The subject of regional economics is an abstract. What does regional economics study? Basic concepts of regional economics and their content

Regional economy is structurally related to mesoeconomics and is a special economic entity, the complexity of which is manifested by a multiplicity of forms.

Regional economy is a branch of economic science that studies the territorial organization of production. It describes economic phenomena and processes associated with the market development of the economy of individual regions and their inclusion in a single economic space. Therefore, the goal of researchers is, on the one hand, to determine the common features inherent in the regions, on the other, to identify the specifics of each of them and, based on the results obtained, to develop a specific program for their further comprehensive development.

There are two main approaches to analyzing the regional economy, presented in Figure 69.

Scheme 69.

Basic approaches to regional economics.

If the world economic and geopolitical approaches are actively used in such sciences as world economics and political science, then the territorial-reproductive approach occupies an important place in the national economy. In the conditions of the administrative and distribution system, based on the principles of priority of sectoral management, the regional economy was the weakest link. Evidence of this is the lack of complexity in the development of many regions of Russia, serious disproportions between various elements of the economic, social and natural systems. In connection with the formation of a multi-structured economy, new economic relations, and a radical change in the entire management system, the task arose of developing a new mechanism for managing the socio-economic development of the region. The creation of such a mechanism should be based on the theory of regional reproduction - on the study of the laws of social reproduction and their manifestation at the regional level. A reproductive approach to managing the socio-economic development of a region means the need to manage the relationships and dependencies between all elements of the regional system, ensuring the effective development of the regional economy and the growth of the well-being of the population.

The initial concept of the theory of regional reproduction is the concept "region". In the scientific literature and in everyday practice, concepts such as territorial system, regional economy, district, etc. are often used as synonyms for this term. However, their content has certain differences.

In an economy where a territorial unit is the object of management decisions, and these decisions themselves can be made at various levels of the management system - federal, regional (republic, region, territory), municipal, greater unity and rigor are needed when zoning the country and legislative consolidation of the status each level. It is no coincidence that the concept of region, common to all countries, has been developed within the framework of the European Economic Community. At the same time, the sign by which a particular territory can be represented as a relatively independent unit is its socio-economic unity with the entire national economy, i.e. the economic processes occurring on it should reflect certain patterns of social reproduction, formed under the influence of interconnected economic, social and natural factors. In this sense, the region appears as a territorially specialized part of the country’s national economy, characterized by the unity and integrity of the reproduction process. Thus, the words “region” and “territory” must be correlated as part and whole. The concepts of “district” and “region,” denoting part of a common territory, are in a broad sense synonymous and are used in relation to a certain limited part of space.

In the territorial system of Russia, several regional structures can be distinguished.

1. Structure formed in accordance with economic zoning based on the territorial division of labor. The territories within this structure have a certain specialization in the unified process of social reproduction and their own specific characteristics. Territorial division of labor is an objective process of production specialization, isolation of economic regions, development of inter-district cooperation, exchange of products and services. It determines the basic patterns and forms of territorial organization of production.

2. A structure that meets the criterion of national government structure and determines, in accordance with the Constitution of the country, a set of equal subjects of the Russian Federation.

3. Regional structure, reflecting the territorial and administrative structure of each subject of the federation. It is determined by the specifics of population settlement and the complexity of centralized management of socio-economic processes over the vast territory of the state.

4. Areas of implementation of regional comprehensive programs. Their implementation causes serious shifts in the territorial proportions of the distribution of productive forces and the formation of special regions.

The named regional structures are shown in Diagram 70.

Scheme 70.

Regional structure of the territorial system of Russia.

The purpose of the functioning of the regional economy is to ensure a high level and quality of life for the population of the corresponding region. The regional economy should be based on the use three basic principles: firstly, careful consideration of the needs of the region’s population, the state and dynamics of emerging markets, the interests of the state and individual enterprises; secondly, creating conditions for maximum adaptation of the regional economic structure to internal and external factors; thirdly, the active implementation of regional interests.

It is advisable to highlight several functions of the regional economy, shown in Table 30.

Table 30.

Functions of the regional economy.

Many approaches to the analysis of regional problems, the very concept of a region and its functions have determined the presence of a huge number of classifications of regions. There are no identical regions, there are long-developed and recently developed, there are central and peripheral, there are where the population is growing, and there are where it is falling, in some the population of older age groups predominates, in others the proportion of youth is high. Regions differ in the level of saturation with productive forces, social structure, the presence of raw materials and minerals, and distance from highly developed industrial, cultural and metropolitan centers. Regions can be classified according to the sources of the main specialization of production: agro-industrial, transport-industrial, marine-industrial, fishing, gas-industrial and others.

Most often, the classification of regions is based on the following criteria: level and pace of economic development, type of territorial structure, population density coefficient, population growth rate, nature and coefficient of production specialization, etc. Currently, due to the rapid entry of regions into the market, it is expressed a new classification criterion, namely, the market capacity of a territory. It is known that the volume of the market is inextricably linked with the degree of specialization of social labor, i.e., division of labor. The deeper the social division of labor, the stronger the cooperative ties between enterprises of any territory, the deeper the integration.

In economics, there are other approaches to classifying regions. For example, in the industrialized countries of the West it is customary to distinguish:

1. depressed regions that have demonstrated relatively high rates of development in the past;

2. stagnant regions, characterized by extremely low or “zero” rates of development;

3. pioneer regions or regions of new development;

4. microregions or primary economic regions;

5. first order economic regions(or general), forming schemes for the regional macro-division of the country;

6. program (planned) regions– regions that are subject to targeted development programs and whose contours do not coincide in territory with the regions of this grid;

7. unique regions related to the implementation of large construction projects (project regions) or characterized by an extremely low level of development (problem regions).

In modern Russia, due to the ongoing crisis, problem regions are of particular importance. Among them are usually distinguished:

– Underdeveloped: North Caucasus, Mari El, Altai, Tuva, Pskov and Astrakhan regions.

– Depressive: North-West, Central, Volga, West Siberian, East Siberian

– Border: Kaliningrad region, Primorsky Krai, North Caucasus.

– Environmentally hazardous: Murmansk region, Volga region, Ural, Kuzbass, Caspian Sea coast.

Due to the huge differences in natural-geographical, economic and other conditions in the regions of Russia, regional reproductive processes are unique, their effectiveness is a necessary condition for the comprehensive proportional development of the regional economy. The successful functioning of the regional economy largely depends on the capabilities and ability of regional administrations to make optimal decisions that take into account the interests of the center and regions. The level of development of regions is determined not by forms of ownership, but by methods of economic management, socio-economic relations, rational use of regional advantages, and the search for methods of combining federal and regional socio-economic interests that determine reasonable and effective regional economic policy.

The region today is becoming the main subject of economic and political relations. It is very important in this situation to determine the specifics and priorities of the implementation of regional policy, taking into account the comparative advantages of a particular region, the characteristics of its historical and cultural development.

Regional (socio-economic) policy– the sphere of activity of the state in managing the political, economic, social and environmental development of the country in the spatial, regional aspect and reflecting both the relationship between the state and the regions, and the regions among themselves.

The main objects of regional policy include: production (primarily an enterprise), social (primarily a person as a representative of society, family, ethnic group), monetary and financial, etc. Subjects of regional management can act as specific representatives of state and regional authorities, as well as individual institutions, organizations and enterprises. Regional policy is closely related to regional development - changes in the internal socio-economic structure of the region.

Spatial differences in the provision of resources, the level of economic development and quality of life of the population, infrastructure, the ecological state of the environment, the severity of national and social conflicts are inherent in almost all countries, regardless of their position in the world. The goals and objectives of the regional policies of different states may not coincide and vary within different limits. However, there are common goals inherent in the regional policies of all countries. These include: the creation and strengthening of a single economic space and ensuring the economic, social, legal and organizational foundations of statehood; relative equalization of conditions for socio-economic development of regions; priority development of regions that are of particular strategic importance for the state; maximum use of natural, including resource, features of the regions; prevention of environmental pollution, greening of regional environmental management, comprehensive environmental protection of regions, etc. In other words, modern regional policy is trying to combine the interests of federalism and regionalism.

