Text mining for economic geographical sectoral analysis of the pulp and paper industry in European Russia

The authors show the need and some existing opportunities for analysis of non-traditional data sources to obtain a complete and more relevant picture of industries spatial development. The research methodology includes the use of text mining for economic and geographical studies. The relevance of the research is determined by insufficient completeness of official statistical data, cheapening of relevant information processing technologies and abundance of large text data sources in open access. The article discusses the role of the pulp and paper industry (as a key part of the timber industry) in economic and spatial development of modern Russia. The authors identify main trends in the economic and spatial development of the pulp and paper industry of European Russia, draw the conclusions on the expected industry trends and give recommendations for strategic management decisions to respond to industry challenges. The authors claim that the industry needs liberalization and stabilization, primarily through moratoriums on policy changes. The role of the use of big data, and in particular of text mining in economic and geographical research for reasonable and objective conclusions formation that can be used to make timely and balanced management decisions in the timber industry and the pulp and paper industry, is emphasized.

Unfinished topics and points of growth in my author’s works

While the main author’s work «Forms of Regionalization» remains unfinished, its pieces can easily be found in different minor papers. «Territorial areals and networks» is open for various researchers to develop different topics from it. «Rodoman-style» cartoids nowadays can easily be created and transformed by means of computer programs. The author’s conclusions on Russia’s cultural landscape are successfully confirmed and developed by V. Kagansky. The works by B. Rodoman in the field of recreation and tourism studies, on personality development during leisure activities, on travel psychology, on the role of fieldwork in young people’s education progress etс. could attract the attention of psychologists, sociologists, health scientists. B. Rodoman considers the terms highlighted through the paper in italics as a points of specific research growth: these concepts can serve as ideas for articles, term papers, theses, or dissertations. The author has compiled a draft dictionary «Basic terms of theoretical geography and rayonistics (zoning studies)».

A multi-scale approach to the study of spatial inequality of population income in Brazil

The aim of the research is to identify the key features of spatial inequality of income distribution in Brazil and its representation on different spatial scales: on the regional, state or municipal level, as well as special statistical grids (mesoregions and microregions). The economic development of Brazil in the beginning of the XXI century is characterized by reducing of the level of income inequality, as well as a certain decrease of the level of spatial inequality between the southern and northeastern regions. The common rule is that the heterogeneity of income distribution gradually increases from top to the lower levels of spatial division. The analysis of inequality measures has proven that despite of the general decrease of regional inequality in 2000–2010, the lower levels of territorial division have shown the lowest progress in reducing regional inequality. The paper also proposes the ways to illustrate spatial inequality when applying polyscale method, based on mapping the variation of average population income in Brazil on different scale levels.

General and intraregional trends and priorities of socio-economic development in Sakhalin oblast

The article describes the features of the socio-economic situation of Sakhalin Oblast, its development trends since the 1990s, both general and territorially differentiated ones. The economic and geographical position of the region with allocation of conditional market zones, including foreign destinations, is considered. Data on the state and dynamics of the main socio-economic indicators of the region, as well as its place in the Far Eastern Federal District by these indicators are provided. The dynamics of the population of the region is shown. The oil and gas industry and gas processing make a basis of the modern economy of the region that stipulates high values of the socio-economic indicators. Favorable and unfavorable factors that can affect the long-term development of the region are highlighted. The comparison of Sakhalin Oblast with other constituent entities of the Russian Federation is carried out using the proposed integral coefficient of the ratio of socio-economic indicators. The levels of the development in all municipal districts were assessed by 7 different socio-economic indicators. The large territorial differences in nearly all individual socio-economic indicators were revealed. Based on the scoring of all socio-economic indicators, the districts were grouped according to their general level of the development. These assessments also showed significant intra-district socio- economic differentiation. Taking into account a number of available favorable prerequisites, the regional development program and scientific proposals for diversification of the economic development of the region, the priority economic activities were summarized; and the role of the territories of advanced development (TADs) being created in the region was shown. Some conclusions were made about the role of the prerequisites in location of priority activities in many areas of the region.

TWENTY YEARS OF "REGIONAL RESEARCH" JOURNAL

The article is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the publication of the scientific journal «Regional Research». The history of the journal’s creation is briefly considered, the main stages of its formation and development are highlighted. An analysis of a number of bibliometric indicators of the journal is given in comparison with other geographical periodicals. Thematic profiles of articles are analyzed. It is noted that at all stages of the journal’s development, the leading place among the directions was occupied by theoretical issues of socio-economic geography, social geography in general, as well as economic geography itself. political and recreational geography. Articles on regional economics and sociology also occupied an important place in the journal. The most cited authors and articles published in the journal over the past 20 years are highlighted.

