Regional Development Priorities Research Articles

Regional aspects and priorities of development of industrial production in the Republic of Tajikistan

The article discusses issues regarding regional aspects and development priorities of industrial production inTadjikistanRepublic. The contemporary state of Tadjikistan industry and its position in republic’s GNP is analyzed. Disproportions in industry development both on the country’s as well as on regional levels are disclosed. It is shown that the uneven development of regions is connected with a number of factors, including different level of adaptation to market conditions, infrastructure specificity (logistic, labor resources, energy availability etc).. Besides, the uneven development of industry in regions depends substantially on the state management, to mention only the reduced investments volume and cancellation of economy and social compensations.. The statistics reveal a negative trend in the industrial production share in GNP, the share has fallen from 38,1 % in 2001 down to 13,6 % in 2014. The mathematic models expect the forecast GNP growth to outstrip the industrial production growth, thus pointing at the necessity to secure the outstripping industry growth.. The structural disproportion in industry development in different regions presents a factor hampering to introduce management decisions aiming to enhance the innovative development of regional economy and to ensure thus the necessary stabilization of social environment in the country.

Regional development and regional policy

Economic polarization is a process that is present at global, national and regional level. Economic activity is extremely spatially concentrated. Cities and developed regions use the agglomeration effect to attract labor and capital, thus achieving more favorable economic conditions than the agrarian region. Scientific research and European experiences over the past decades have contributed to the discrepancy among theorists about the causes and consequences of regional inequalities. Regional development is a complex process that involves a multidisciplinary approach. Without a detailed analysis of successful regional development cases, the implementation of their development systems directly to other regions can lead to the loss of time, capital, and human resources. Regional development is a process that needs to be adapted to specific conditions. Each region has its own identity and unique characteristics. Key factors of development include: natural and human resources, level of technological development, capital, knowledge, institutional and legislative framework, values, ethics and commitment. Regarding the pace and nature of regional development, institutional structures can play a key role. The prevailing opinion today is that regional development is closely linked to the use of endogenous capacities. The region can achieve long-term progress only if it uses its specific properties and endogenous / internal capacities. The challenge for each region is to use its endogenous resources that will make it competitive and attractive to the market. The progress of one region depends to a large extent on the circumstances and networking of different sectors at the local level. The modern concept of neo-endogenous development implies integral and sustainable development of the region, which includes the harmonization of economic, social and ecological goals. It combines the spatial, temporal and multisectoral dimension and emphasizes 'the reciprocal of local and external forces in the control of development processes.' Undeveloped, mainly rural regions are no longer just territories that provide food and are not identified exclusively with the agrarian environment. Regional or cohesion policy is an important mechanism for sustainable economic development. Regional policy aims to reduce underdevelopment. The main motive for countries to adopt regional policies is to help poor and backward regions, for whose development and recovery the state itself does not have enough strength. Regional development in a comprehensive way defines regional development priorities and ways of their realization.

Institutional and Political Factors in Creating a Community of Practice on Mitigation: The Case of PlanCC, Peru

This article explores the design, organization, decision-making processes and the final products of the first phase of the Project for Planning for Climate Change in Peru (PlanCC Project) between 2012 and 2014. It sheds light on a set of institutional factors that the author suggests are observed when dealing with the implantation of climate change mitigation policies and plans in a developing country context. This project confronted from its beginning, a series of institutional challenges that posed political, technical and administrative difficulties. This fact forced public officials to opt for a mixed public–private solution for the technical coordination and administration of the project, one that allowed PlanCC to deliver its proposed outputs on time. The article highlights key lessons learnt from this experience and suggests the importance of focusing on the diverse institutional, political and development contexts in order to enhance opportunities for aligning national and regional development priorities around global climate change mitigation goals.

