Methodology for selecting competing regions based on their specialization (using the example of the Amur region)

Abstract

Purpose of the study. The paper presents the author’s methodology for selecting competing regions based on their specialization. The formation of a statistical set of competing regions is one of the stages of the methodology for managing the competitiveness of a region. The selection of competing regions precedes the stage of assessing the region’s competitiveness and identifying its competitive advantages. Ignoring the stage of selecting competing regions in the study of regional competitiveness leads to leveling out the differences between the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in socio-economic conditions of development and reduces the possibility of making effective management decisions to increase the competitiveness of the country’s regions. The purpose of the paper is to improve the methodology for selecting competing regions based on their specialization.Materials and methods. In the process of achieving the goal, statistical methods of analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis, and the main array method were used. Calculations were made in SPSS Statistics and Excel programs. The paper used statistical data from Rosstat. To perform the calculations, GVA was considered in the Russian National Classifier of Types of Economic Activity2 structure for 2020.Results. The article improves the methodology for selecting competing regions based on their specialization. The method under consideration contains 7 stages. Its difference from the previous methodology is the addition of two stages: extracting factors of GVA shares or localization coefficients by type of economic activity of regions using factor analysis and clustering of regions based on selected factors. To test the methodology, localization coefficients were calculated by type of economic activity of the regions of the Russian Federation for 2020. Their descriptive statistics are presented. A set of competing regions has been formed for the Amur region. The region’s competitors are 11 regions of the country, in which “mining” and “construction” predominate.Conclusion. Solving the problem of forming a statistical set of competing regions is an important condition for the objectivity and reliability of the results of assessing the competitiveness of regions. The paper shows that the selection of competing regions must be carried out taking into account the specialization of the region, which is an expression of the level of socio-economic development of the region and its specifics. Dividing the totality of the country’s regions into homogeneous groups in accordance with their specialization allows for a qualitative analysis of the competitiveness of the regions within each individual group. The presented technique is universal, because its information base can be both the sectoral structure of the economy of the regions of the Russian Federation and the localization coefficients calculated on its basis, characterizing the specialization of the regions.