A multicriteria assessment methodology for potential priorities of regional structural policy in the epoch of new industrialization

Introduction. Regional economic realities increasingly diverge from national trends in the contemporary global landscape. This amplifies the significance of regional development and structural policy. Effective stewardship of economic resources and the definition of regional policy priorities in the era of new industrialization call for a comprehensive approach underpinned by detailed analysis. Purpose. This study aims to develop and implement a multi-criteria methodology to assess potential priorities of regional structural policy in the epoch of new industrialization. Materials and Methods. The research refers to the 2016–2023 official statistical data from the Federal State Statistics Service and its Samara branch. The current structure of Samara’s economy was compared with the target model complied with the requirements of new industrialization. This helped the authors develop a methodology comprising three stages: 1) BCG matrix analysis to categorize industries by their growth rates (2016–2023) and contribution to the gross regional product; 2) grouping of industrial products by their technological processing stages (low, medium, high) under the approach of the Russian Export Center; and 3) a multi-criteria evaluation of some indicators characterizing the economic activities of Samara region and categorized into economic, resource-infrastructural, and innovation-technological groups. Results. The BCG analysis revealed that mining and manufacturing are the key sectors. Samara region was shown to have the following structural imbalances: dominance of the raw materials sector, low processing depth, and the concentration of investment in traditional industries coupled with insufficient funding for high-tech sectors. The multi-criteria assessment highlighted leading sectors: manufacturing, trade, transport, mining, and communications. Conclusions. The study concludes that structural policy should be reframed toward technological modernization, institutional support for innovation, and infrastructural synchronization. The proposed methodology facilitates the diagnosis of imbalances and ranks policy instruments, which can inform the development of regional development strategies in the context of new industrialization.