Methodological assessment tools of spatial interactions

At present, the effective and rational use of the spatial factor is one of the conditions for economic growth and development of territories. The article is devoted to the assessment of spatial interactions and systematization of the existing methodological tools for this purpose. In the course of the study, it is determined that spatial interactions are a process of movement between the “source” and the “receiver” of various objects (goods, people, transport, information, etc.). The conditions for the emergence and development of interactions in the economic space are highlighted. Based on foreign and domestic works on the problems of the research, two groups of methods for assessing spatial interactions (heuristic and economic-mathematical) are identified and characterized. The basic directions and mandatory stages of spatial interaction assessment, despite the chosen tools, are highlighted. It is determined that the coordinated use of modern tools of spatial econometrics, coupled with heuristic methods, will contribute to obtaining the most adequate and objective results. The results obtained contribute to the development of ideas about the spatial economy and can be used in the implementation of government policies in the field of spatial and regional development, as well as by researchers and other stakeholders in the assessment of spatial interactions. In the next stages of the work, it is planned to analyze the spatial interactions of Russian regions using the tools of modern spatial econometrics.