Infrastructure Development as a Condition for Improving the Mechanism of Innovative Activity Stimulation (on the Example of Southern Federal District Subjects)

The article discusses the concept of the mechanism of innovative activity stimulation, which represents a system consisting of actors with their goals; formal regulations (legislation); informal regulations and rules (business culture, adopted by the economic community); incentives and constraints (economic and non-economic in nature). The authors specify the understanding of infrastructure as a condition of the mechanism functioning, compare rating assessments (by the NAIDIT technique) of innovation activity of subjects of the Southern Federal District (SFD) and reveal significant inconsistencies. The comparative analysis of the main existing infrastructure elements of the innovation sphere (Krasnodar, Volgograd and Rostov regions) let make conclusions about their sufficiency or insufficiency in different subjects of the macro-region. The negative trends of innovative infrastructure development include: the lack of a unified information and analytical database and system for the promotion and support of innovative projects; the lack of consolidated data to assess the development level of the regional innovative infrastructure in formal source; the failure and the need for development elements, such as clusters and science-technology parks, support funds and the creation of extensive networks of centers for collective use. Directions of improvement of innovation activity are presented on the basis of comparing its peculiar indicators as well as analyzing and identifying missing infrastructure elements of the innovation system (scientific and investment, information and analytical, organizational and communicative) with the aim of increasing the efficiency of existing mechanisms of innovation stimulation in the regions. Scientific and practical significance of this work consists in the future use of its provisions and conclusions as additional theoretical and methodological substantiation of scientific developments in research of innovative activity stimulation, and also for its improvement in innovation policy of public authorities on defining the strategic priorities for regional development.

The strategy of a low-carbon economy based on the STIRPAT and SD models

With the rapid development of certain nations' economies, CO2 emissions have become a major concern worldwide. Controlling and stabilizing CO2 emissions is the primary goal of a low carbon society. The STIRPAT model aims to find the driving forces that contribute to carbon emissions, while the SD model is one of the decision-making tools used to analyze complex urban environmental issues. This paper combined these two models and effectively identified the key driving forces of CO2 emissions at the scale of Wanquan town. These driving forces included the population, the urbanization level, the per capita GDP, the industrial structure, and the energy intensity. The contribution degrees of the driving forces to the change in CO2 emissions from the STIRPAT model suggested that population growth is the key driving factor, while industrial structures and affluence followed closely. A low carbon development pattern was also established by applying the STIRPAT and SD models together. Using the dynamic simulation of the SD model, an optimal scenario was selected under different development levels and the CO2 emissions were 72,868t and 78,699t in 2015 and 2020, respectively. A stable population growth, moderate industrialization and urbanization level, reasonable industrial structure, and low energy consumption are the regional development priorities for energy saving and emission reduction.

Socio-Economic Potential of the Region and Its Evaluation

At the moment the problem of determining the internal reserves of socio-economic development of the regionbecomes more important, the solution of which requires the development of new approaches to the definition ofthe essence, structure, methods for assessing the socio-economic potential.Modern socio-economic situation and the need for constant adjustment of the processes occurring in the regionrequire the development and formation of the conceptual and methodological tools of complex analysis of thelevel of development potential of the area. Now there are several basic approaches: integral evaluation ofmeasures of socio-economic prosperity of the regions; integrated comprehensive performance evaluation basedon the additive and multiplicative criterion.One of the policy objectives of socio-economic development is the establishment of long-term regionaldevelopment priorities. Comprehensive assessment of the dynamics of development of the Russian Federationsuggests some stabilization of the socio-economic situation in them. However, some regions are significantlybehind in terms of its socio-economic development. Therefore strategically important for Russia is a coherentstate regional policy.The aim of this study is the development of theoretical approaches, methodological principles, as well as thedevelopment of practical recommendations for a comprehensive assessment of the socio-economic potential ofthe region.During the study of the theoretical framework for assessing the socio-economic potential of the technique in thebalance of social and economic trends on the basis of the calculation of integral indices reflecting the substantialcharacteristics of the local units were constructed indicators (normalized values) underlying the integralevaluation of the balanced socio-economic potential of the region. The application of this approach allows toselect the subjects of the Russian Federation, whose rating is the same when using the resource and effectiveapproaches that demonstrates the effectiveness of management of socio-economic potential of territorial entities.

