This study is devoted to assessing the weighted average distances between the regions of Russia according to different metrics – the shortest distances on the sphere, as well as distances by railways and highways. Such aggregated estimates are necessary for researchers of interregional processes (from migration to cargo transportation), but these estimates are not publicly available. The article fills this gap. We describe the methods for estimating distances using various metrics (relying on the Russian Railways data on ‘tariff distances’ between railway stations, information on cities’ coordinates and population, and web-services for calculating inter-city distances). The proposed metrics can be considered as an economic distance metric developed in the context of gravitational interaction studies. We estimate the distances between Russian regions using recent and highly detailed data (the distances between 2840 railway stations, the population data gathered for about 10,000 settlements). For scientific and practical purposes, the open access to resulting estimates is provided. We discuss and interpret the cases of significant discrepancies in the estimates of distances between Russian regions according to different metrics. We demonstrate that, for a number of regions, location of transport infrastructure determines the need to choose the metric of interregional distance carefully, depending on the task. We estimate the weighted distance between all regions of Russia with an account for changes in regional structure of population; on this basis, we show that since 1990s migration has been directed to regions with greater relative transport connectivity

The article analyzes the markets of fuel and energy complex products in Russia, i.e. of oil, natural gas, coal, electricity, and heating energy. Among the emphasized features of the markets of fuel and energy complex products are the manifold of regulatory influences, the dependence of geographical boundaries of the markets on the development of the corresponding infrastructure, the presence of vertical and horizontal integration, the high dependence of the national markets of the complex products on the corresponding world markets. The combination of the described features on each of the markets of fuel and energy complex products forms a variety of conditions for their functioning within the boundaries of the national economy, which sets the direction of commodity flows and determines the development of the relevant transport infrastructure, which, in turn, are manifested in the spatial organization of product markets (their geographical segmentation). The research algorithm consisted of the analysis of sectoral markets based on the following parameters: properties of energy as a commodity, resource base, characteristics of producers, consumption structure, infrastructure development, and institutional conditions. Based on the combination of parameters, segments were identified for each of the fuel and energy complex product markets. The oil, natural gas, coal and heating market have two segments each: western and eastern. In the coal market, the eastern segment itself has two segments: eastern coastal and eastern mainland. The electricity market has three segments: western, eastern and northeastern. The analysis allows us to identify the western and eastern segments in each of the fuel and energy complex product markets, which are diametrically different in their characteristics. The stability of the distribution of the country’s territories by segments suggests the presence of invariants determined by the parameters of physical space, the effect of which is weakly susceptible to regulatory influences

This study analyzes the interregional effects of innovation in Russia. The hypothesis of the presence of interregional effects is tested by combining the methods of spatial econometrics and Bayesian approach. Using panel data on Russian regions for the period from 2000 to 2021, the author calculates posterior probabilities for a set of spatial regression models that model interregional effects of innovation in different ways. Within the framework of Bayesian approach 6 models were selected for comparison: model without spatial effects (OLS), model with spatial lag of the dependent variable (SAR), model with spatial lag of the error (SEM), model with spatial lags of the explanatory variables (SLX), spatial Durbin model with lags of dependent and explanatory variables (SDM), as well as spatial Durbin model with lags of the explanatory variables and error (SDEM). Based on our calculations, we can conclude that the spatial correlation of innovation in Russian regions is not as strong as it has been assumed in previous studies. This can be considered as evidence in favor of the fact that the concept of interregional spillovers of innovations is poorly consistent with the historical, institutional and territorial peculiarities of Russia, and the methods generally accepted in other countries for such analysis are unsuitable in the Russian context. The results obtained can be taken into account in further research involving spatial modeling of regional innovations. More attention should be paid to the spatial effects of explanatory variables, in particular, interregional spillovers of R&D expenditures, as well as dynamics in the innovation process

