A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS:  EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT OF ITS DETERMINANTS IN THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC

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Vladimir V. Dyadik1, Alina S. Kalugina2

1, 2Luzin Institute for Economic Studies of the Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Apatity, Russia

1v.dyadik@ksc.ru, ORCID 0000-0001-6004-9533

2a.kalugina@ksc.ru

 

Abstract. This study aims to substantiate a new theoretical and methodological approach to defining regional competitiveness. The approach is based on the criterion of agency, is compatible with existing methodological frameworks, draws on official regional statistical data, treats competitiveness as an object of strategic management, and focuses on promoting balanced regional development. The theoretical component of the study employs general research methods of analysis and synthesis, which are used to refine the concept of regional competitiveness and substantiate the agency criterion as a logical basis for distinguishing between indicators that characterize competitiveness and factors that shape it. The research hypothesis is empirically tested using economic and statistical methods, primarily time-series regression analysis. The study draws on official regional statistics covering an extended observation period for ten regions and ten socioeconomic indicators characterizing living conditions and the functioning of regional socioeconomic systems. The study proposes a model describing the logic of regional competitiveness that, based on the agency criterion, distinguishes between indicators reflecting the competitive choices of the population and businesses and factors shaping the region’s competitiveness potential. Statistical analysis demonstrates that the effects of socioeconomic factors on regional competitiveness are stochastic and spatially heterogeneous. Both statistically significant and moderate relationships are identified across the regions examined. The findings confirm the potential of migration processes as an empirical indicator of the population’s competitive choices regarding a region and, consequently, as an important indicator of regional competitiveness. The proposed methodological approach is open-ended, allows for the expansion of the set of factors considered, and can be used to further develop tools for analyzing and strategically managing regional development.

Keywords: regional economic development, spatial economics, regional competitiveness, strategizing, regional socioeconomic differentiation, Russian Arctic

Acknowledgments: The study was conducted at Luzin Institute for Economic Studies of the Kola Science Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences as part of Project FMEZ-202, “Strategic Directions of Regional Social Policy in the Russian Arctic within the New Paradigm of National Development.”

For citation: Dyadik V. V., Kalugina A. S. A new perspective on regional competitiveness: Empirical assessment of its determinants in the Russian Arctic. Sever i rynok: formirovanie ekonomicheskogo poryadka [The North and the Market: Forming the Economic Order], 2026, no. 3, pp. 249–263. doi:10.37614/2220-802X.3.2026.93.017.

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