards a Sustainable Wellbeing Economy—Implications for Rural–Urban Relations

This article focuses on the question of how a shift from a narrow economic perspective to a wider sustainable wellbeing focus in regional development strategies and actions might change rural–urban relations. A brief review of relevant research and discourses about economic development models provides the foundation for the analysis. The review leads to the development of an analytical framework that puts the notion of sustainable wellbeing at its center. The criteria included in the analytical framework are then used to assess the current situation, challenges and perceived ways forward based on data and analyses from 11 European regions. The focus of the analysis is on different expressions of a sustainable wellbeing economy, and aspects of territorial development that are consistent with the basic features of a wellbeing economy are identified. Development dynamics and tensions between different development goals and resource uses, strategies and actions that are in favor of sustainable wellbeing goals, and conditions for more mutually beneficial rural–urban relationships are discussed. The article concludes with the implications for local government, and governance and policy frameworks. Reference is made to current high-level strategic policy frameworks and the European Green Deal.

Pulp Friction in the La Plata Basin: The Importance of Natural Resource Governance for South American Regionalism

Over the last two decades, natural resource governance has become an increasingly important element of South American regionalism as commodities became a central driver for regional development strategies. Yet, due to socio-environmental impacts and dissatisfaction with decision-making processes, it is also frequently contested. This article focuses on one particularly prominent contestation with transboundary and regional repercussions, the case of the pulp mill conflict which escalated between Argentina and Uruguay in the 2000s. Using the concepts of regionness and politics of scale, it examines in which ways the pulp mill conflict affected regional cohesion and seeks to understand why it evolved in this way. This shows that the way national governments address socio-environmental conflicts is an important additional obstacle to regional cohesion which has received little attention in studies of South American regionalism so far.

Regional Development in Romania: Empirical Evidence Regarding the Factors for Measuring a Prosperous and Sustainable Economy

The present study aims to present, evaluate and identify the factors required to measure the prosperity and sustainability of Romania’s economy over the specific period 2000–2020 in light of sustainable regional development assessments, and examines how the main factors—as considered by the authors—may be integrated into regional development policies. The focus throughout the study is on the need to permanently support the development of Romanian regions in direct relation to the sustainable indicators presented within the model—through the use of data from empirical analysis—which are measures of Romania’s economic prosperity and long-term economic growth. Therefore, the study intends to assess the progress of each region of the country, showing the evolution and selection of factors that are related to sustainability, namely, child survival, poverty and education, with implications for regional development strategies and local initiatives that must promote wider sustainable regional development. Furthermore, the aim of the study is to analyse the influence of sustainable inflows on economic prosperity, reflected in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita for each region in Romania, considering factors related to sustainability and the major differences between the regions, depending on the effectiveness of these public policy applications. With this approach, our goal—considering all the macroregions of the country—is to emphasize the significance of two main aims in sustainable regional development: a better allocation of the means which actively aim to decrease the unemployment rate and a better infrastructure for public services. National, regional and local administrations play important roles in promoting coherent sustainability in economic, social and environmental activities. Regardless of the level at which development policies are devised—local, county or regional—they must take into consideration and monitor the determinants of sustainable development in cases where development is the ultimate goal.