DIGITALIZATION OF ECONOMY AND LIVING STANDARDS OF POPULATION IN RUSSIAN REGIONS

Nadezda Vasilievna SEDOVA

Dr. Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Russia

nadseva@mail.ru

Lidia Sergeevna ARKHIPOVA

Ph.D. Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Russia

Arkhipova.LS@rea.ru

Darya Mikhailovna MELNIKOVA

Ph.D. Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Russia

Melnikova.D@rea.ru

Irina Fedorovna ALESHINA

Ph.D. Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Russia

Aleshina.IF@rea.ru

Abstract

The study of territorial inequality in the modern economic space corroborates the relevance of the strategic goals of enhancing the living standards of the population amid digitalization of the economy. Despite the regional disparities in the social and economic development of the Russian regions, favorable factors for the responsiveness to digitalization in various economic and social spheres formed. They include the high quality of human capital, a relatively sufficient level of Internet access among population, modern infrastructure in a significant number of the regions, increased organizational costs for the introduction and use of digital technologies, etc. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to assess the indicators of digitalization in the regions, their territorial disparities and model the indicators of living standards as well as the use of information and communication technologies by the population and in organizations. The research features a typology of regions according to the main indicators of digitalization with the identification of the top regions, where capital territorial entities of the Russian Federation and the northern regions with a high household income, an economy dominated either by processing and knowledge-intensive industries, or with a raw-material focus, stand out. It has been noted that over the past fifteen years, interregional differentiation by digitalization indicators has been decreasing, however, problems persist in the eastern remote and underdeveloped regions in the south of the country. The research is of practical value in terms of economic and mathematical modeling of digitalization and internetization process in relation to living standards of the population.

Keywords: digitalization, region (RF subject), indicators, human capital, internetization, modeling

JEL classification: R23, J610

 pp. 47-65

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DOES EUROPEAN UNION MEMBERSHIP RESULT IN QUALITY-OF-LIFE CONVERGENCE?

Joel I. DEICHMANN*¹

Professor of Global Studies

jdeichmann@bentley.edu

Dominique HAUGHTON¹

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

dhaughton@bentley.edu

Mingfei LI¹

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

mli@bentley.edu

Heyao WANG¹

Graduate Research Assistant

wang_heya@bentley.edu

*Corresponding Author

¹Members of the Data Analytic Research Team (DART)

Bentley University Waltham, MA 02452 USA

Abstract

This paper employs European Quality-of-life Survey (EQLS) responses from 2003, 2008, 2012, and 2016 to examine whether European Union (EU) enlargement helps meet the objectives of improved living standards and overall quality-of-life across the continent. The data set includes responses to forty questions across nine dimensions for all twenty-eight pre-Brexit EU member states, along with eight non-member states. Insights are captured through the systematic comparison of self-reported perceptions pooled at the country level before and after accession, as well as between member states and non-member states. Special attention is paid to the eleven post-communist countries that joined the EU in 2004, 2007, and 2013, which together represent the addition of one hundred million EU citizens. These include Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia. Based upon these findings, the paper concludes with speculation upon popular support for further enlargement in the wake of the 2007-08 Global Financial Crisis, the 2016-2020 Brexit process, and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: European Union, Central and Eastern Europe, economic integration, European convergence

JEL classification: O10, O47, P20, P48, R11

 pp. 31-46

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DETECTING CITY-DIPOLES IN GREECE BASED ON INTERCITY COMMUTING

Dimitrios TSIOTAS

Assistant Professor, Department of Regional and Economic Development, School of Applied Economic and Social Sciences, Agricultural University of Athens, Amfissa 33100, Greece

tsiotas@aua.gr

Nikolaos AXELIS

Airport Infrastructure Engineer, HAF, – Researcher, Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Volos, 38334, Greece

nik.axelis@gmail.com

Serafeim POLYZOS

Professor, Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Volos, 38334, Greece

spolyzos@uth.gr

Abstract

According to growth poles theory, the areas lacking critical sizes to develop polycentric structures are restricted to the development of structures of special configuration. In Greece, the development of growth poles is restricted to the emergence of “urban dipoles” and “tripoles”, which are often used in the literature within a not well defined context. Based on a recently introduced method, this paper quantitatively detects functional dipoles in Greece by discriminating zones in the distribution of commuting, the number of daily movements for occupational purposes outside the city of residence. The analysis is implemented at three different levels of geographical scale, the intercity, an adjusted intercity (without the metropolitan regions), and the interregional scale. The analysis detects the functional dipoles per geographical scale and reveals the distance levels where polycentric structures emerge in the setting of commuting in Greece. Overall, this examines the applicability of a new dipoles detection method and paper provides insights into the conceptualization of hierarchy in urban structures, into the context of regional science and regional economics.

Keywords: Growth poles, urban structures, city networks, urban hierarchy, city distribution

JEL classification: R12, R40, R58

pp. 11-30

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