Regional innovations influence on the ecological footprint of the Russian Federation territories: case of the Siberia and Volga regions

Abstract

Relevance. Ensuring the development of the country regions on the principles of environmental and economic balance, taking into account the national development goals of Russia until 2030.This article models the relationship between economic development and environmental progress. The relationship between investment in innovation and uncontrolled emissions in certain regions of Russia in the period from 2010 to 2022 is explored. Aim. To study the intensity of innovation influence on the ecological footprint, as well as the efficiency of functioning of environmental-innovative activities, in regions of different types using the example of the Siberian Federal District and the Volga Federal District. Methods. Panel regression with fixed effects, correlation analysis, DEA method, cluster analysis, analysis of variance. Results and conclusions. Using the example of 24 Russian regions, it is shown that the intensity increase of the research and development of regional companies does not always lead to an increase in the environmental footprint and an increase in emissions intensity. The obtained results indicate that the economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development contradict each other and suggest that regional governments should consider the negative environmental externalities of economic development when designing policies to promote regional growth. It is noted that the growth of investments in the research and development of more developed regions reduce the emissions intensity level. Large industrial centers of Siberia and the Volga regions are investing in innovation to increase the intensity of emissions. The hypothesis about the high degree of the economic space heterogeneity in terms of the influence of the research and development intensity of regional companies on the degree of environmental pollution in the regions of the Russian Federation is confirmed. The necessity is emphasized to take into account the regional specifics of the industrial structure of the economy. A highly significant heterogeneity was revealed in the efficiency of environmental-innovative activities functioning in the regions of the Siberian Federal District and Volga Federal District. Moreover, the effectiveness of environmental-innovative activities of the regions is insignificantly correlated with the identified imbalance of this activity.