Structural changes in the economy of the Russian Northwest: spatial dimension

Abstract

This paper identifies and explains the trends in the economic transformations in the Russian Northwest (NWFD). It studies the changes in the structure of the gross regional product (GRP) and economic specialization of the NWFD regions. The authors suggest approaches to managing structural changes in the economies of the NWFD regions. The authors propose a new method for the identification of the regional economic specialization on the basis of the reginal economy sectoral development rate. The article describes a methodology for identifying the development of the regional economic sectors using the "gross value added index" calculated per capita and per sector against the national average. The article presents the analysis of the structural changes in the NWFD gross regional product. The proposed gross value added index helps to identify the upward and downward trends in each sector compared to the national average. Based on this analysis, the authors describe the nature of changes in the NWFD sectoral specialisation, which correlated with the distance to large economic centres - Moscow and St. Petersburg. The authors prove that the economic development of the Northwest macroregion follows the "core-periphery" pattern. The regional economy structure depends on the position of a given region in relation to the core. Concrete approaches to managing structural changes in the economies of periphery regions are proposed.