Federalism– the principle of division of political and economic powers between federal, subfederal and local authorities.

Regionalism– an approach to considering and solving economic, social, political and other problems from the perspective of the interests of the region.

As world practice shows, in conditions of a crisis economy, contradictions may arise between supporters of federalism and regionalism in regional politics, expressed through the “center-periphery” relationship (development “from above”) and through “intra-peripheral diffusion” (development “from below”). The trends of these interactions in modern Russia are shown in Diagram 71.

Scheme 71.

The basis of Russia's regional policy is taking into account the specifics of regions in the all-Russian structure, transferring the main directions of economic reforms to the regional level, full support for local self-government and entrepreneurship, solving regional socio-economic problems, and rational use of natural resources. To achieve this goal, regional policy is designed to fulfill the following main tasks:

– preservation of the single domestic market of Russia, the unity of the infrastructure of energy systems, transport, communications, a common monetary system, general control over the export and import of products in the presence of freedom of economic, scientific, technical and other contractual relations between enterprises throughout Russia, free competition producers of different forms of ownership, free movement of goods and capital;

– improving the well-being of the population in each region, gradually equalizing the standard of living, eliminating excessive contrasts in social conditions;

– expansion of horizontal connections between regions, the formation of a labor market and interregional regulation of employment, the creation of capital markets through the development of a system of joint-stock companies, stock exchanges, commercial banks, etc.;

– overcoming the general crisis and reforming the economy;

– overcoming political instability, interethnic tension and inconsistency of the national-state structure of Russia, etc.

The implementation of regional policy is closely connected with solving problems of economic security.

Economic security of the region is a set of conditions and factors characterizing the current state of the economy, stability, sustainability and progressiveness of its development. In general terms, the structure of regional economic security is presented as a complex of factors designed to provide the prerequisites for its survival and the preservation of its regional structures in conditions of crisis and future development; protection of the vital interests of the country and its territories in relation to resource potential; creation of internal immunity and external protection from destabilizing influences; the competitiveness of regions in domestic and world markets and the stability of the country's financial position; conditions and lifestyle worthy of a civilized person and the possibility of sustainable and normal reproduction of social processes.

To analyze regional security, the literature proposes to use a system of indicators that define, in the form of quantitative indicators, the parameters of social reality, the failure of which leads to the transformation of potential threats of disruption of social balance into real ones. A distinctive feature of security indicators is their threshold value. Approaching their maximum permissible value indicates an increase in threats to the socio-economic stability of society, and exceeding the maximum or threshold values ​​indicates the entry of society into a zone of instability and social conflicts, that is, a real erosion of economic security. Let's consider the values ​​of some social indicators for Russia and Primorsky Krai (Table 31).

Table 31.

Threshold values ​​and actual state of social indicators of economic security in the Russian Federation and Primorsky Krai.

The threshold values ​​of macroeconomic indicators presented in the table indicate that the situation in the country is of an emergency nature, and therefore a system of targeted government measures is needed to prevent social cataclysms. The situation in Primorye is even more acute, which proves the need for an effective regional policy. The state of regional security clearly shows that the implementation of tasks aimed at strengthening economic federalism cannot have a unified approach to carrying out economic reforms focused on average conditions. At the same time, the center of gravity should shift from general economic problems to the regional level, to an assessment of the rationality of the development of individual regions within the framework of the single economic space of the state. Therefore, in the regional policies of developed countries, the following set of subordinate measures is usually used: determining the boundaries of the region requiring support; developing a concept of specialization for a given region; coordination of the activities of economic entities that implement regional policy. Increasing the efficiency of state regulation of regional development requires the activation of all management functions, especially forecasting and planning.

Forecasting regional processes is the most important and integral part of a complex management process. The economic, social and environmental consequences of regional development, the complete use of labor, natural and material resources largely depend on it.

Forecasting– one of the forms of planning activity, consisting in the scientific prediction of the state of a forecast object at a certain point in the future, based either on an analysis of trends in the socio-economic development of the object for the corresponding period, or on the use of normative calculations.

The methodology of regional forecasting is based on the knowledge and use of those laws that operate not only at the level of the entire state socio-economic system, but also at the level of its components. The structure of the regional forecast includes both aspects of reproduction and various levels of aggregation of production and settlement in the region. The interconnection of the entire range of forecasts, taking into account the action of forward and backward connections, provides in the aggregate a generalized regional forecast, on the basis of which the concept and strategic plan of the region are formed. The development of regional forecasts is based on two universal approaches. The genetic approach substantiates the directions of development based on the achieved level of development of the productive forces of the region and emerging regional problems. With the normative-target approach, the development paths of the region are made dependent on pre-formulated goals.

Forecasting regional development is built in accordance with the general principles of forecasting and territorial forecasting. Among these principles, systematicity and consistency, variability and continuity, as well as verifiability (reliability and accuracy) of forecasts are of particular importance. Territorial forecasts are used in the development of schemes for economic and social development and financial condition of regions and their parts, development and location of industries, complex (general) schemes for the development and location of productive forces. Their necessity, especially for medium and long-term periods, is determined by the long-term and complex nature of territorial problems, and the great influence of macroeconomic policy on the formation of regional complexes and markets. The general structure of the regional forecast is shown in Figure 72.

Scheme 72.

The structure of a comprehensive forecast for the development of the region.

Forecasting is used in areas where planning is impractical or impossible, but it can never replace planning.

Planning– a method of implementing the economic and organizational function of the state and economic policy. An important part of planning is programming. It is based on forecast developments and aims to draw up projects of targeted comprehensive programs.

The commission is preparing proposals to determine priority areas for regional development, improve monitoring of socio-economic development, and provide assistance in the implementation of targeted territorial development programs. Taking into account the proposals, the state can allocate regional quotas for loans for investment programs. This quota is determined by the sum of the region’s share of participation in production and in the country’s credit resources:

where Q1 is the volume of production in the region; Q0 – production volume in the country; Kri – quota for loans for investment programs; KVR – credit investments of banks in a given region; КВ0 – total credit investments of all credit banks; KVM – loan investments of local banks.

Regional target programming allows the federal center to actively influence problem regions and successfully solve both current and strategic tasks aimed at reducing differences in the level of socio-economic development of regions. However, existing programs in Russia still have significant shortcomings. The main ones are weak justification for problematic priorities, selection and effectiveness of programs, lack of proper inter-program coordination and coordination, insufficient elaboration of issues of territorial-economic complexity and integration, poor control over implementation, and instability of funding.

1. In recent years, programs for the integrated development of regions have begun to be developed in our country. Some authors propose to include developments in the forecast: firstly, Kondratieff waves (50–60 years), secondly, a long-term forecast (20–25 years), thirdly, a medium-term forecast (8-12 years), fourthly, short-term forecasts (3–4 years). Analyze what tasks are set and what goals are pursued at each of these stages?

2. The main directions of state economic policy are usually clearly classified as forms of either direct regulation or indirect. However, regional policy is considered to be a sphere of mixed regulation. Explain this situation.

3. Analyze the features of relations between the Far Eastern region and the center. Using examples from periodicals, reveal the content of centrifugal and centripetal tendencies. Which of these trends are becoming dominant in the modern period? What consequences might the development of these trends have for the Primorsky Territory and the country as a whole?

4. How do the main functional forms of regional policy differ: forecasting, programming, planning?

5. Analyze the content of the following passages. Determine which of the existing approaches to regional economics they characterize:

a) “Having a direct connection with the problem approach and being essentially its variety, it at the same time has independent significance. The central place in it is occupied by the study of the phenomena of interaction between subjects of social relations in geographical space”;

b) “It has important methodological significance in studying the operation of economic laws at the regional level. The relative isolation of the reproduction cycle means not only the isolation of the reproduction of a part of the total gross domestic product within the boundaries of the region, but also the isolation of the contradictions inherent in it, the region, and their concentrated expressions - complex regional socio-economic problems.”

6. Determine the size of the regional quota for loans for investment programs, if in a certain region the production volume amounted to 42 billion rubles. The total volume of production in the country is 84 billion rubles. The total credit investments of commercial banks are equal to 2010 billion rubles, and the credit investments of banks in this region in the country's economy are 0.2 of this amount. Local banks have invested an amount equal to 180 billion rubles into the regional economy.

