Economic development of Russia’s old industrial border regions

Abstract

Among the old industrial constituting entities of the Russian Federation there are the territories with middle and border location. Both types perform important functions in the national economy, however, their average gross regional product per capita is less than the average of non-old industrial regions. The article aims to hold a theoretical and methodological study of the specifics and factors of development of Russia’s old industrial border regions in comparison with old industrial middle regions to identify the thrusts of modernisation of the industrial space for the former. The theories of economic development and border studies as well as the concept of old industrial regions form the methodological basis of the research. The authors apply systems approach, abstraction and generalisation, factor and comparative analysis. The paper presents a method for assessing the economic development of old industrial border regions. The employment of this method allowed (1) revealing that border regions outperform middle regions in such indicators as GRP, value of fixed assets, investments in the fixed capital per capita; (2) identifying the factors limiting GRP per capita; (3) rating old industrial regions and providing a system of suggestions for accelerating their development. The findings can be useful for federal and regional authorities for fueling the economic growth of old industrial border regions.