The objective of this research is 1) to explore time and space characteristics, as well as the origin of labor shortage and 2) to find out whether there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship between labor shortage and its determinants using panel data for 82 subjects of the Russian Federation over 2000–2021 and some tools of panel data econometrics. Since 2012 the number of job vacancies has exceeded the number of unemployed persons, and this excess has become a permanent feature of the labor market. The job vacancy rate grew by 0,12% annually and doubled over the observation period, which means ‘labor hunger’ did not fall as snow from the sky. In 78% of panel observations the job vacancy rate does not exceed the market benchmark of 3,5% , and the number of regions with a very low job vacancy rate greatly exceeds the number with a high rate, which does not support the idea of ‘labor hunger’ countrywide. The demand for blue-color workers is well above the average in industrial Russia, and the demand for white-color workers is above average in in less industrialized regions. There is a shortage of blue-color workers in regions with developed manufacturing, transportation, and service sector. Hence a high job vacancy rate for blue-color labor. Yes, there is another Russia, where these sectors are underdeveloped generating weak demand for blue-color labor. Labor shortage is multiregional shortage of predominantly blue-color workers. The results of econometric exercises suggest there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between labor shortage and its determinants such as real wage, the level of unemployment and business cycle

In the last decades, area studies have been subject to substantial criticism by the most mainstream social sciences. Area specialists are perceived as lacking the knowledge of modern research methodology and rather following the interests of humanities than social sciences. At the same time, studying individual regions and countries certainly requires the accumulation of specific knowledge, which would most likely be lost without area studies research. This paper discusses the main directions of criticism of area studies and possible suggestions towards modernization of this research tradition. The criticism towards area studies can be linked to three issues: the excessive dominance of the humanities in most area studies communities; insufficient consideration of modern theoretical and empirical approaches; and implicit normativity, i.e., the substitution of scientific analysis with value assertions. The modernization of area studies as an academic field is related to the application of alternative approaches to regional and country studies within three research projects: Comparative Area Studies (CAS), Transregional Studies, and regional specialization within individual disciplines

Sustainable development and reduction of the carbon footprint is an important issue on the development agenda of the Russian national economy and, in particular, the agricultural sector. The study of long-term trajectories of development of the agricultural economy and the conditions for achieving carbon neutrality should take into account the expected climatic and socio-economic changes in the world, which are enshrined in a number of widely used scenarios – ‘Shared Socioeconomic Pathways’ (SSPs) and, as a rule, are based on the use of integral multi-sector models land use dynamics. The study is focused on obtaining projections of climate change and scenarios SSP1, SSP2 and SSP3 on the dynamics of crop production in Russia until 2050, with an emphasis on the development of a large agricultural region of Siberia – Altai Krai, in the context of analyzing the timing and conditions for achieving carbon neutrality. The GLOBIOM model, adapted for modeling at the level of Russian regions, was used as a toolkit. The results of scenario modeling made it possible to assess changes in the scale of production and cropland structure, greenhouse gas emissions in carbon units and the overall dynamics of the carbon footprint as well as expected consequences for Russian economy and harnessing the export potential of crops. It has been revealed that achieving carbon neutrality on the regional level (Altai Krai) is a challenge that requires a significant change in the structure of sown areas, the introduction of environmentally-oriented technologies and a significant increase in the productivity of agricultural land. The results contribute to deepening the understanding of regional economic management processes using the example of the Altai Kray and ways to achieve sustainable development goals, in particular achieving carbon neutrality in crop production. The practice of such research can be transferred to other regions of Russia

The article presents an analytical review of the development of the core-periphery and peripherality concepts in economic theory. The stages of formation of the core-periphery approach are marked by the contributions of the school of Latin American structuralism, theories of polarized development, dependency theory and world-system theory associated with the names of R. Prebisch, J. Friedmann, F. Perroux, S. Furtado, I. Wallerstein. The core-periphery concept has proved to be a useful analytical tool in studies of international trade and economic growth in the world economy. At the same time, uneven structures of distribution of economic activity in space, similar to the core-periphery structure, appear in many models of regional economy, starting with the model of agricultural production location by I. Thunen and ending with the core-periphery model by P. Krugman. These structures emerge without the help of the core-periphery concept, but as a result of the interaction of two fundamental factors – transport costs and economies of scale – and represent various combinations of dispersion and agglomeration. With regional inequality growing worldwide, the combination of the core-periphery approach and basic concepts of regional economics allows us to analyze the complex mechanisms of spatial polarization of economic space. Over time, the periphery has gone beyond the core-periphery dichotomy and developed into an independent category defined, defined by a combination of low accessibility of large markets, low population density and remoteness from decision-making centers. The concept of peripherality allows us to understand the processes of peripheralisation of previously prosperous territories through the interaction of power asymmetry and agglomeration effects