Identify all correct answers.

1. Regional economy is

a) science that studies the rational distribution of productive forces;

b) part of economic geography;

c) an analogue of sectoral economies; d) part of mesoeconomics.

2. The main reason for the low capacity of underdeveloped regions is

a) distance from the center of business activity of the country;

b) insufficient production and financial potential;

c) changes in the geopolitical position of the country;

d) formation of market structure and infrastructure

3. The regions of the North-Western, Central and other regions, industrially developed in Soviet times, became depressed, because

a) had long-distance production connections;

b) had a high concentration of VPA;

c) had a multifunctional economic structure that does not meet the needs of the market;

d) found themselves hostage to the developing system of non-payments.

4. The reasons for the increasing confrontation between the center and the regions in Russia are

a) lack of clear regulation of the rights and responsibilities of the center and regions in official documents;

b) division of ownership for each level of management;

c) violation of the principles of economic independence of regions and their relations with the federal budget;

d) shifting the implementation of social functions by the center to regional authorities without proper financial support.

5. Regional policy is

a) a priority area of ​​activity for local authorities;

b) a system of relationships between the state and the regions, as well as between the regions themselves;

c) policy of equalizing differences in the level of socio-economic development of regions;

d) a combination of the principles of federalism and regionalism.

6. Regional forecasting

a) is an integral part of indicative planning;

b) existed only in a centralized economy;

c) precedes regional target programming;

d) carried out only by order of regional authorities

1. Introduction

2. Basic concepts and definitions of the regional economy.

2.1. National economy as a sphere of organization of reproductive processes

2.2. The concepts of "region", "economic region"

3. Types and types of economies. Economic systems and their essence.

3.1. Economic system and its elements

3.2. Types of economic systems

3.3. Types and types of market economies

4. Research methods in regional economics -

5. Fundamentals of regional economic management.

5.1. Features of the organization of regional management

5.2. The essence and tasks of regional management

5.3. Objectives and object of regional management

5.4. Principles and methods of regional management

6. Regional development: goals, criteria and management methods

6.1. Goals and criteria for socio-economic development of the region

6.2. Methods for managing regional development

7. Factors of socio-economic development and competitiveness of regions. Methods of regional economic management.

7.1. Organizational and economic factors

7.2. General characteristics of management methods

7.3. Classification of management methods

8. Organization of regional economic management.

8.1. The essence of organizing regional economic management

8.2. Types of organizational management structures

8.3. Classification of organizational management structures

9. Conclusion

1. Introduction

There are areas of knowledge and life experience that any of us can talk about. In addition to politics, such areas include medicine and, of course, economics. And this is no coincidence, because economics is an empirical science, directly related to practice. Every person is faced with economic phenomena and processes every day. We are all active participants in everyday economic life, but not everyone has a complete understanding of what economics actually is.

As a science, economics is a field of knowledge that studies economic man, his actions and interests. It is designed to determine how to make the most efficient use of limited resources - natural reserves, capital, labor reserves. Like all other branches of knowledge, economics includes a set of axioms and evidence suitable for analysis in any specific conditions. Economics as a science cannot be national, just as American physics or German mathematics cannot exist. The prices of goods everywhere are determined by the relationship between supply and demand. As income increases, the consumed portion decreases and the accumulated portion increases.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. classical economic theory was created. It met the needs of the development of an industrial society based on private property and freedom of economic choice. Its founder is considered to be Adam Smith, the significance of whose teaching is similar to the invention of the wheel; The “wheel” of the national economy “turns” complex systems of interdependent industries and shapes the world economy. Meanwhile, problems arise in social life and business practice that cannot be resolved only through traditional means. Economists are beginning to become interested in issues of general order, aggregate demand, and monetary circulation. In this regard, one cannot help but recall Leon Walras, the creator of the theory of general economic equilibrium.

The 20th century was the stage of macroeconomics in the history of economic thought. A large system is not only a multitude of small subsystems (firms and industries), but also a new quality. Its actions are controlled by other mechanisms. The macrosystem cannot be described by microeconomic categories (price, profit, competition, etc.). New macro indicators, new methods and tools are needed here.

To summarize what has been said, we note that economics is the science of the general laws of economic development of an economy, which considers this economy in development and in relationships with the external environment.

However, in addition to the concept of economics as a science, there is the concept of “specific economy”, or “real economy”, which can be represented by various levels of management: national, regional, corporations, enterprises, organizations, etc.

2. Basic concepts and definitions of the regional economy.

2.1. National economy as a sphere of organization of reproductive processes.

The concept of national economy was introduced into scientific circulation in the 19th century. representatives of the historical school. Almost 100 years ago, its founder, Gustav Schmoller (1838-1917), formulated a “genetic approach” to the study of economics. In his opinion, the economic appearance of the country is formed by socio-historical, national-psychological, ethnic and even anthropological factors. Schmoller was the first to draw attention to the “economic psychology” of a particular people, which makes the national economy unique. He also expressed another thought that sounds very relevant: in economic policy there cannot be universal rules and decisions suitable for all countries and times.

Sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920), who was affiliated with the historical school, studied the impact of religion on the economic life of peoples and countries. His works “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” and “The Economic Ethics of World Religions” gained worldwide fame.

From a reproductive standpoint, we can give the following definition of the concept of national economy: this is the sphere in which the processes of production, distribution, redistribution, exchange and consumption are organized within the framework of the national state, i.e. a sphere limited by the framework of statehood, where reproductive processes are organized. A schematically formulated concept can be displayed as follows (Fig. 1.1).

Rice. 1.1. Sphere of national economy

2 .2. The concepts of "region", "economic region"

The relevance of considering the problem of distinguishing concepts and definitions, clarifying the essential content of some economic categories is determined by the increased role of regional government, the formation of local self-government, and the influence of territorial organizations on the socio-economic development of territories.

In this regard, it is necessary:

· taking into account local resources and specifics when developing criteria, methods and tools for managing the use of socio-economic potential;

· reliance on the economic state and level of development of municipalities and regions;

· insurance against the influence of internal and external factors on ongoing processes, without which highly effective organization of management and decision-making by local authorities and management is impossible.

Since the 70s of the last century, domestic economic science has focused on the study of theory and the development of practical recommendations regarding regional reproduction and resource management. At the same time, many issues of intensifying the use of the development potential of municipalities and developing viable models for the effective use of local resources remain insufficiently studied and controversial in science and topical in practice:

Among them:

· efficiency of management of socio-economic potential in the regions;

· correlation of local, regional and federal interests;

· formation of local and regional markets and their infrastructure;

· investment policy;

· property management under various forms of ownership;

· increasing the efficiency of using local products;

· intensification of resource use and other problems.

The exceptional importance of truly scientific support for radical market transformations, the creation (preservation) of a single market space in combination with the formation of regional markets, with the development of local self-government has determined the urgent need for a more in-depth study of issues of increasing the efficiency of state authorities and local self-government in the field of regional governance.

The concept of “region” is given a lot of attention in modern economic, geographical and urban planning literature.

The most frequently used criteria for forming the concept of “region” are:

· geographical (location, size of territory and population);

· production-functional (specificity of the prevailing types of activities);

· urban planning (nature of development of production facilities, housing and services);

· sociological (norms of communication, behavior).

Region - an integral system with its own structure, functions, connections with the external environment, history, culture, and living conditions of the population.

It is characterized by:

· high dimension; a large number of interconnected subsystems of various types with local goals;

· multi-circuit control; hierarchical structure;

· significant delay of coordinating influences with high dynamism of elements;

· incomplete determination of the states of elements.

As a socio-economic system, a region can be represented by a set of five main subsystems, which include:

· system-forming base;

· system maintenance complex;

· ecology;

· population;

· market infrastructure.

The main factor ensuring the interconnection and interaction of these subsystems, integrating them into a single socio-economic system, is the activity of people. Man is an organic part of each of the subsystems. It represents a part of nature, the main component of the productive forces of the national economy and, finally, part of the population, since through connections and relationships with other people it forms the actual socio-territorial community.

