Analysis of the efficiency of approaches to the clustering of the regional economy on the example of the regions of the Southern federal district

The article analyzes approaches to the implementation of cluster policy in the regions of the Southern Federal District. In recent years, all regions have declared a tendency to clustering in order to increase the competitiveness of regions both within the country and in international markets. However, the potential of individual regions for clustering varies. One can put forward a hypothesis that regions in geographic proximity will have similar potential. In this regard, it is necessary to consider the specifics of the concentration of resources, as well as approaches to implementing cluster initiatives and to identify common features of clustering regional economies within one federal district. The article examines approaches to the implementation of cluster policy in the regions of the Southern Federal District and identifies the most effective of them, identifies regions with the greatest potential for clustering. Analyzing the data obtained in the course of the research, the authors concluded that, having sufficient potential for creating synergistic entities, the regions are not always able to implement the targets, which may be due to the insufficient development or lack of a functioning platform for interaction between interested actors...