Assessment of interregional economic integration based on the integral indicator of the level of socio-economic development

Abstract

To search for and identify rational and effective solutions on deepening interregional cooperation, an unbiased assessment of the existing level, potential, and restrictions of the process of interregional integration is required. For assessing the state and prospects of development of interregional economic integration (along with other its types: production and technological, information and communication etc.), the analysis of the state and development trends of interregional commodity exchange as a carrier of integrational and economic functions is preferential. Methods and tools of investigating the processes of interregional economic integration, analysis and assessment of its existent level, used for these purposes in practice, do not always adequately reflect real conditions of functioning of economically integrated regions. Therefore, the need for developing well-known and working-out new approaches and methods for investigating the processes of interregional integration, assessment of tools and methods of managerial decision making, in order to enhance it and improve efficiency, prove the relevance of the chosen subject of investigation. To assess the degree of interregional interaction of the southern regions of Russia, a proprietary methodology is proposed.