Territorial organization, principles and factors of development of the modern Russian economy

Regional problems play an important role in the development of most countries of the world, especially at stages of significant economic, social, and political changes. The peculiarity of Russia’s modern regional problems is determined by the interweaving of a number of complex transition processes both within the country and abroad, namely:

· formation of a new geopolitical and economic space after the collapse of the USSR;

· dismantling the administrative-command economy and transition to a market-type economy;

· opening the national economy to the foreign market;

· sanctions in connection with the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the conflict in the East of Ukraine;

· economic crisis superimposed on a long-term transformation crisis.

In these conditions, the training of highly qualified specialists who are proficient in methods of analyzing regional socio-economic processes and modern technologies for managing territorial objects is of particular importance. The realization of this goal becomes possible when studying our course "Regional Management and Territorial Planning".

Basic concepts of regional economics.

In any science, the most difficult thing is to determine the initial positions and concepts. In mathematics this is the concept of number, in physics - the concept of matter and energy, in regional management and territorial planning - the concept of territory and region.

"Territory"is a limited part of the solid surface of the earth, characterized by a certain area, geographical location and other characteristics. Categories that complement the concept of "territory" are water area (limited portion of the earth's water surface) And aerotory (part of the Earth's air envelope associated with a certain territory or water area). The concept that unites the categories "territory", "water area" and "air area" is the concept " geotoria". In the future, unless otherwise stated, we will use the term "territory".

The heterogeneity of the territory according to various characteristics or the excessive size of the territory necessitates its division into parts, which are regions. Today, along with the term “region,” the term “district” is also actively used. The question arises: are region and district synonyms or different concepts? Let's try to answer it.

Initially, the term " area", French origin "rayon" - radius, ray. Area is a territorial unit

In the 1990s, in domestic regional studies, the expressions “economic region”, “administrative region”, etc. began to be used more often. But over time, this term has lost its scientific clarity.

Region is an English term. It later penetrated into the Russian language, but turned out to be more flexible and practically replaced the term “district”. In what follows, we will use the term “region”, and the term “district” only where it has taken root to designate certain types of regions, for example, an administrative district, an intracity region, a large economic region, a municipal district, etc.

What is a “region”? IN in a general sense, a region is a certain territory that differs from other territories in a number of ways and has some integrity and interconnectedness of its constituent elements. The specification and meaningful interpretation of the term is carried out by identifying certain types of regions.

The categories under consideration are based on the concept of “economy”, which is quite polysemantic. Economy means: 1) a historically defined set of social-production relations (the economy of capitalism, the economy of socialism, the economy of post-industrial society, market economy, etc.); 2) the national economy of several or individual countries, as well as its components (industrial economics, agricultural economics, etc.); 3) branch of science that studies economic relations.

In our case, the economy is considered as a set of economic units. And depending on the size of the object, the economy in this sense may include the national economy of the entire planet (“world economy”), individual continents or interstate associations (“regional economy”), individual countries (“national economy”) or individual regions in these countries ( the term “regional economy” is also used here).

Social and economic indicators

Efficiency of the national economy and its industries

The Republic of Belarus is building a socially oriented market economy. This direction is implemented through targeted social policy, which is a set of principles, norms and methods used by the state to regulate the socio-economic conditions of society.

The organizational, material and technical basis of social policy is the national economy and, above all, its social sphere.

The social sphere is a set of sectors of the economy, as well as economic relations that ensure the reproduction of human potential and a decent life for all members of society.

Since the category “efficiency” reflects the ratio of national economic results and costs incurred, many indicators of social development (for example, the level of education) and the development of the social sphere (for example, the provision of medical institutions) generally cannot be attributed to efficiency indicators in their pure form.

A number of them reflect the social consequences of economic development (for example, mortality, injuries, environmental pollution), which are essentially costs.

Other indicators can be considered certain signs of positive achievements. For example, the same level of education. However, the latter also carries a connotation of cost, since people are forced to obtain a certain level of education to acquire a profession.

In general, social efficiency is related to the ultimate goal of production. It reflects the distributional aspects of reproduction.

Social and economic efficiency are closely related. Moreover, as V.S. Mavrishchev notes, social efficiency is the main thing, because any economic measures aimed at increasing economic efficiency are acceptable only when they lead to an improvement in the living conditions of workers.

Therefore, it seems to us that indicators of the social efficiency of the economy should include precisely the main “social results”: the demographic situation, parameters of morbidity, employment, level of education, crime, emigration (and immigration), suicide, Fig. 1.2.

The composition of indicators for the named blocks in statistics has been processed, and most of them are published, table. 1.1.

Table 1.1

Social results of economic development

When analyzing the level of social efficiency, it is necessary to select indicators that reflect the specifics and features of the system under consideration. The same should be taken into account when interpreting the results obtained.

However, indicators of social efficiency cannot be separated from indicators of economic (production) efficiency, since the economic system is a single whole.

The essence of economic efficiency comes down to reducing the total costs of social labor per unit of production.

Due to the complexity of the structure of social production, costs and results have various modifications. This is the reason for the impossibility of expressing the economic efficiency of production using only one indicator.

The whole variety of economic efficiency indicators is divided into two groups: private and general. Particular indicators characterize the efficiency of using certain types of resources. The most important of them include labor, raw materials and materials, capital. The efficiency of using these resources is characterized, respectively, by labor intensity (Te), material intensity (Me) and capital intensity of products (Fe).

Labor intensity characterizes the cost of living labor per unit of effect produced, most often per unit of gross output or added value. At the same time, labor costs, depending on the level of the economy at which labor intensity is calculated, can be expressed in the average annual number of workers, time worked (man-days, man-hours), or in wages. In practice, they most often operate with the inverse indicator of labor intensity - labor productivity.

The growth of social labor productivity is the main factor in the growth of social production, people's well-being, and the solution of social problems in the development of society.

The percentage increase in gross domestic product (ΔGDP (in %)) as a result of increased labor productivity and changes in the number of workers is determined by the formula:

where ΔЧ (%) – increase in the number of employed (in percent);

ΔП (%) – increase in labor productivity (in percent);

ΔП and ΔП – absolute increases in labor productivity and numbers;

GDP is the absolute value of GDP in the base year.

In turn, each of these elements is determined by the influence of a whole group of factors that, as a rule, act in different directions. Thus, the technical level of production contributes to the growth of living labor productivity, but increases the capital intensity of production. The organization of production and labor, the quality of the workforce also contribute to the growth of labor productivity, but require additional costs for equipment and personnel training. Therefore, labor productivity should be analyzed taking into account its determining factors, which include material intensity and capital intensity.

Material intensity expresses the amount of material costs per unit of production (GDP) and characterizes the efficiency of using objects of labor (working capital). It is quantitatively calculated by dividing the amount of raw materials, supplies, fuel, energy, semi-finished products and components consumed in production (in value or physical terms) by the volume of products produced or GDP.

If it is necessary to focus on the efficiency of using specific types of resources, then appropriate indicators are used, for example, energy intensity (characterizes the level of consumption of fuel and energy resources within the country per unit of production) or metal intensity (characterizes the level of metal consumption per unit of production).

Capital intensity characterizes the efficiency of using fixed production assets and is defined as the ratio of their value in average annual terms to the magnitude of the effect - products or GDP. Taken in reverse relation, it is called capital productivity (Fo), which is most often used in practice.

All-round saving of material resources is one of the most important signs of intensive economic development. For the Republic of Belarus this problem is very relevant. This is due to the fact that most industries in the republic operate mainly on imported raw materials, materials, and fuel. Through imports, the industry meets 90% of its needs for oil, 100% for natural gas and coal, 100% for cotton, and about 75% for rolled ferrous metals.

Each of the listed indicators is of great importance for characterizing the efficiency of using various types of costs and resources - material costs, fixed production assets, labor resources. But none of them, taken separately, can characterize the level of production efficiency as a whole, i.e. efficiency of using the total costs of social labor. Therefore, one cannot judge production efficiency only on the basis of the dynamics of capital productivity or labor productivity, as this is often observed in the literature and in practice. Moreover, even on the basis of all the main indicators (Te, Me, Fe) taken together, it is not always possible to give an unambiguous answer to the question of how production efficiency as a whole has changed. This is explained by the fact that the dynamics of these indicators may not always be unidirectional. In some cases, they change in diametrically opposite directions - some improve, others worsen.

