ASSESSMENT OF PRODUCTION AND ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE REGIONS OF THE URAL FEDERAL DISTRICT AND ITS IMPACT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH

Abstract

The purpose of the study, which constitutes the content of this article, is a comparative analysis of the availability of the production and economic infrastructure and its impact on economic growth in the regions within the Ural Federal District, as well as the justification of a methodological approach to this analysis. The production and economic infrastructure and its elements as an important factor of industrial and innovative development of regions is the main subject of this study, and the regions (subjects of the Russian Federation) as part of the Ural Federal District and the Federal District itself, taking into account the specifics of its specialization, are chosen as the object of research. The authors developed the method of analysis. At the first stage, taking into account the existing Russian and foreign studies, the indicators necessary for a comparative assessment of the availability of elements of the production and economic infrastructure of the studied regions were selected. At the second stage, the place of the Ural Federal District among other districts of the Russian Federation was determined and its inherent peculiarities in infrastructure arrangement were revealed. The third stage involved conducting a comparative analysis of the infrastructure of regions on the basis of normalized indicators. The fourth stage was the construction of an econometric model to identify the most significant factors. In this study, an econometric analysis was carried out based on panel data for 2012–2021. The nature and impact of the availability of production and economic infrastructure on the generalizing indicator of economic growth in the regions of the district were evaluated. The volume of gross regional product per capita was chosen as this generalizing indicator. This analysis made it possible to identify a number of possible sources and limitations of economic growth for further substantiation of promising areas of regional development.