Assessing the potential of economic-geographical position for Russian regions

Stepan Zemtsov, Vyacheslav Baburin

Full text: http://dx.doi.org/10.17059/2016-1-9

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Abstract

The category of economic-geographical position (EGP) was formalized based on a review of the scientific
literature. The developed method of international and interregional EGP potential assessment was based
on the use of gravity models; it can further be widely used in regional studies to explore the benefits of the
spatial location of objects (countries, regions, cities, etc.). These calculations for Russia's regions showed
significant spatial differentiation. The maximum potential of interregional EGP potential have the regions
located near Moscow and St. Petersburg agglomerations, the potential decreases uniformly to the east. The
maximum international EGP potential concentrated in regions on the coast of the Black Sea, the Baltic
Sea and the Sea of Japan. The potential of the Kaliningrad region 5.6 times higher than it is for the Tyva
Republic. In addition, it was revealed a significant increase in the total EGP potential in the 2000s, and its
shift to the southern regions of the Far East due to the growth of the Asia-Pacific economies. The results were
also used to identify connections between the EGP potential and indicators of socio-economic development.
It was found that favourable EGP is one of the factors for GRP growth, investment, foreign trade, migration
growth and spread of new technologies. Formalizing EGP as a category allows using it to predict the spatial
changes in the socio-economic development of Russia.

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