On the Classification of Regions of the Russian Federation by Level of Socio-Economic Development and Innovation Activity Index

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to form an effective tool for classifying the regions of the Russian Federation in the context of innovation activity under technological constraints.Materials and methods. The information and empirical base of the research consists of Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, normative legal acts of the Government of the Russian Federation, and open set of statistical data provided by the Federal State Statistics Service. The study provides a multidimensional classification of Russian regions using an indicative analysis of the innovative potential of territories and their socio-economic development, clustering by the Ward method and the Euclidean distance metric, as well as analysis, comparison and illustration of the results obtained using methods of visualizing information in tabular, graphical form, including the usage of cartograms.Results. While creating a model of typologization of Russian regions, a system of indicative indexes with both qualitative and quantitative characteristics was formed. Based on them, cluster analysis identifies five clusters of regions according to the level of innovation activity and socio-economic development, which is based on the final weighted average index (Iiv) of development. The results of the study determine the effectiveness of the author’s approach to the issue of typologization of regions, and emphasize the visibility and interactivity of the tools used within the framework of the model. The use of cluster and comparative analysis using weighted average indexes makes it possible to identify non-obvious patterns between the innovative activity of the region and its level of development, as well as to emphasize intuitively expected connections. All this can form a practical basis for developing effective strategies for regional development and improving the quality of life of the population.Conclusion. The study highlights the importance of analyzing the innovative activity of regions in modern conditions of sanctions wars and restrictions on technological imports. The developed model is a comprehensive tool for analyzing the innovative potential and level of development of regions, which allows identifying key factors of innovation activity and potential growth points, and thereby helping to form the basis for the development of strategies and programs for regional development aimed at improving the standard of living of the population.