Regional disparities in Russia: Dynamics in the post-Soviet period

Abstract

Interregional disparities in the level of socio-economic development of Russia in 1995-2009 remain high. The authors identified the main tendencies of dynamics during the periods of economic growth and economic crisis: the disparities were growing till 2005, and after there was a tendency to reduce. These trends have been identified on the basis of an analysis of regional coefficient of asymmetry on key per-capita indicators (GDP, investment in fixed capital, etc.), indicators of spatial concentration and deviations from the average in Russia (volume of GDP, per capita GDP and investments) on the level of federal districts and regions. The main reasons of thes dynamics were economic crisis, the governmental anti-crisis measures and measures of social support. Comparison of level of interregional disproportions in Russia and abroad resulted that differentiation of levels of socio-economic development at the federal level is comparable to the differences in EU-countries, but at the level of regions - with countries of the world