Features of digitalization of Russian regions

Abstract

Based on the materials of the Rosstat Monitoring of the Development of the Information Society in the Russian Federation for the period 2011-2020, the article analyzes the indicators characterizing the development of information and communication technologies. The purpose of the study is to assess the dynamics of business digitalization in Russian regions and digital divides. The main method of analysis is descriptive statistics. Based on the study of the indicators dynamics, the authors identified leading and outsider regions for various indicators of digitalization and built consolidated ratings of regions digitalization for 2011 and 2020. The study assessed the stability/mobility of the list of leading and outsider regions for the period under review, and considered the concentration of inequality and the relationship between business digitalization and the level of labor productivity in the region. Based on the results of the study, there was concluded that the mobility of the group of regions-leaders of digitalization is higher than those of the regions-outsiders. There is a fairly high concentration of low digitalization indicators in outsider regions, which, however, is stable over time. There is no significant relationship between the indicators of business digitalization and the level of labor productivity in the region, which to a certain extent confirms the productivity paradox known in the economic literature. On the other hand, the accelerated development of digitalization in regions with low levels of productivity and labor can be seen as an investment in the development of the region and in increasing labor productivity.