The Role of Innovation in the Economic Development of the Eastern Regions of the Russian Federation: Economic and Statistical Analysis

Abstract

   The article evaluates an innovative component of economic growth in the eastern regions of the Russian Federation using statistical analysis methods. The relevance of the matter under consideration is increasing dramatically due to the introduction of economic sanctions against Russia, which significantly restrict the import of high-tech and innovative products into our country. Based on Rosstat data for 2016–2019, a comparative analysis of the development of several areas of innovation and economic activity in the regions of the Russian Federation as part of the Far East Federal District (Far East – FE) and the Baikal Region (BR) was carried out. According to the authors, currently, in the regions under consideration, there is an imbalance in the individual components of the innovation sphere, significant heterogeneity, and uneven development of innovation and technological processes in general. The effectiveness of innovation activity in the regions under review in comparison with the indicators for Russia as a whole is low. The revealed multidirectional dynamics of innovation activity indicators in the regions and the lag of most of them from the average Russian level are connected, in the authors’ opinion, with the problems of organizational and financial support of innovation activity and insufficient budget funding allocated to stimulate it. Innovations in the FE and the BR regions were carried out mainly at the expense of the organizations' own funds. In the structure of their costs, most of the funds were allocated for the purchase of machinery and equipment, in 2019 the share of research and development costs significantly increased. The export of innovative products was carried out in less than half of the considered group of regions. The intensity of exports of innovative products in the economy as a whole, as well as in the field of industrial production, exceeds the national level and accounts for about half or more of the total export volume. In terms of the effectiveness of innovation activity among the analyzed regions, the Khabarovsk Territory is the undisputed leader, and among the outsiders are the Magadan Region and the Kamchatka Territory in 2016, the Trans-Baikal Territory in 2019. In most regions, there is an increase in the raw materials orientation of economic systems, and a decrease in the share of the manufacturing sector in the gross regional product (GRP). The results of the analysis of the role of innovation activity in the economic development of the eastern regions of the country and interregional comparative statistics, according to the authors, can be used in the development of updated and upgraded programs for the socio-economic development of the subjects of the FE and the BR of the Russian Federation, concerning present-day foreign policy and foreign economic realities.