There is no consensus on the issue of general indicators of production efficiency, either in theory or in practice. In the spirit of long-standing recommendations of the USSR State Planning Committee, the following are recommended as general indicators of production efficiency:

at the level of the national economy as a whole: growth rate of GDP per capita; GDP production per ruble of costs; national economic profitability as the ratio of net income (profit and turnover tax) to the average annual cost of production assets; production and circulation costs per ruble of social product; relative savings in the sphere of material production of various types of resources and costs (production assets, material costs, wage fund). at the level of sectors of material production, associations and enterprises: growth rates of production (net, gross, marketable); net products per ruble of costs; overall profitability; costs per ruble of commercial products; relative savings in costs and resources (by type).

Not all recommended summary indicators of production efficiency are uncontroversial. For example, the growth rate of GDP per capita depends not only on the efficiency of social production, but also on the dynamics of the country's population. The latter is determined by factors, many of which lie outside the sphere of production. This indicator characterizes social rather than economic efficiency, i.e. the effectiveness of the entire process of social reproduction from the perspective of its ultimate goal. And the indicator “production growth rate” is generally unsuitable for characterizing efficiency, since it characterizes only the result of production, regardless of the costs and resources with the help of which the corresponding production growth rates are achieved.

In this regard, it should be noted that since production efficiency is expressed by the relationship between results and costs, then, obviously, efficiency indicators should be constructed on the basis of this relationship. Consequently, by their nature they should not be absolute, but relative values. Therefore, the growth rate of products, absolute (volume) profit values, GDP, etc. by themselves, regardless of the amount of social labor costs at the cost of which they were achieved, can only characterize the magnitude of the economic effect, but not the level of efficiency.

To analyze the economic efficiency of production in the literature, the overall efficiency coefficient is used as a general indicator, representing the ratio of the annual volume of GDP (net output for the industry) to the average annual cost of production assets. An increase in this indicator can be achieved both by saving current costs, implicitly reflected in the numerator of the formula, and by one-time costs (capital investments), reflected in its denominator.

In industry, the profitability indicator as the ratio of profit to production assets is widely used as a general indicator. In contrast to national economic profitability, which is calculated on the basis of the entire net income, the industry profitability indicator is calculated only on the basis of part of the net income (profit). And rightly so.

Profitability is a general indicator in the sense that it accumulates the impact of all main performance indicators. After all, profit, on the basis of which profitability is calculated, is the difference between the volume of products sold and its cost. The sales volume will be greater, and the cost will be lower, the better the use of labor, material resources and fixed assets. In addition, the profitability indicator is clear and easy to understand.

The overall efficiency coefficient and profitability, as general indicators of efficiency, are calculated not on the basis of costs, but on the basis of resources, and not all of them, but only production assets, without taking into account labor resources. Therefore, some researchers propose to add the annual wage fund, which characterizes the amount of labor resources consumed per year, to the production assets in the denominator of these formulas and thereby take into account all the resources used.

Obviously, such a proposal is incorrect for methodological reasons. It is impossible to mechanically sum up one-time costs in the form of applied production assets with current labor costs in the form of wages. Such summation makes no economic sense, because production assets and the annual wage fund have different dimensions - the latter is measured in rubles per unit of time (year, quarter, month), and production assets are also in rubles, but regardless of the unit of time.

Some researchers construct a summary indicator of production efficiency based on costs, but without taking into account resources:

,

where C – material costs, including depreciation;

V – wage fund in material production;

m – production accumulation fund.

It seems to us more correct to calculate a general indicator of efficiency on the basis of all costs and resources (production assets). In this regard, two questions arise: firstly, how methodologically justified is the summation of current costs (product costs) and one-time investments (production assets) and secondly, if this is justified, then what should be the mechanism for their summation.

The combination of current costs and production assets in some single general indicator of efficiency is possible if there is an internal real connection between these quantities. There is such a connection and it consists in the fact that one-time costs (capital investments), taking the form of production assets, are aimed at a relative reduction in current costs. In other words, savings on current production costs are purchased at the price of additional capital investments allocated to new, more efficient means of production.

It is difficult to answer the second question - how to summarize current and one-time costs of different economic nature, i.e. cost and production assets. It is pointless to summarize them directly. It is possible to sum up current and one-time costs only if they are reduced to the same unit of time, to the same dimension. Since current costs are usually taken over a period of time equal to a year, then one-time costs must be brought to this value. The reduction of different types of costs to the same dimension in design and planning practice is carried out using the standard economic efficiency coefficient (En). Using the efficiency standard, production assets are brought into a form comparable to current costs and summed up according to the formula:

C + EnF (where C is current production costs (product cost; F – production assets).

The formula (C + EnF) is widely used in design practice to determine reduced costs. It shows the current cost of production in the absence of one-time investments. Of course, this is a conditional assumption, because the production process cannot be carried out without one-time investments in production assets. But at the same time, this assumption reflects the real economic connection between current and one-time costs, their known interchangeability.

From all that has been said above, it follows that the essence (criterion) of production efficiency comes down to saving the total costs of social labor per unit of effect, and the general indicator (quantitative measure) of this criterion can be the ratio:

.

It should be noted that the assessment of the economic efficiency of production based on a general indicator should be supplemented by an analysis of other efficiency indicators.

Of particular importance within the framework of the analysis of the national economy is the efficiency of not only all costs as a whole, but also the efficiency of capital investments.

The criterion for the national economic efficiency of capital investments in the country as a whole is the ratio of GDP growth (and at other levels of management, the increase in added value) to the capital investments that determined this increase.

At the self-financing level of management, and especially when using the bank’s own funds and loans to develop and implement appropriate measures, the effect of capital investments is assessed by the increase in profit.

When calculating the overall economic efficiency of capital investments, the following indicators are used:

1. For the national economy as a whole, its sectors

,

where ΔGDP is annual GDP growth;

K – capital investments that determined this increase

2. For industries, agriculture, transport, communications, construction, trade, comprehensive capital construction programs, individual technical and economic problems:

where ΔDS is the increase in added value.

3. For industries where the cost reduction indicator is used to calculate efficiency, the overall economic efficiency indicator is determined by the ratio of savings from reducing production costs to the capital investments that caused these savings:

,

where C1, C2 are the cost of production, respectively, before and after capital investments.

4. For long-term complex programs, it is recommended to determine on a cumulative basis the effect obtained as a result of capital investments, defining the period during which the amount of the effect will equal or exceed the amount of capital investments. For programs implemented with the use of loans or at the expense of the industry’s own funds, the amount of profit received for the same period is also assessed on an accrual basis. The period determined in this way is considered a conditional period for the return of capital investments.

The methodology for calculating the absolute economic efficiency of environmental protection measures has some features. Thus, the indicator of absolute economic efficiency of all environmental protection costs is defined as the ratio of the annual volume of the total economic effect to the reduced costs:

,

where Eij is the economic effect of the i-th type from preventing (reducing) losses at the j-th object located in the zone of environmental improvement;

Si – annual operating costs for the maintenance and maintenance of fixed assets, which determine the full economic effect;

En – standard coefficient of efficiency of capital investments;

Ki – capital investments in the construction of an environmental protection facility (or group of facilities).

If it is necessary to determine the absolute economic efficiency of capital investments for environmental protection measures, the calculation is made using the formula:

.

Additional indicators of the absolute effectiveness of environmental protection measures can be:

the ratio of the decrease in ΔB of the indicator characterizing the negative impact of the production activities of enterprises on the environment to the costs that caused it:

;

the ratio of the ΔР indicator, characterizing the improvement of the state of the region’s environment, to the costs that were required for this:

.

In the practice of design and planning, as a rule, several options for design or technical solutions are considered, which differ not only in the costs of their implementation, but also in the current costs per unit of production. To choose the best option, the comparative efficiency of capital investments is calculated, which characterizes the advantages of one option compared to others.