Development policies on rural peripheral areas in Visegrad countries: a comparative policy analysis

The main aim of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis of regional policies dealing with pe- ripheral rural areas in the Visegrad countries from a historical perspective. As it is demonstrated in the paper despite the common political and ideological framework the goals and means of regional policy remained rather different in these countries during state-socialism. The systemic changes demanded the re-conceptualisation of regional development policy and the reconfiguration of the institutional background. As the comparative policy analysis showed in the early 1990s there was a lack of coherent regional policy that would efficiently mitigate growing regional disparities or foster regional competitiveness. The conceptual, legal and institutional foundation of the new regional policy took place in the second half of the 1990s, with some time lag among the countries. In the formulation of strategic documents regarding regional policy the foreseen EU accession played a very important role. The preparation of national development plans were based on the EU's standardized development handbooks, therefore a considerable similarity among the new member states' regional policy documents can be observed. One can say that earlier differences in regional development priorities were gra- dually eliminated by the European integration among the new member states. However, rural areas were con- sidered in regional economic development policies only in the context of agriculture and tourism development. In addition to local infrastructural development, preservation of natural and cultural heritage, job creation only agriculture and tourism were defined for EU and national subsidies.

Regional Economic Policy: Structural Approach and Tools (Theoretical Formulation)

The subject matter of the article — the development of the doctrine of “coherent†Regional Development and research of the structural quality of the development of regional systems on the basis of theoretical analysis of institutional factors (parameters) that determine the manufacturability of the regional economy. The purpose of the research — to show the possibilities of technological change and shift of economic growth in a particular regional system, with stringent limits for accelerated development, with an emphasis on industrial regions. To this end, formed a number of structural models and analyze the impact of technological factors on the growth parameters of the regional economy, the definition of conditions for the development of the industrial region. Methodology. The correlation and regression analysis are applied, which allows to establish a statistically significant relationship between the relevant parameters, the econometric models are used to demonstrate the possibility of estimating the growth parameters via the control parameters, including the technological factor. The structural aspect of regional economic growth is taken into account by the division of investment on the old and new technologies. Result and scope of the research. Increasing adaptability of the regional economy is possible at the expense of compounding results in the use of (old) and the application of new technologies. This principle specifies the algorithm of formation of regional development priorities, provides a choice of strategy of technological development of the regional system. Investing resources only in the field of new technologies can dramatically enhance the disparity of regional economic system, the parameters of diversion of resources and the creation of a new resource will determine the pace of growth in the region. Conclusions. Dynamics of investment into old technology provides a major impact on the rate of economic growth in the regions of Russia, despite the fact that investments in new technologies are small in size and did not have an equivalent impact on the economic growth rate in comparison with the old technology. Institutional correction parameters defining the diversion of resources from old technologies and the creation of a new resource development will determine the quality of the new economic growth.

Modern Approaches to the 'Regionalization' of Federal Policy in Russian Higher Education

The significant differentiation and heterogeneity of Russian regional higher education systems requires a thoughtful federal policy which takes into account the peculiarities and unique features of the regional socio-economic situations. The research presented in the paper elaborates the rationale and basis for the “regionalization” of public policy in Russian higher education. Different approaches to the development of the regional higher education systems in Russia are explored in the paper. The analysis is based on the presupposition that the governance of the higher education systems should take into account regional socio-economic development priorities. The typology of regional higher education systems in Russia is presented in the paper. The consideration of the types in the context of the regional socio-economic situations allows authors to offer public policy mechanisms for the development of regional higher education systems in the context of the compliance with the objectives of regional development.

