Content №1 от 2023
Asian Russia: Spatial Structure and Economic Development Factors
The article examines in detail how the Asian part of Russia develops spatially, the geographical unit of analysis being municipal formations. Based on the study of distributed characteristics of economic development, we conclude that there is heterogeneity and inconsistency in Russia’s development in the east, both in latitudinal and meridional dimensions. The influences of resource, geographic, infrastructural, agglomeration, and market factors on the development of municipalities in Russian Asia are assessed using econometric methods. Our sample includes 271 municipalities, and the observation period covers the period between 2015 and 2018.
Regression estimates have shown that the resource economy and natural rents continue to play an important role in the eastern economy. However, despite the low business density and high transport costs, agglomeration and market factors show significance and shape the spatial proportions of Asian Russia. The market mechanism influence is ambiguous: while depletion dominates interactions between regional centers and their environs, horizontal inter-municipal relations create a positive effect, which overrides the negative impact caused by the rest of the region’s engagement with its capital.
The results obtained are arguments in favor of strengthening the macro-region space connectivity and supporting inter-regional and inter-municipal cooperation. The solution to this problem includes both a technical component, involving the infrastructure projects, and an institutional one, aimed at strengthening cooperative and reducing competitive incentives for spatial interaction.