The deliberate fragmentation of the world market as a result of the establishment of a global sanctions regime provoked a complete transition of both the Russian and the entire world economy to non-stationary modes of operation, one of the fundamental features of which are the deformations of the global monetary and financial system, which only two years ago seemed to have no alternative to the one based on the US dollar. One of the consequences of these events is the objective strengthening of the role of gold as the basis for the stability of national reserves and a single base in the transition to a plurality of global means of payment. The only source of replenishing gold reserves is gold mining, especially for modern Russia, which Western sanctions have effectively cut off from the world trade in gold. Russia has traditionally been one of the world leaders in terms of gold reserves and resources, ranking third in world production. Gold production in Russia increased by a factor of 1.5 in 2012–2021, facilitated by the growth rate of the Russian gold price relative to the global price due to the rise in the dollar exchange rate after 2014. At the same time, the share of gold in Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves is three times smaller than that of developed countries. This article discusses the problems of production localised in the regions of the Russian Far East and Siberia, its impact on the socio-economic development of these regions and the role of gold in the country’s economy. The impact of sanctions on the circulation of precious metals, including gold, is assessed. The authors assess the effects of external sanctions and the macroeconomic policy of the Russian Central Bank in terms of replenishing gold reserves and the volatility of the Russian ruble on gold production, the structure of gold consumption, and the economic situation in the gold mining industry

This paper considers the evolution of the main theoretical approaches considering the role of natural resources in economic development in the XVIII-XXI centuries. The study revels three main functions of natural resources in the economy: a factor of production, a traded commodity and natural capital as a component of national wealth (along with real and human capital). It is shown that at the present stage globalization processes have determined the dominant function of natural resources as a tradable commodity. It is determined that if until the end of the XX century the presence of rich and diverse natural resources ensured economic growth, then in the subsequent period natural resources had a multidirectional impact on economic dynamics. The author performs a comparative analysis of three theories that take natural resources into account: neoclassical theory of economic growth, neoclassical theory of international trade and institutional theory. In the neoclassical theory of economic growth natural resources are considered as a factor of production, which act as determinants of economic growth. This theory formulates the Dasgupta – Heal – Solow – Stiglitz model, which defines the conditions for sustainable economic growth in an economy with non-renewable natural resources. In the neoclassical theory of international trade, natural resources are primarily considered as a tradable commodity, and the possibilities of development of the economy dominated by natural capital by increasing foreign trade rent are analyzed. Within the framework of this theory, three concepts explaining different channels of natural capital impact on the economy through the connection with foreign markets are formulated: the trap of raw material specialization, the Prebisch – Singer hypothesis and the Dutch disease. The macroeconomic causes of the resource curse are identified. Institutional theory studies the role of institutional conditions in the economic development of countries dominated by natural capital. Within the framework of this theory, it is shown that the quality of institutions determines the nature of the impact of natural resource surplus on the rate of economic growth; the resource curse is defined as a violation of incentives to accumulate different forms of capital; rent-seeking is one of the main channels of negative impact in conditions of weak institutions. All the theories considered allow us to conclude that the development of the economy based on the exploitation of natural resources is possible in the long term, provided that compensatory mechanisms are formed to ensure the transformation of natural capital into other forms of capital

This paper examines economic and demographic determinants of fertility, using panel data for 82 regions of the Russian Federation for 2000–2021. Panel co-integration technique is used to find out whether there exists a long-term equilibrium relationship between total fertility rate (TFR) and these determinants. We show that the growth of TFR is due largely to the growth of nuptiality rate, old age demographic burden, female wages, domestic labor migration and female unemployment rate, while the decline is associated with female economic activity and urbanization. In 2000–2011 the combined effect of stimulants prevailed over the combined effect of inhibitors, and TFR tended to grow. In 2011–2021 the negative impact of female economic activity and urbanization increased, and TFR began to decline. Pairwise Granger causality test shows that female unemployment, economic activity and urbanization cause fertility, but not vice versa, while causation is bidirectional in other cases. These results support some theoretical predictions and empirical evidence and contradict some others