The Inter-American Development Bank and the Global Financial Crisis: Promoting Productive Development

This paper reviews the response of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to the 'global financial crisis', against the background of its analysis of regional development priorities prior to the crisis. Between 2003 and 2009 the Bank developed a focus on 'productive development': 'industrial' policies for open national economies in an integrated world economy, with an emphasis on productivity-enhancing social and labour-market reforms. Its response to the crisis reflected the fact that as far as Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) was concerned, it was short-lived, and gave way to a phase of global rebalancing in which conditions for renewed growth were largely benign (with easy access to capital and strong demand for commodities), but at the same time variable in their impact, and fraught with risk. The period between 2008 and 2013 was as much one of opportunity as crisis; production and trade were as significant as finance, though there were financial risks that needed to be managed; and intra-regional variation was as important as 'global' impact. The Bank consistently stressed the need to be ready to restore and maintain the momentum of productive development once the world economy as a whole emerged from the crisis period. In 2013, as the crisis drew to a close, the Bank again highlighted long-running problems of low productivity and domestic savings, and identified the prevalence of informal labour and inefficient firms as the principal obstacles to sustained growth. It argued, therefore, that policy should focus on the reallocation of resources, the elimination of perverse incentives, and the promotion of productivity-enhancing structural reform.

Methodological problems in studies of regional development priorities of innovation

In the paper, methodological aspects of a choice of regional priorities of innovative development of the Russian regions are considered. The analysis of foreign and national experience of innovative measurement is carried out. Author's approach to validation of priorities of innovative development of the region based on the concept of favorable innovation climate formation is offered. The estimation system of the state and conditions of development of the scientific and innovative activity allowing to carry out the complex analysis of region’s advantages and disadvantages as the participant of innovation processes and to create a rather informative base for making reasonable decisions about the choice of the priority directions of innovative development is worked out. The index calculation results of innovation climate and Russian Federation regions' typification according to the level of innovative development are given. Availabilities of the offered tools when making decisions on the preferable specialization of the innovation activity centers forming in the regions are revealed.

A multi-hazard regional level impact assessment for Europe combining indicators of climatic and non-climatic change

To better prioritise adaptation strategies to a changing climate that are currently being developed, there is a need for quantitative regional level assessments that are systematic and comparable across multiple weather hazards. This study presents an indicator-based impact assessment framework at NUTS-2 level for the European Union that quantifies potential regional changes in weather-related hazards: heat stress in relation to human health, river flood risk, and forest fire risk. This is done by comparing the current (baseline) situation with two future time periods, 2011–2040 and 2041–2070. The indicator values for the baseline period are validated against observed impact data. For each hazard, the method integrates outcomes of a set of coherent high-resolution regional climate models from the ENSEMBLES project based on the SRES A1B emission scenario, with current and projected non-climatic drivers of risk, such as land use and socio-economic change. An index of regional adaptive capacity has been developed and compared with overall hazard impact in order to identify the potentially most vulnerable regions in Europe. The results show strongest increases in impacts for heat stress, followed by forest fire risk, while for flood risk the sign and magnitude of change vary across regions. A major difference with previous studies is that heat stress risk could increase most in central Europe, which is due to the ageing population there. An overall assessment combining the three hazards shows a clear trend towards increasing impact from climaterelated natural hazards for most parts of Europe, but hotspot regions are found in eastern and southern Europe due to their low adaptive capacities. This spatially explicit assessment can serve as a basis for discussing climate adaptation mainstreaming, and priorities for regional development in the EU.

Urban-rural Interactions in Latvia

Policies and plans for rural areas tend to start by assuming that they are separate and distinctive from urban areas, and that this distinctiveness is more important than any of their other characteristics. Laila Kule argues that this introduces an unwelcome hierarchy in regional development priorities, and shows how Latvia has attempted to build on connectivity rather than difference in urban-rural development.

Mapuche Protest, Environmental Conflict and Social Movement Linkage in Chile

This article chronicles the promise and limitations of social movement networks as mechanisms of political voice in Mapuche Chile. Although protest has largely fallen from favour in post-authoritarian Chile, environmental conflicts have shaken the southern territories of the Mapuche Indians since redemocratisation. State promises of indigenous recognition and state access have clashed headlong with ambitious regional development priorities in hydropower and forestry. To resolve claims of injustice over ancestral land and resource rights, Mapuche leaders have forged sophisticated links with environmental organisations, human rights activists, scholars and other indigenous groups. Linkage politics in Chile presents a vital test of civil society development and Latin American democratic consolidation.

