Creative economy of the Arctic regions of Russia: diagnosis of structural imbalances and directions of regional policy

The relevance of the study is due to the imbalance between the components of the creative economy in the Arctic regions of the Russian Federation: cultural and socio-economic prerequisites, as well as support institutions often do not correspond to the real scale of the creative industries recorded by statistics. Integrated assessments reflect the overall level of development, while not disclosing the configuration of the imbalance. The purpose of the article is to diagnose the structural imbalances of the creative economy in the Arctic regions of Russia on the basis of comparable statistical data and to substantiate the differentiated directions of regional policy. The materials of the study were the normalized regional indicators of eight Arctic subjects of the Russian Federation from the Rating of Creative Regions of Russia as well as existing normative and policy instruments. The methodology was based on the comparison of four components of the regional profile and imbalances between them: “support infrastructure – economy”, “cultural environment – economy”, “socio-economic conditions – economy”, as well as the calculation of the amplitude of structural asymmetry. A comparative analysis of structural imbalances was based on a comparison of the normalized components of RRICI for the eight Arctic regions of Russia. It was revealed that the average value of the block “economy of creative industries” is noticeably lower than similar indicators for the blocks “support infrastructure” and “cultural environment”. On the basis of the data obtained, the types of regional profiles are distinguished, which differ in the nature of the restrictions that hinder the economic realization of the creative potential of the regions. The results show that the differences between the Arctic regions of the Russian Federation are manifested not only in the general level of development of the region, but also in the specific configuration of structural imbalances. The practical significance of the study lies in the application of the proposed diagnostics for the selection of targeted instruments of regional policy for the Arctic regions of the Russian Federation. A promising direction for further research is the formation of panel estimates as comparable regional statistics on the development of creative industries in the Arctic regions of Russia accumulate.

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