Analytical tools for identification of regional specializations: Russian and foreign experience. Part 1

In modern conditions, the Russian Federation entities are becoming more and more active participants in the transformation of the economic space, what is associated with the formation of long-term development directions and the choice of regional specializations, the search for a unique geostrategic status, and the creation of centers of economic growth. Uncertainty in understanding and new accents regarding the specializations of Russian territories (introduced by the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation), and the need to develop methodological approaches and regulatory measures make it expedient to systematize methodological principles, analyze substantive differences and expand analytical tools for objective assessments of promising regional specializations. The authors proposed a generalization of the existing categorical apparatus, which allows, taking into account the differentiation of the Russian economic space, to form for each type of territories (mineral, geostrategic, agro-industrial, industrial, etc.), with consideration to the geographical uniqueness of the Russian Federation subjects, their development guidelines, implementation mechanisms, and monitoring systems. The variety of the determinants of regional (current/ prospective/ sectoral/ production/ effective/ economic/ smart) specializations are specified according to different criteria, as well as the factors of their differences, functionality and place in the economic context are highlighted. On the basis of Russian and foreign publications, an analysis of the techniques and methods of verification of different target options for assessing specializations is carried out. In the first part of the article, theoretical differences and analytical tools for identifying regional specializations are systematized from the standpoint of research objectives, which allows further concretization of the assessment methods.