Drivers of entrepreneurship development in Russia's regions: assessment and the role of spatial interrelations

The study examines for the first time the influence of the spatial interaction effects of socioeconomic factors on the entrepreneurship development in the regions. This effect was assessed by constructing a set of spatial models on panel data for 2011-2019. The need to take into account spatial interaction is due to the calculated Moran’s index, as well as the statistical significance of the spatial autoregressive coefficient. In the work, we have built the following models: spatial lag model, spatial error model, spatial lag and spatial error model, Durbin model, and panel regression. The purpose of the simulation is to assess the role of the spatial factor in the entrepreneurship development in Russia’s regions. As a result, we have proposed a system of indicators of entrepreneurial activity, selected the most informative indicators, determined the influence of factors of entrepreneurial activity taking into account and without a spatial lag of dependent and independent variables, and evaluated spatial effects (direct, indirect, general). The article shows that the influence of wages and the unemployment rate on the change in entrepreneurial activity is much greater if spatial interactions are taken into account. The scientific novelty of the research lies in determining the degree and direction of the influence of spatial effects that have an impact on entrepreneurial activity and its factors. The results confirm the importance of using not only regional characteristics, but also spatial and temporal dependencies in the analysis of entrepreneurial activity. We expect that the research results will provide practical information to authorities and administrations seeking to promote the entrepreneurship development at the national level.