Meningkatkan Kesejahteraan Pengrajin Gula Kelapa di Wilayah Kabupaten Purbalingga

Small and medium industries/enterprises in this time are very strategic and have a role on the regional economic growth, it’s spread in entire villages and cities in Indonesia. it can afford to absorb the low layer of society, and it can afford to hold out in the long economy crisis during 9 years latest. As small and medium industries/enterprises have been facing many constraints, besides the Government does not have political will to develop them as society economy-based. The local government of Purbalingga now begins to pay attention to the people who have basic economy in particular of coconut palm sugar or small business (home industry) with the real regional economic development priorities program. Keywords: Small and Medium Industry, empowerment, people economy, local government policy.

Tales from the margins: small fishers in post‐tsunami Thailand

PurposeTo critically examine how the post‐tsunami recovery process has affected the livelihoods of small fisher communities in southern Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThis study was carried out as part of on‐going work with small fisher communities in southern Thailand. It was based on direct observations and interviews in fishing communities and following decision‐making processes through attending meetings and reviewing secondary reports.FindingsThe Indian Ocean tsunami had immediate devastating and longer‐term debilitating consequences for small fisher communities in southern Thailand. Delays in repairing or replacing boats have had a major impact on well‐being. The tsunami by removing housing and other coastal infrastructure also created opportunities for both social and ecological reorganization. These opportunities were seized upon by powerful interests groups with already strong connections to state through membership in taskforces and other links to power, in particular the tourism and conservation sectors to the detriment of interests of small fishers. A narrow focus on tourism‐led recovery is unlikely to do anything but recover tourism.Practical implicationsAs a marginalized and vulnerable group small fishers need to be directly involved in negotiations around disaster recovery programmes and setting priorities for future regional development in southern Thailand.Originality/valueThis study draws attention to persistent problems in the disaster recovery programs in Thailand that have left small fisher communities in a perilous condition.

Regional economic policy under crisis conditions: the case of agriculture within SADCC

With the international economic crisis, the drought, and food production crisis in Africa, all of the economic indicators show a negative growth and a decrease in the quality of life of most African peoples. After two and one-half 'development decades' of the United Nations, the international community and the individual states have clearly failed in their goal. From the 'capitalist' model of development (Ivory Coast, Kenya) to the 'socialist' model (Ethiopia, Mozambique), the economies are in crisis. 'National' development no longer seems possible. Further, individual states find the colonial legacy of underdevelopment too difficult to transform in a period of international economic crisis. Even countries like Angola and Mozambique, who won national revolutions and began social revolutions to transform production relations, have found the inherited economic linkages an inimical barrier to development. Born in the struggle for political independence of Zimbabwe, the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) brings together nine economies in the region (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe) to address problems of their colonial legacy of underdevelopment, their vulnerability to present economic crises, and their dependence on the South African apartheid economy. This paper analyses the ability of SADCC, as an innovative model for regional cooperation, to coordinate their policies and set priorities for regional development. The first section briefly reviews the international economic crisis of capitalism and discusses the negative impact on developing countries of 'solutions' tried by the advanced capitalist states. The second section analyses the diversity of the SADCC nine, resulting from their different historical positions in the regional Southern African economy, for the contradictions among the nine are important obstacles to regional coordination. Finally, the study investigates SADCC planning in agriculture, coordinated by Zimbabwe. As a priority of SADCC, agriculture is the first productive sector that SADCC is trying to coordinate. There are some real successes for SADCC, ones which point to the idea that regional coordination may alleviate somewhat the long-term international economic

Modeling of first plume encounters with precipitation

A regional air pollutant transport model was used to simulate the fate of S emissions in the northeast United States. Hourly calculations were analyzed to describe trajectory characteristics and mass balances as pollutant trajectories first encounter precipitation during transport away from emission sources. Model results include air concentrations of SO2 and sulfate, dry deposition values, and sulfate concentrations scavenged by precipitation, along with trajectory statistics. Results of sensitivity tests are compared to base case simulations which consider all precipitation events as a means of suggesting priorities for future regional transport model development.