Defining sectoral priorities of the region's structural transformation by searching for promising economic specializations

Global crises and foreign trade restrictions imposed on the Russian economy slow down its growth, affecting export-oriented regions to a great extent. Retaliatory economic measures, including those aimed to promote structural transformation of the economy, require its key directions to be defined. We attempt to determine priorities of the structural transformation of the Vologda Oblast economy by searching for promising types of economic activity. For this purpose, we study theoretical foundations of the search for priorities of sectoral development, elaborate and test a methodological approach to the search for promising branches of regional economic specialization, and identify areas of development for potential growth points. Using the materials of the Vologda Oblast, we make a list of activities whose development is promising from the point of view of long-term economic growth and identify potential opportunities for their introduction into the region's economy. Scientific novelty of our work consists in the development and testing of our own tools for finding priorities for the structural transformation of the regional economy based on identifying promising economic specializations. The information base includes works of Russian and foreign researchers in the field of industrial and spatial development, data from state statistics, the Federal Institute of Industrial Property, scientific electronic library eLIBRARY. ru and regional input-output tables for the Vologda Oblast. The findings of the work can be used in the management of the region's sectoral and spatial development and in research on the issues under consideration.