Regional Inclusive Development: An Assessment of Russian Regions

Elena Rytova, Svetlana Gutman and Cristina Sousa
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Elena Rytova: Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade, Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University, 195251 St. Petersburg, Russia
Svetlana Gutman: Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade, Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University, 195251 St. Petersburg, Russia
Cristina Sousa: Iscte—Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, DINAMIA’CET-Iscte, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: The concept of inclusive development is gaining momentum in both the academic and policy-making arenas. There are a plethora of definitions and several indicators with which to monitor its progress at the national level. However, the regional level has been relatively overlooked in the analyses carried out by academics. This is particularly serious for large countries marked by deep regional disparities. The aim of this paper is to address this gap by proposing and applying a framework to assess inclusive development at the regional level. Drawing on a critical analysis of the concept and existing indexes, the paper proposes an index of Regional Inclusive Development and applies it to the regions of the Russian Federation. Moreover, it compares the suggested index with established indicators of regional socio-economic development, namely quality of life and gross product. The results support the idea that at the regional level, there is a significant correlation and interdependence between all dimensions of the sustainable development concept—environment, the economy, and society—and that inclusiveness should not be ignored or undervalued in the analysis of development processes. Furthermore, the results show significant differences in the positioning of the regions in terms of the inclusive development rankings as compared to their positions in the quality of life and gross product rankings. The results also reveal small interregional differences among Russian regions, which are unexpected given the size of the country.

Keywords: inclusive development; inclusive growth; region; Russia; Eurasia; regional inclusive development index; WEF inclusive development index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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