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(Task I.A.P.6)
The regional competitiveness: some notions
Daniel Sepic
Introduction
“Russia needs to be competitive!” This one of the most often heard statements coming from various decision-makers in the Russian Federation .
This preoccupation is fully reflected by the number of requests coming from the different institutions collaborating with Recep on the subject of competitiveness in general and on the topic of regional competitiveness in particular.
Indeed, the issues of regional economic development and regional competitiveness have become one of the highest priorities on the agenda of the Russian Federation , as it is widely understood that the objective set by President Putin, i.e. the one of doubling the national GDP by 2010, is achieved by the emergence of competitive regions.
Nevertheless, experience shows that a true understanding of issues related to regional competitiveness and regional economic development is not widespread among the decision-makers and people in charge of regional economic development across the Russian Federation .
Therefore, this paper is intended to act as a kind of short handbook on the topic of regional/territorial competitiveness. The target groups are all actors involved in regional development and administrations on all levels dealing with the issue, in particular. Therefore, the author tried to make the paper as educational and clear as possible, without developing too far the theory underlying regional competitiveness. From this perspective, the author decided also to briefly recall some topics closely related to regional competitiveness that are generally not completely mastered across the Federation. We mean for example topics such as the post-Fordist production system and the new role of regions, the regional planning issues, the understanding of competitiveness, indicators, typology of regions, etc.
A special attention is paid to competitiveness from the European Commission and European Union perspective and experience, despite the fact that the debate on competitiveness is not closed yet. This choice is not due to the fact that Recep is a project financed by the European Commission, but is prompted by common sense. Indeed, the experience of the European Union in developing its regions by boosting structural competitiveness rather than price competitiveness seems to be far more adapted to Russia than any policy focused on development of comparative advantages based on extremely low salaries and low taxes. Indeed, one should not forget that Russia has got at its doorsteps two giants, i.e. China and India , with more than one billion inhabitants each, which can practice price competition far better than Russia .
The paper is divided into five chapters.
Chapter one reminds about the features of the post-Fordist production system, the new role of regions and their capacity to create for themselves their competitive advantages.
Chapter two explains the notion of regional competitiveness by using definitions or fragments of texts from various documents of the European Commission. From there, consequences, conclusions and comments are developed.
Chapter three is made of an exhaustive list of the main drivers/determinants of regional competitiveness, including among others clusters, networks, regional innovation systems, governance and institutional capacity, infrastructure, etc. Each point is thoroughly developed and explanations are given on how the particular factor/aspect determines regional competitiveness.
Chapter four elaborates on the indicators used in order to measure the competitiveness of regions. A special attention was given to indicators used by the European Commission and the policies that are associated with them. It also passes in review studies and indicators used by other institutions in order to measure the competitiveness of regions.
Chapter five reminds about the typology of regions and their influence on regional competitiveness. A special focus is on the typology of regions existing within the European Union.
Published on 28 Sep 2005
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