Method to evaluate social development of regions

The article deals with the important problem of regional economic systems functioning in the conditions of transforming socio-economic relations and emerging activity forms, such as creation of social innovations and their implementation in the form of social entrepreneurship. The paper notes that the approach to social development associated with social innovation is one of the promising. The measures to develop social innovation have been widely applied in the social policy of many countries and considered as effective. Nowadays such ideas are being introduced into Russian practice. The development of social economy as a whole is very important, as it is the only possible response to growing problems of a society. The significant role in these processes is played by socio-economic institutions, their readiness for generation, and transplantation of advanced mechanisms of social transformation. The indicators published by reputable international organizations are most often used as a road map for social development. The social progress index is one of the key; it includes indicators of health, education, and environmental safety. It provides an opportunity to assess the current level, identify weaknesses, and set the direction for innovation transformations. The article discusses features of social progress index development in relation to Russian regions. The authors propose an approach that offers an adequate replacement of the international index indicators determined by the expert method, by the domestic statistical data, which better describe social development of Russian regions. The methodical tools study is carried out on the example of the Ural Federal District regions.