A Spatial Analysis of Unevenness in the Social-Economic Development of Regional Municipal Units

Abstract

Introduction At any given point in time, a judgment of territorial unevenness in the development of a regional system makes sense only by comparison with a particular standard level or with some other regional system (Slepneva, 2016). It is certain that the economic and social space cannot be entirely homogeneous--so it is perfectly OK, and may in some instances even be beneficial, if there is some differentiation of the social-economic space, since differentiation may inject some dynamism into the development of the regional economy (Tsyrenov, 2015). In the current literature, the level of regional differentiation in Russia is mostly regarded as atypical, with a much greater degree of differentiation being noted compared with unevenness levels deemed suitable for effective development, when viewed relative to developed countries (Kuznetsova, 2006). On the whole, regional differentiation is regarded as both a process and an outcome of the formation of distinctions between particular areas within the state. In this regard, it is worth pointing up two major characteristics of regional differentiation: (1) it is always relative and is there only by comparison with something else; (2) it can be characterized through a variety of miscellaneous indicators, with only those selected that are most relevant to a specific case. Relevance of the Issue At present, there are difficulties in ensuring even and sustainable development in regions across Russia due to high levels of non-uniformity and imbalance across the nation's economic space, which is reflected in profound social-economic differentiation among regions. Non-uniformity in the economic development of regions is observed on virtually all parameters for social and economic development, with the growing economic domination of certain regional systems over others being observed. (Medvedeva, et al., 2016; Akopova and Przhedetskaya, 2016; Frank et al., 2016). The emerging differences in regional development are, on the hand, injecting some dynamism into the processes of formation of a single regional economic space, and, on the other, are leading to wider gaps between the social-economic development levels of areas within a region. That being said, it is the nature of economic development that determines substantially the process of differentiation in economic indicators within the region itself. The economic development of an entire region is governed, in turn, by the nature of the territorial stratification and economic development of municipal units that make it up. Therefore, in developing the general concept of the development of a regional economy, it pays to factor in some of the specific characteristics of the development of municipal economic systems. It is in this regard that researchers have been taking an interest in the comprehensive economic-statistical analysis of unevenness in the social-economic development of regional municipal units, especially from the perspective of regional policy designed to ensure well-balanced economic development across the region and the nation as a whole. There is all the more reason for this as, in terms of Russia's regional governance practices, due to great diversity among RF constituents and the complexity and multi-scale nature of objectives pursued, there is still no uniform and universally accepted methodology for assessing unevenness in the social-economic development of regional municipal units. Importance of the Issue Uneven regional development reflects the state of a regional system characterized by significant differences in the level of economic, technological, institutional, social, and environmental development, which tend to impair the sustainability of the regional system and, on top of that, may lead to its deformation, resulting in differentiation and asynchronicity in the development of the system's elements. All this may eventually lead to declines in the region's combined potential and affect the social-economic state of affairs both in the region as a whole and in its municipal units in particular (Sokolovskii and Grentikova, 2012; Shekhovtsov et al. …