Regional specificity of the relationships of household consumption and economic development in modern Russia

The article discusses the dependence of households’ consumer spending on the level of economic development in the regions of the country. The heterogeneity of regional development in Russia predetermined the necessity of cluster analysis applyment using variables reflecting the level of socio-economic development, the standard of living of the population and the level of income differentiation in the region. The hypothesis was tested on a cluster that included the Sverdlovsk region. Based on quarterly data from microeconomic surveys of household budgets, the authors obtained assessment of marginal propensities of consumption for all decile groups of each region included in the selected cluster. Authors tested the hypothesis of decreasing in the propensity of consumption with increasing household income due to increase in GRP. Because of modeling dependence of the propensity of consumption on the income level, the hypothesis was confirmed for the first seven decile groups. In addition, authors identified economic parameters, which predetermine regional patterns in the dynamics of propensity of consumption and factors, which affected the preferred scenarios of consumer behavior of households at the regional level. The authors propose several approaches, the implementation of which will lead to a smoothing of regional disproportions in the living standards of the population of the regions of Russia and will contribute to an increase in personal savings.