Сluster-based econometric analysis to study the heterogeneity of Russian regions

Abstract

Differences in economic development between regions remain one of the most acute and debatable problems. The paper focuses on developing the tools for clustering the subjects of the Russian Federation according to their transport economic indicators in the railway industry, determining the transport economic potential of regions, and assessing the impact of specific regional factors behind this potential. Methodologically, the research relies on regional and spatial economics, and the theory of industrial markets. At the first stage, the authors cluster regions on the basis of the established comprehensive characteristics, and at the second stage, build explanatory multinomial logistic regressions for the objective function (transport economic potential) for each cluster. The objective function is the integral level of development of regions in a cluster, represented by a set of transport economic indicators. The most significant factors explaining the transport economic potential of a cluster are a level of urbanisation, market potential, and territory’s saturation with capital. The factors of average wages in a region, number of the employed in the processing industry, and the level of urbanisation reduce the probability of regions’ appearing in the clusters with low and medium transport economic potential. Of special interest is the fact that investment per person in the fixed assets decrease the probability of regions’ joining the cluster with low potential and are insignificant for the cluster with medium transport economic potential. The research findings favour a more complete account of the territorial specifics and socioeconomic situation in the regions while improving their systems of rail transport.

Keywords

• region
• regional development
• territorial heterogeneity
• cluster analysis
• regression analysis
• transport and economic potential
• railway industry