The role of small business in the socio-economic development of Russian regions: problems and trends

In the context of the unstable socio-economic situation in the country, the authorities and management, as well as the scientific community, are faced with a very specific task, which is to find ways to diversify the economy in order to reduce the consequences of the impact of negative factors. One of these areas is to promote small business. However, the actual conditions do not allow all the possibilities of this economic sector to be implemented. In this regard, the goal of the present study is to make a theoretical and practical study of the role of small businesses in the socio-economic development of Russian regions and of the areas of improvement of its functioning. The authors describe in detail thetheoretical substantiation of the importance of small business for the socio-economic development of territories, study the existing methodological approaches to assessing its role, develop and test their own technique of classifying the constituent entities of the Russian Federation according to the contribution of small business to their development for 2009-2016, interpret the results obtained; on this basis it is concluded that the contribution of small business to the economy in the Russian Federation is high, which determines its significant role in the social sphere and the movement of investment resources; the authors also propose a system of measures to enhance the development of small business, depending on its place in the socio-economic development of the constituent entity. As a measure to increase the contribution of small businesses to the socio-economic development of the territories, the authors propose to organize the work in three directions: economic potential should be developed through the creation of a system of qualitative growth and development of small businesses, building a dialogue between government and business to identify its specific problems and reduce administrative barriers; social potential should be developed by improving the efficiency of the use of existing entrepreneurial potential and entrepreneurial abilities of the population; investment potential should be based on credit support for the development of small businesses and expansion of investment tools. The materials of the article can be used by researchers, postgraduates and students, as well as all those interested in the development of small business and regional economy.