Interregional Exchange of Intellectual Business Services in Russia

Abstract

The sector of intellectual business services is one of key elements of knowledge economy and through the creation, accumulation and dissemination of knowledge contributes to a more dynamic and innovative development not only itself, but also the external environment. The article is devoted to the problems of spatial distribution of the sector of intellectual business services in Russia. The study is founded on the unique empirical base received from the results of mass surveys of Russian producers and consumers of intellectual business services. Collected data have formed quantitative characteristics of spatial distribution of intellectual business services. Comparative analysis of ingoing (demand) and outgoing (supply) flows of intellectual business services in the federal districts has allowed to classify the latter according to the level of involvement in the process of these services and to map the intensity of inter-regional supply and demand of federal districts. It is found that companies offering intellectual business services in Russia are highly concentrated in large cities. The demand for intellectual business services is more distributed, but also not spatially neutral. The article may be of interest to researchers dealing with spatial distribution of elements of the innovation economy in Russia. It may be useful for regional authorities to assess the territorial development potential.