Content №1 от 2020
Information and Communication Technology in Russia: Trends and Regional Development Determinants
Information and communication technologies (ICT) are changing the structure of the entire economy by creating new markets and production techniques. The development of the ICT industry is an overriding economic policy priority in many countries, including the Russian Federation. The article explores the state of ICT in Russia and its regions and assesses regional determinants that affect employment dynamics in this sector, from an empirical standpoint. Under the current situation in Russia, the ICT contribution to the economy (2.6% of added value and 1.6% of employees) is much less than that in highly developed countries. The industry is unevenly distributed in terms of space, and its dynamics across various regions also differ. The Russian ICT market is highly and increasingly concentrated. The three dominating regions are Moscow City, St. Petersburg City, and Moscow Oblast; these areas account for more than a third of the ICT employment and almost two-thirds of its costs.
Driven by theories on regional determinants affecting the development of high-tech companies, including the ones in ICT, we point out the significance of human capital, resources, infrastructure, institutions, demand, competition, and other factors that establish an innovation system to support technological and innovative development and base it on individual territories. This article estimates factors influencing the ICT growth at the level of individual Russian regions, quantified by the number of persons employed in the industry. We have considered such factors as region’s size, its economic development, peculiar economic structure, human potential, availability of financing, and state sub-sidies for ICT. Using a generalized method of moments with instrumental variables (the Arellano-Bond estimator), we conclude that the most significant factors positively affecting the number of ICT employees have been as follows: population size, the share of university students, GRP per capita, and the proportion of high-tech industry in manufacturing.
Ivanova A. I. [email protected]
