Cooperation of Territorial Communities in the Sphere of Economic Development of Depressed Areas: the Focus of Small Business Stimulation

Abstract

Abstract. Introduction. The attention to the problems of inter-municipal cooperation of communities, in particular in the sphere of stimulating the development of small entrepreneurship in rural, remote, depressed territories, has been updated. The purpose of the research is to identify problematic aspects, as well as to justify recommendations in terms of development and increasing the effectiveness of inter-municipal cooperation of territorial communities to ensure the development of small businesses in rural areas of the country. Obstacles to functioning and development, as well as the creation of new entities of small business in remote areas are pointed out. The directions and toolkit of the policy of inter-municipal cooperation of communities in the field of activation of entrepreneurial activity in remote areas have been defined. It has been proven that the comprehensive impact of inter-municipal cooperation on the formation and realization of the development potential of small businesses in depressed territories can be achieved under the condition of full implementation of appropriate measures in the areas of: 1) improvement of the system of financial and resource support of small business entities; 2) improvement of the business environment of their operation; 3) improvement of the system of normative and legal regulation of the development of the small business sector. The scientific novelty of the research results lies in the expansion of the toolkit of inter-municipal community cooperation in the field of local economic development. The practical significance of the research results is that a list of tools that can be implemented by territorial communities to eliminate obstacles and ensure more effective stimulation of local economic growth is defined. It is shown that a particularly important aspect in the context of the development of inter-municipal cooperation of territorial communities in the economic sphere is the coordination of the policy of fiscal stimulation in terms of local taxes and fees, inter-municipal cooperation in the field of resource and organizational support of small business entities (in particular, newly established ones), the establishment of cooperation between agencies of local of economic development with the tasks of consulting the local population and business, helping the population in creating their own business, supporting it, creating territorial business incubators