Spatial aspects of labour productivity dynamics in Russia

The abolition of the administrative regulation of economic activity in Russia has triggered the processes of its territorial concentration, leading to the polarization of regions in terms of economic activity. From the theoretical point of view, the territorial concentration of production contributes to an increase in labor productivity. At the same time, the concentration of economic activity leads not only to the growth of productivity in regions of concentration of production, but also influences neighboring territories.

The main purpose of this article is to study the dynamics of labor productivity in the regions of the Russian Federation in connection with the ongoing processes of concentration of economic activity, as well as the role of spatial external effects in the dynamics of regional indicators of productivity. The paper uses statistical methods of analysis and an approach to the study of inequality and dynamics of regional distribution based on the use of Markov chains.

Conclusions are drawn about the faster growth of labor productivity in regions of concentration of economic activity, about the polarization of regions by the level of labor productivity, and about spatial external effects generated by regional economies with high productivity. The character of these external effects depends on the degree of regional differences. Spatial effects are negative when regional differences are significant, while positive effects manifest when differentiation of regional economies in terms of labor productivity is low.

1. Kondrat'ev V. B., Kurenkov Yu. V. Problemy povysheniya effektivnosti rossiyskoy ekonomiki [The problems of increasing the efficiency of the Russian economy]. Mirovaya ekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [World Economy and International Relations], 2008, № 12, p. 34–43.

2. (In Russ.)

3. Kotova L. Evolyutsiya trudovykh otnosheniy i proizvoditel'nost' truda v poreformennoy Rossii [Evolution of labour relations and labor productivity in the post-reform Russia]. Federalizm [Federalizm], 2016, № 2, p. 69–80. (In Russ.)

4. Lavrovskij B. L. Tendencii proizvoditel'nosti v mire i Rossii [Russian and world trends in productivity] // Problemy prognozirovanija [Studies on Russian Economic Development], 2015, № 3, p. 104–113. (In Russ.)

5. Lavrovskij B. L., Murzov I. A. Bol'shaja Sibir': tendencii proizvoditel'nosti truda [Workforce Productivity in Siberian Regions]. Region: ekonomika i sociologija [Region: Economics and Sociology], 2014, № 4, p. 103–117. (In Russ.)

6. Lavrovskij B. L., Pozdnjakova I. V. Samoe vazhnoe, samoe glavnoe dlja pobedy (Rossija v sisteme mirovyh trendov proizvoditel'nosti) [The most important, the most important thing for victory (Russia in the system of world performance trends)]. ECO [ECO], 2014, № 4, p. 83–95. (In Russ.)

7. Zaytsev A. Regional'naya diagnostika i otraslevoy analiz proizvoditel'nosti truda [Regional diagnostics and branch analysis of labor productivity]. Federalizm [Federalizm], 2013, № 1 (69), p. 54–77. (In Russ.)

8. Miheeva N. N. Regional'nye aspekty issledovanija dinamiki proizvoditel'nosti truda [Labour Productivity Dynamics: Regional Aspects]. Region: ekonomika i sociologija [Region: Economics and Sociology], 2014, № 1, p. 6–28. (In Russ.)

9. Miheeva N. N. Sravnitel'nyj analiz proizvoditel'nosti truda v rossijskih regionah [Workforce Productivity in Russian Regions: Comparative Analysis ]. Region: ekonomika i sociologija [Region: Economics and Sociology], 2015, № 2, p. 86–112. (In Russ.)

10. Kolomak E. A. Neravnomernoe prostranstvennoe razvitie v Rossii: ob"yasneniya novoy ekonomicheskoy geografii [Uneven Spatial Development in Russia: Explanations of New Economic Geography]. Voprosy ekonomiki [Voprosy Ekonomiki], 2013, № 2, p. 132–150. (In Russ.)

11. Rastvorceva S. N., Ternovskij D. S. Faktory koncentracii jekonomicheskoj aktivnosti v regionah Rossii [Drivers of Concentration of Economic Activity in Russia’s Regions] Ekonomicheskie i social'nye peremeny: fakty, tendencii, prognoz [Economic and social changes: facts, trends, forcast], 2016, № 2, p. 153–170. (In Russ.)

12. Bufetova A. N. Prostranstvennye aspekty kontsentratsii ekonomicheskoy aktivnosti v Rossii [Spatial aspects of economic activity concentration in Russia]. Prostranstvennaya ekonomika [Spatial Economics], 2016, № 3, p. 38–56. (In Russ.)

13. Lavrovskij B. L., Shil'cin E. A. Rossijskie regiony: sblizhenie ili rassloenie? [Russian regions: leveling or stratification?]. Ekonomika i matematicheskie metody [Economics and Mathematical Methods], 2009, Т. 45, № 2, p. 31–36. (In Russ.)

14. Quah D. Empirical cross-section dynamics in economic growth. European Economic Review, 1993, vol. 37, no. 2–3, p. 426–434.

15. Bickenbach F., Bode E. Evaluating the Markov Property in Studies of Economic Convergence. International Regional Science Review, 2003, vol. 26, no. 3, p. 363–392.

16. Rey S. J. Spatial Empirics for Economic Growth and Convergence. Geographical Analysis, 2001, vol. 33, no. 3, p. 195–290.