Calculations of the comparative economic efficiency of capital investments are used when comparing options for economic or technical solutions, choosing interchangeable products, introducing new types of equipment, etc. The following cases are possible:

1. One of the options has lower specific capital costs and lower production costs. Its advantages are obvious, and therefore there is no need to calculate comparative effectiveness indicators.

2. Much more often lower current costs correspond to higher capital investments. At the same time, it becomes necessary to determine what is more profitable for the national economy: with large capital investments, then obtain cheaper products, or with lower capital costs, obtain more expensive products. The problem is solved by comparing the required additional capital investments with savings on current costs. Capital and current costs are compared according to the payback period of additional capital investments or its inverse value - the comparative efficiency coefficient.

The payback period for additional capital investments T is the period of time during which additional capital investments are reimbursed through savings from reducing production costs:

and the coefficient of comparative efficiency of additional capital investments:

where C1, C2 are the cost of production for the compared options;

K1, K2 – capital investments for the compared options.

The efficiency coefficient of additional capital investments and their payback period obtained by calculation are compared with standard values.

The standard coefficient of comparative efficiency characterizes the minimum reduction in cost per unit of additional capital investments for the compared options, at which these additional capital investments can be considered effective. The specified standard is intended to select an option and should not be identified with the general efficiency standard.

When E > En or T > Tn, additional capital investments and a more capital-intensive option are considered effective. To select the best option, you can also use the reduced cost indicator.

The most effective option is considered to be the one with the minimum reduced costs:

, (1.3)

where Сi – current costs (cost) for the i-th option;

En – standard coefficient of comparative efficiency of capital investments;

Ki – capital investments according to the i-th option.

Indicators Ki and Ci can mean, respectively, the total amount of capital investments and the cost of annual production or specific capital investments and the cost of a unit of production.

The decision on the feasibility of implementing certain design options is made on the basis of calculating the annual economic effect for the compared options:

In some cases, when the given costs for the compared options differ slightly, it is recommended to use additional natural indicators. These include cost standards for raw materials, materials, fuel per unit of production, metal utilization rate, product removal from 1 m2 of production area or piece of equipment, etc.

The annual economic effect from the introduction of new technological processes, mechanization and automation of production, methods of organizing production and labor that provide savings in the production of the same product is determined by the formula:

, (1.5)

where Z1, Z2 are the reduced costs per unit of production

(work) performed using basic and new equipment;

A2 – annual volume of production (work) using new equipment in the accounting year (in natural units).

Calculation of the annual economic effect from the production and use of new long-term labor tools (machines, equipment, instruments) with improved quality characteristics (productivity, durability, etc.) is carried out as follows:

where Z1, Z2 are the reduced costs per unit of the basic and new means of labor, respectively;

B2/B1 is a coefficient that takes into account the growth in productivity of a unit of a new means of labor compared to the base one;

B1, B2 – annual volumes of products (work) produced using a unit of basic and new means of labor, respectively (in natural units);

– coefficient taking into account the change in the service life of the new means of labor compared to the base one;

Р1, Р2 – shares of deductions from the book value for the complete restoration (renovation) of the basic and new means of labor, are calculated as the reciprocal values ​​of the service life of the means of labor, determined taking into account their obsolescence;

– savings of the consumer enterprise on operating costs and deductions from related capital investments over the entire service life of the new means of labor compared to the base one, rub.;

– accompanying capital investments of the consumer enterprise (without taking into account the cost of the considered means of labor) when using, respectively, the basic and new means of labor, based on the volume of products (work) produced with the help of the new means of labor, rubles;

– annual operating costs of the consumer enterprise when using the basic and new means of labor, respectively, based on the volume of products (work) produced using the new means of labor, rub. These costs take into account only part of the depreciation costs for major repairs of labor equipment, i.e. excluding funds for their renovation, as well as depreciation charges for related capital investments of the consumer enterprise;

A2 – volume of production of new means of labor in the accounting year (in natural units).

Annual economic effect from the production and use of new or improved items of labor

(materials, raw materials, fuel), as well as labor equipment with a service life of less than one year, is calculated using the formula:

where Z1, Z2 are the reduced costs per unit of the basic and new subject of labor, respectively, rubles;

U1, U2 – specific costs when using, respectively, a basic and a new subject of labor per unit of product (work) produced by the consumer (in natural units);

– operating costs per unit of product (work) of a consumer enterprise when using, respectively, basic and new objects of labor without taking into account their cost, rub.;

– accompanying capital investments of the consumer enterprise when using basic and new objects of labor per unit of product (work) produced using a new object of labor, rubles;

A2 – volume of production of a new subject of labor in the accounting year (in natural units).

Annual economic benefit from the production of new products or products of improved quality (with a higher price)

, (1.8)

where P is the profit from the sale of new products or the increase in profit from the sale of improved quality products;

– specific capital investments for the production of new products or specific additional capital investments associated with improving product quality, rub.;

A2 – the volume of new products or products of improved quality per year (in natural units).

So, a set of numerous indicators of the efficiency of social production can be represented through the corresponding groups of indicators.

Firstly, they can be resource- or cost-intensive, as noted above. Secondly, the indicators used can reflect total costs, for example, production costs per ruble of GDP, ND, or the use of a specific resource (energy intensity, metal intensity). Thirdly, they may differ from each other in the construction method: level, tempo, incremental. Fourthly, they can only be relative. And, fifthly, natural and cost-based.

All these indicators are applied to the object under consideration - the national economy as a whole, industry, ministry, firm, enterprise. The choice of one or another indicator depends on the goals set and the tasks to be solved, as well as on the characteristics of the specific object whose effectiveness is being calculated.

Regional economy is structurally related to mesoeconomics and is a special economic entity, the complexity of which is manifested by a multiplicity of forms.
Regional economy is a branch of economic science that studies the territorial organization of production. It describes economic phenomena and processes associated with the market development of the economy of individual regions and their inclusion in a single economic space. Therefore, the goal of researchers is, on the one hand, to determine the common features inherent in the regions, on the other, to identify the specifics of each of them and, based on the results obtained, to develop a specific program for their further comprehensive development.
There are two main approaches to analyzing the regional economy, presented in Figure 69.

• Scheme 69

Basic approaches to regional economics

If the world economic and geopolitical approaches are actively used in such sciences as world economics and political science, then the territorial-reproductive approach occupies an important place in the national economy. In the conditions of the administrative and distribution system, based on the principles of priority of sectoral management, the regional economy was the weakest link. Evidence of this is the lack of complexity in the development of many regions of Russia, serious disproportions between various elements of the economic, social and natural systems. In connection with the formation of a multi-structured economy, new economic relations, and a radical change in the entire management system, the task arose of developing a new mechanism for managing the socio-economic development of the region. The creation of such a mechanism should be based on the theory of regional reproduction - on the study of the laws of social reproduction and their manifestation at the regional level. A reproductive approach to managing the socio-economic development of a region means the need to manage the relationships and dependencies between all elements of the regional system, ensuring the effective development of the regional economy and the growth of the well-being of the population.
The initial concept of the theory of regional reproduction is the concept "region". In the scientific literature and in everyday practice, concepts such as territorial system, regional economy, district, etc. are often used as synonyms for this term. However, their content has certain differences.
In an economy where a territorial unit is the object of management decisions, and these decisions themselves can be made at various levels of the management system - federal, regional (republic, region, territory), municipal, greater unity and rigor are needed when zoning the country and legislative consolidation of the status each level. It is no coincidence that the concept of region, common to all countries, has been developed within the framework of the European Economic Community. At the same time, a sign by which a particular territory can be represented as a relatively independent unit is its socio-economic unity with the entire national economy, i.e. the economic processes occurring on it must reflect certain patterns of social reproduction, formed under the influence of interrelated economic, social and natural factors. In this sense, the region appears as a territorially specialized part of the country’s national economy, characterized by the unity and integrity of the reproduction process. Thus, the words “region” and “territory” must be correlated as part and whole. The concepts of “district” and “region,” denoting part of a common territory, are in a broad sense synonymous and are used in relation to a certain limited part of space.
In the territorial system of Russia, several regional structures can be distinguished.

