Assessment of the competitiveness of regions with agricultural specialization (for instance, the regions of the southern federal district)

Issue № 12, 2018, article № 9, pages 70-81

Section: Agricultural policy and state regulation of the agro-industrial complex

Language: Russian

Original language title: ОЦЕНКА КОНКУРЕНТОСПОСОБНОСТИ РЕГИОНОВ С СЕЛЬСКОХОЗЯЙСТВЕННОЙ СПЕЦИАЛИЗАЦИЕЙ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ ЮЖНОГО ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОГО ОКРУГА)

Keywords: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, INTEGRAL INDEX OF REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS, AGRICULTURE, SPECIALIZATION, IMPORTSUBSTITUTION

Abstract: The article substantiates that decisionmaking on rendering state support to regions should be carried outon the basis of an analysis of the dynamics of competitiveness of territories. A method for calculating the integral index of competitiveness of regions is proposed, including the selection justified and the weight ofpotentials characterizing agricultural specialization determined. An assessment of the competitiveness dynamics of the regions of theSouthern Federal District in 2008-2016 is given, showing that the prospects for their sustainable development arelargely determined by the potential for realizing domestic sources of economic growth, which is the agricultural complex of the regions. Based on the calculations, a rating of the regions of the Southern Federal District was compiled interms of the integral competitiveness indicator. Three groups of regions have been identified in terms of the specificityof the realization of the potential of the regional agricultural complex: food export centers; growth centers for agri-cultural production; centers of domestic demand. For each group of territories, priority areas of a differentiated regional policy have been developed, ensuring the transformation of regions with agricultural specialization into centers of economic growth, making a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the Southern Feder-al District and the Russian Federation. The results of the study can be used in developing strategies for the spatialdevelopment of Russia and its subjects, as well as government programs aimed at ensuring and improving the competitiveness of regions with agricultural specialization.

Authors: Ryzhakova Alla Vladimirovna, Gagarina Galina IUrevna, CHainikova Liliia Nikolaevna, Sorokina Natalia IUrevna