Analytical tools for identification of regional specializations: Russian and foreign experience. Part 2

The request for new strategic guidelines in the development of regions in the context of the instability of foreign economy, digitalization and the change of the technological paradigms, in the modern conditions, is of not only theoretical interest, but to a greater extent of an applied one as well. Foresight analysis and the search for promising fields of development adapted to the conditions of the differentiation of economic space in Russia are related to the necessity of an objective evaluation of the situations in regions, of determining the factors of economic growth, and new relevant mechanisms and tools of government policy. This article continues to analyze Russian and foreign publications in the context of the evolution of the theory of economic specializations of regions; thus, the changes in the methodological approaches to studying of this field. This paper systematizes the techniques of diagnosing the status and the shifts in the specializations of territorial areals in the context of the influence of the factors and their development: effectiveness and innovativeness of the sector-related activity, market and export competitiveness of production, and spatial characteristics explained by the specifics of the localization and concentration of enterprises in a region. A method of express evaluation of economic specializations has been tested for the purpose of prompt monitoring and identification of the support zones, including with the interest to correcting the state programs being fulfilled. Integral indices have been calculated for economic specializations of the profile type of activity of four regions with the initially similar economy structure (Lipetsk, Vologda, Chelyabinsk regions, and Krasnoyarsk Territory), as well as a comparative analysis of the changes in the status of mono-sector has been performed.