• A structure formed in accordance with economic zoning based on the territorial division of labor. The territories within this structure have a certain specialization in the unified process of social reproduction and their own specific characteristics. Territorial division of labor- this is an objective process of production specialization, isolation of economic regions, development of inter-district cooperation, exchange of products and services. It determines the basic patterns and forms of territorial organization of production.
• A structure that meets the criterion of national government structure and determines, in accordance with the Constitution of the country, a set of equal subjects of the Russian Federation.
• Regional structure, reflecting the territorial and administrative structure of each subject of the federation. It is determined by the specifics of population settlement and the complexity of centralized management of socio-economic processes over the vast territory of the state.

4. Areas of implementation of regional comprehensive programs. Their implementation causes serious shifts in the territorial proportions of the distribution of productive forces and the formation of special regions.
The named regional structures are shown in Diagram 70.
Regional structure of territorial
systems of Russia

The purpose of the functioning of the regional economy is to ensure a high level and quality of life for the population of the corresponding region. The regional economy should be based on the use three basic principles: firstly, careful consideration of the needs of the region’s population, the state and dynamics of emerging markets, the interests of the state and individual enterprises; secondly, creating conditions for maximum adaptation of the regional economic structure to internal and external factors; thirdly, the active implementation of regional interests.
It is advisable to highlight several functions of the regional economy, shown in Table 30.
Table 30.
Functions of the regional economy

12.2. Problems of region classification

Many approaches to the analysis of regional problems, the very concept of a region and its functions have determined the presence of a huge number of classifications of regions. There are no identical regions, there are long-developed and recently developed, there are central and peripheral, there are where the population is growing, and there are where it is falling, in some the population of older age groups predominates, in others the proportion of youth is high. Regions differ in the level of saturation with productive forces, social structure, the presence of raw materials and minerals, and distance from highly developed industrial, cultural and metropolitan centers. Regions can be classified according to the sources of the main specialization of production: agro-industrial, transport-industrial, marine-industrial, fishing, gas-industrial and others.
Most often, the classification of regions is based on the following criteria: level and pace of economic development, type of territorial structure, population density coefficient, population growth rate, nature and coefficient of production specialization, etc. Currently, due to the rapid entry of regions into the market, it is expressed a new classification criterion, namely, the market capacity of a territory. It is known that the volume of the market is inextricably linked with the degree of specialization of social labor, i.e. division of labor. The deeper the social division of labor, the stronger the cooperative ties between enterprises of any territory, the deeper the integration.
In economics, there are other approaches to classifying regions. For example, in the industrialized countries of the West it is customary to distinguish:

• depressed regions that have demonstrated relatively high rates of development in the past;
• stagnant regions, characterized by extremely low or “zero” rates of development;
• pioneer regions or regions of new development;
• microregions or primary economic regions;
• first order economic regions(or general), forming schemes for the regional macro-division of the country;
• program (planned) regions- regions covered by targeted development programs and the contours of which do not coincide in territory with the regions of this grid;
• unique regions related to the implementation of large construction projects (project regions) or characterized by an extremely low level of development (problem regions).

In modern Russia, due to the ongoing crisis, problem regions are of particular importance. Among them are usually distinguished:

• Underdeveloped: North Caucasus, Mari El, Altai, Tuva, Pskov and Astrakhan regions.
• Depressive: North-West, Central, Volga, West Siberian, East Siberian
• Border : Kaliningrad region, Primorsky Krai, North Caucasus.
• Environmentally hazardous : Murmansk region, Volga region, Ural, Kuzbass, coast of the Caspian Sea.

Due to the huge differences in natural-geographical, economic and other conditions in the regions of Russia, regional reproductive processes are unique, their effectiveness is a necessary condition for the comprehensive proportional development of the regional economy. The successful functioning of the regional economy largely depends on the capabilities and ability of regional administrations to make optimal decisions that take into account the interests of the center and regions. The level of development of regions is determined not by forms of ownership, but by methods of economic management, socio-economic relations, rational use of regional advantages, and the search for methods of combining federal and regional socio-economic interests that determine reasonable and effective regional economic policy.

12.3. Basic concepts, goals and objectives of regional policy

The region today is becoming the main subject of economic and political relations. It is very important in this situation to determine the specifics and priorities of the implementation of regional policy, taking into account the comparative advantages of a particular region, the characteristics of its historical and cultural development.
Regional (socio-economic) policy- the sphere of activity of the state in managing the political, economic, social and environmental development of the country in the spatial, regional aspect and reflecting both the relationship between the state and the regions, and the regions among themselves.
The main objects of regional policy include: production (primarily an enterprise), social (primarily a person as a representative of society, family, ethnic group), monetary and financial, etc. The subjects of regional management can act as specific representatives of state and regional authorities, as well as individual institutions, organizations and enterprises. Regional policy is closely related to regional development - changes in the internal socio-economic structure of the region.
Spatial differences in the provision of resources, the level of economic development and quality of life of the population, infrastructure, the ecological state of the environment, the severity of national and social conflicts are inherent in almost all countries, regardless of their position in the world. The goals and objectives of the regional policies of different states may not coincide and vary within different limits. However, there are common goals inherent in the regional policies of all countries. These include: the creation and strengthening of a single economic space and ensuring the economic, social, legal and organizational foundations of statehood; relative equalization of conditions for socio-economic development of regions; priority development of regions that are of particular strategic importance for the state; maximum use of natural, including resource, features of the regions; prevention of environmental pollution, greening of regional environmental management, comprehensive environmental protection of regions, etc. In other words, modern regional policy is trying to combine the interests of federalism and regionalism.
Federalism- the principle of division of political and economic powers between federal, subfederal and local authorities.
Regionalism- an approach to considering and solving economic, social, political and other problems from the perspective of the interests of the region.
As world practice shows, in conditions of a crisis economy, contradictions may arise between supporters of federalism and regionalism in regional politics, expressed through the “center-periphery” relationship (development “from above”) and through “intra-peripheral diffusion” (development “from below”). The trends of these interactions in modern Russia are shown in Diagram 71.

• Scheme 71.

The basis of Russia's regional policy is taking into account the specifics of regions in the all-Russian structure, transferring the main directions of economic reforms to the regional level, full support for local self-government and entrepreneurship, solving regional socio-economic problems, and rational use of natural resources. The main goal of regional policy in accordance with the presidential decree of June 3, 1996 “On the main provisions of regional policy in the Russian Federation” is to strengthen the statehood of the Russian Federation, improve federalism, create conditions for more effective and harmonious development of the regions, as well as ensuring the well-being of the country’s population .
To achieve this goal, regional policy is designed to fulfill the following main tasks:
preservation of the single domestic market of Russia, the unity of the infrastructure of energy systems, transport, communications, a common monetary system, general control over the export and import of products in the presence of freedom of economic, scientific, technical and other contractual relations between enterprises throughout Russia, free competition of producers different forms of ownership, free movement of goods and capital;
improving the well-being of the population in each region, gradually equalizing living standards, eliminating excessive contrasts in social conditions;
expansion of horizontal connections between regions, formation of a labor market and interregional regulation of employment, creation of capital markets through the development of a system of joint-stock companies, stock exchanges, commercial banks, etc.;
overcoming the general crisis and reforming the economy;
overcoming political instability, interethnic tension and inconsistency of the national-state structure of Russia, etc.
The implementation of regional policy is closely connected with solving problems of economic security.
Economic security of the region- this is a set of conditions and factors characterizing the current state of the economy, stability, sustainability and progressiveness of its development. In general terms, the structure of regional economic security is presented as a complex of factors designed to provide the prerequisites for its survival and the preservation of its regional structures in conditions of crisis and future development; protection of the vital interests of the country and its territories in relation to resource potential; creation of internal immunity and external protection from destabilizing influences; the competitiveness of regions in domestic and world markets and the stability of the country's financial position; conditions and lifestyle worthy of a civilized person and the possibility of sustainable and normal reproduction of social processes.
To analyze regional security, the literature proposes to use a system of indicators that define, in the form of quantitative indicators, the parameters of social reality, the failure of which leads to the transformation of potential threats of disruption of social balance into real ones. A distinctive feature of security indicators is their threshold value. Approaching their maximum permissible value indicates an increase in threats to the socio-economic stability of society, and exceeding the maximum or threshold values ​​indicates the entry of society into a zone of instability and social conflicts, that is, a real erosion of economic security. Let's consider the values ​​of some social indicators for Russia and Primorsky Krai (Table 31).
Table 31.