Tourism sector within pandemic quarantine: problems and solutions

The present investigation provides one of the first complex attempts of theorizing on changes in tourism sector activity within COVID-19 quarantine. Drawing from system and criterion approach weusedthe analysis of official documents and news publication to identify 8 international models of tourism sector support within the pandemic quarantine. Each model was considered with the instrument of strengths and weaknesses analysis. By reviewing Russian national model we conducted deeper analyses juxtaposing and describing experience of Russian regions. Drawing from aтopinion poll realized in Perm krai we described some special features of each tourism sector segment activity within COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. The opinion polls mentioned also showed some limitations of Russian tourism sector support model. With regard to the data mentioned, we proposed the concept of the national electronic exchange service of tourism and resort. This system will potentially support the Russian model in the condition of epidemic crisis, helping the national tourism sector to save and then to restore its activity following laissez-faire principle.

Does geographical concentration affect the profitability of Russian enterprises?

The article shows that profitability is, first, the best measurable approximation to productivity at the level of individual enterprises, and, second, an indicator that captures the possible benefits (or costs) of geographical concentration (agglomeration externalities) in their entirety. The analysis of open microdata of Rosstat and the Federal Tax Service on organizations with an average number of employees of no more than 250 reveals that in Russia the differences in profitability between cities and between industries with different levels of spatial concentration are small and poorly related to geographical conditions (the so-called benefits of localization and urbanization). Worse terms of trade, in particular higher labour costs, outweigh the productivity gains from concentration. At the same time, there are weak signs of a smaller spread of profitability among enterprises in more central territories due to better opportunities for imitation and exchange of experience. The profitability of enterprises is significantly influenced by their industry, but this relationship does not arise due to differences between industries in the degree of their geographical concentration. To assess the agglomeration effects, new measures of centrality that appreciate the network nature of territorial relations between residents of localities were used.

Current state and development opportunities for closed towns of nuclear industry

The article examines the current trends in the development of closed cities of the nuclear industry, the changes taking place in them and the opportunities for development. The relevance of these issues is due to the need to use the scientific and technological potential of cities for the innovative development of the country. Based on foreign experience, it is confirmed that the presence of nuclear industry enterprises on the territory contributes to the creation of innovative ecosystems, makes the territory attractive for business development. In terms of socio-economic development, attention is focused on the movement of the population, the activities of city-forming enterprises and small businesses, the income of the population and local budgets. New trends characteristic of closed cities are identified: strengthening the role of the ROSATOM State Corporation in the management system of nuclear closed cities; diversification of their economy based on the stable operation of the city-forming enterprise and the creation of other high-tech industries with the participation of the ROSATOM State Corporation; the dependence of the population of cities on the state of affairs at the city-forming enterprise; weak interest in the development of small businesses; the appearance of pendulum migration. The further development of closed cities through the expansion of the market of highly qualified labor in them is proposed: the activation of civil research and development; the formation of research networks using unique scientific installations and supercomputer capacities, etc. To attract qualified labor, it is necessary to create comfortable living conditions, which is more likely with the participation of the ROSATOM State Corporation. Some of the proposals are being tested. The results obtained may be of methodological and practical interest not only for closed cities, but also for other single-industry towns, as well as city-forming holdings.

Disparities of China’s regions development: dependence on the sectoral economic structure

The article explores the dynamics of changes in disparities of China’s regions’ economic level. According to a number of researchers, economic disparities between China’s regions started to decrease from about the mid-2000s. To clarify this picture the article uses indicator of contribution of the region’s GRP to the country’s total GRP. As a result of the research carried out by the author, it was found that in the PRC there really was a period when the economic gap between regions was narrowing down, but in general, changes in the relative contribution of regions to the country’s GRP are more complex than just a decrease or increase in economic disparities. Also, based on statistical data, the article draws conclusions about the relationship between the dynamics of the region’s contribution to the total GRP and the shares of the secondary and tertiary sectors in the region’s economy. It turned out that the increase in the economic level of the region in comparison with other regions is closely related to the share of the secondary sector in the GRP of this region: in most regions of China, the increase in the share of the secondary sector occurs in parallel with the growth of the contribution of the region’s GRP to the total GRP of the country. The growth in the share of the tertiary sector, on the contrary, in most cases is accompanied by a relative decrease in the economic level of the region, that is, its contribution to the total GRP decreases.

Typology of local transportation systems in Kamchatka Krai

This article analyses functioning of various modes of transport and population mobility specifics in Kamchatka Krai – the region located remotely and isolated from the main settlement zone of Russia. The work is based on the typology of local transportation systems using the field research method – in-depth interviews with experts. 11 types of local transport systems were identified on the territory of Kamchatka Krai. They are divided into two main categories: those with a predominance of road transport and those related to the off-road zone, which does not have one dominant particular mode of transport. A crucial contribution to the formation of various types of local transportation systems is made by zonality, which is determined primarily by the historical dynamics of economic development of the region. The most developed territory – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the surrounding area – serves as a link to the outside world and distribution hub of traffic flows within the region. Areas of industrial development of the XX century are completely dependent on the operation of road transport. The vast off-road zone, which is barely involved in economic activity, is characterized by the intensive participation of the local communities in the functioning of local transportation systems and the combination of various modes of transport. The identified specifics of Kamchatka territory allowed us to create a list of recommendations for improving the efficiency of local transportation systems.