The Neighbourhood Effect in Russian Regional Policies: Autocorrelation and Cluster Analysis


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Abstract

Regional convergence is one of the greatest strategic challenges for the Russian Federation. Socio-economic zoning directly affects the regional policy in Russia, as most administrative and political practices are reproduced within a federal district or an economic region. This study is aimed at identifying steady clusters or, in other words, groups of Russian regions, based on quantitative data on socio-economic development. The study relies on the methods of spatial econometrics. The authors also aim to compare the results of their study to the macro-regions suggested by the Strategy of Regional Development of the Russian Federation and therefore to the current administrative practices. The paper determines 12 clusters continual in space, based on 62 regional development indicators and reflecting the statistical resemblance of the regions within a cluster. The study has not found stable macro-regions of similar values except in Siberia and the Far East. Thus, the authors conclude that addressing the wide range of socio-economic problems based on one standardized grid for dividing the country will likely not lead to success. Therefore, a more asymmetric and multi-level regional policy should be sought. This implies that every ministry responsible for an area of regional development should come up with its own spatial structure of Russia in order to define its targets and the practices required to meet them.

About the authors

Igor Yu. Okunev

Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Author for correspondence.
Email: iokunev@mgimo.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3292-9829

PhD in Political Science, Professorial Research Fellow & Director, Center for Spatial Analysis in International Relations, Institute for International Studies

Moscow, Russian Federation

Vasilisa R. Lopatina

Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Email: lopatina-vasilisa@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6136-5420

Intern Researcher, Center for Spatial Analysis in International Relations, Institute for International Studies

Moscow, Russian Federation

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