Thresholds and actual status
social indicators of economic security
in the Russian Federation and Primorsky Krai

The threshold values ​​of macroeconomic indicators presented in the table indicate that the situation in the country is of an emergency nature, and therefore a system of targeted government measures is needed to prevent social cataclysms. The situation in Primorye is even more acute, which proves the need for an effective regional policy. The state of regional security clearly shows that the implementation of tasks aimed at strengthening economic federalism cannot have a unified approach to carrying out economic reforms focused on average conditions. At the same time, the center of gravity should shift from general economic problems to the regional level, to an assessment of the rationality of the development of individual regions within the framework of the single economic space of the state. Therefore, in the regional policies of developed countries, the following set of subordinate measures is usually used: determining the boundaries of the region requiring support; developing a concept of specialization for a given region; coordination of the activities of economic entities that implement regional policy. Increasing the efficiency of state regulation of regional development requires the activation of all management functions, especially forecasting and planning.

12. 4 Forecasting regional development

Forecasting regional processes is the most important and integral part of a complex management process. The economic, social and environmental consequences of regional development, the complete use of labor, natural and material resources largely depend on it.
Forecasting- one of the forms of planning activity, consisting in the scientific prediction of the state of a forecast object at a certain point in the future, based either on an analysis of trends in the socio-economic development of the object for the corresponding period, or on the use of normative calculations.
The methodology of regional forecasting is based on the knowledge and use of those laws that operate not only at the level of the entire state socio-economic system, but also at the level of its components. The structure of the regional forecast includes both aspects of reproduction and various levels of aggregation of production and settlement in the region. The interconnection of the entire range of forecasts, taking into account the action of forward and backward connections, provides in the aggregate a generalized regional forecast, on the basis of which the concept and strategic plan of the region are formed. The development of regional forecasts is based on two universal approaches. The genetic approach substantiates the directions of development based on the achieved level of development of the productive forces of the region and emerging regional problems. With the normative-target approach, the development paths of the region are made dependent on pre-formulated goals.
Forecasting regional development is built in accordance with the general principles of forecasting and territorial forecasting. Among these principles, systematicity and consistency, variability and continuity, as well as verifiability (reliability and accuracy) of forecasts are of particular importance. Territorial forecasts are used in the development of schemes for economic and social development and financial condition of regions and their parts, development and location of industries, complex (general) schemes for the development and location of productive forces. Their necessity, especially for medium and long-term periods, is determined by the long-term and complex nature of territorial problems, and the great influence of macroeconomic policy on the formation of regional complexes and markets. The general structure of the regional forecast is shown in Figure 72.
Scheme 72.

Structure of a comprehensive forecast of regional development

Forecasting is used in areas where planning is impractical or impossible, but it can never replace planning.
Planning- a method of implementing the economic and organizational function of the state and economic policy. An important part of planning is programming. It is based on forecast developments and aims to draw up projects of targeted comprehensive programs. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 7, 1996 No. 1450 provided for the formation of the Center for Federal Programs for Regional Development under the Government of the Russian Federation. It is entrusted with the functions of the single customer of federal regional development programs. In addition, a Government Commission on state support for the development of regions of the Russian Federation was formed. The commission is designed to coordinate the activities of federal and regional authorities to stimulate investment activity in the regions, the efficient use of budget funds allocated to them, and the mobilization of the own resources of organizations of all forms of ownership to solve priority problems of economic and social development. The commission is preparing proposals to determine priority areas for regional development, improve monitoring of socio-economic development, and provide assistance in the implementation of targeted territorial development programs. Taking into account the proposals, the state can allocate regional quotas for loans for investment programs. This quota is determined by the sum of the region’s share of participation in production and in the country’s credit resources:
,
where Q1 is the volume of production in the region; Q0 is the volume of production in the country; Kri - quota for loans for investment programs; KVR - credit investments of banks in a given region; КВ0 - total credit investments of all credit banks; KVM - credit investments of local banks.
Regional target programming allows the federal center to actively influence problem regions and successfully solve both current and strategic tasks aimed at reducing differences in the level of socio-economic development of regions. However, existing programs in Russia still have significant shortcomings. The main ones are weak justification for problematic priorities, selection and effectiveness of programs, lack of proper inter-program coordination and coordination, insufficient elaboration of issues of territorial-economic complexity and integration, poor control over implementation, and instability of funding. These shortcomings lead to the impossibility of implementing federal programs, as happened with the “Federal Target Program for Economic and Social Development of the Far East and Transbaikalia for 1996-2005.”

Training tasks for topic 12

1. In recent years, programs for the integrated development of regions have begun to be developed in our country. Some authors propose to include developments in the forecast: firstly, Kondratieff waves (50-60 years), secondly, a long-term forecast (20-25 years), thirdly, a medium-term forecast (8-12 years), fourthly, short-term forecasts (3-4 years). Analyze what tasks are set and what goals are pursued at each of these stages?
2. The main directions of state economic policy are usually clearly classified as forms of either direct regulation or indirect. However, regional policy is considered to be a sphere of mixed regulation. Explain this situation.
3. Analyze the features of relations between the Far Eastern region and the center. Using examples from periodicals, reveal the content of centrifugal and centripetal tendencies. Which of these trends are becoming dominant in the modern period? What consequences might the development of these trends have for the Primorsky Territory and the country as a whole?
4. How do the main functional forms of regional policy differ: forecasting, programming, planning?
5. Analyze the content of the following passages. Determine which of the existing approaches to regional economics they characterize:
a) “Having a direct connection with the problem approach and being essentially its variety, it at the same time has independent significance. The central place in it is occupied by the study of the phenomena of interaction between subjects of social relations in geographical space”;
b) “It has important methodological significance in studying the operation of economic laws at the regional level. The relative isolation of the reproduction cycle means not only the isolation of the reproduction of a part of the total gross domestic product within the boundaries of the region, but also the isolation of the inherent contradictions of the region and their concentrated expressions - complex regional socio-economic problems.”
6. Determine the size of the regional quota for loans for investment programs, if in a certain region the production volume amounted to 42 billion rubles. The total volume of production in the country is 84 billion rubles. The total credit investments of commercial banks are equal to 2010 billion rubles, and the credit investments of banks in this region in the country's economy are 0.2 of this amount. Local banks have invested an amount equal to 180 billion rubles into the regional economy.

Test for topic 12

Identify all correct answers.
1. Regional economy is
a) science that studies the rational distribution of productive forces;
b) part of economic geography;
c) an analogue of sectoral economies; d) part of mesoeconomics.
2. The main reason for the low capacity of underdeveloped regions is
a) distance from the center of business activity of the country;
b) insufficient production and financial potential;
c) changes in the geopolitical position of the country;
d) formation of market structure and infrastructure
3. The regions of the North-Western, Central and other regions, industrially developed in Soviet times, became depressed, because
a) had long-distance production connections;
b) had a high concentration of VPA;
c) had a multifunctional economic structure that does not meet the needs of the market;
d) found themselves hostage to the developing system of non-payments.
4. The reasons for the increasing confrontation between the center and the regions in Russia are
a) lack of clear regulation of the rights and responsibilities of the center and regions in official documents;
b) division of ownership for each level of management;
c) violation of the principles of economic independence of regions and their relations with the federal budget;
d) shifting the implementation of social functions by the center to regional authorities without proper financial support.
5. Regional policy is
a) a priority area of ​​activity for local authorities;
b) a system of relationships between the state and the regions, as well as between the regions themselves;
c) policy of equalizing differences in the level of socio-economic development of regions;
d) a combination of the principles of federalism and regionalism.
6. Regional forecasting
a) is an integral part of indicative planning;
b) existed only in a centralized economy;
c) precedes regional target programming;
d) carried out only by order of regional authorities