Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 162 Proceedings of the XV International Conference "Russian Regions in the Focus of Changes" (ICRRFC 2020) Volga Federal District: Trends in Technological Development Natalia Kuzminykh1,*, Oxana Kazakova1, Liliya Valinurova1, Venera Timiryanova1 1 Bashkir State University, Russian Federation *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT This paper aims to investigate trends in the technological development of Russian regions using a combined approach that integrates resource-, process- and efficiency-based views. The proposed approach can be used to characterise regional development both in its static and dynamic aspects, in particular to identify specific features of regional technological development and patterns of implementing the potential of technological development, as well as to determine trends in the technological development of regions. Using this approach, statistical data for the Volga Federal District of the Russian Federation for 2010-2018 were processed. As a result, groups of regions were distinguished and management decisions were justified. The conducted study proved a high level of differentiation between the regions of the Volga Federal District in terms of technological development. In addition, foci requiring managerial attention were identified, and guidelines for the development of regional development strategies were formulated. Keywords: Regional technological development, R&D, Technologies, Facilities, Staff acquisition, Innovation, Resource-based view, Process-based approach, Efficiency-based approach. 1. INTRODUCTION appropriate one, which consists in a combination of resource-, process- and efficiency-based views. The dominant feature of regional development in the modern economy is the focus on innovative 2. TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT development. At the same time, technological OF REGIONS: METHODOLOGY OF development is increasingly determining progressive ANALYSIS transformations in regional economies. In this regard, the current trends in technological development Within the framework of this study, a methodology should be studied, on the one hand, in the context of for studying trends in the technological development identifying transformations in the structure of the of regions was largely based on the approach of economy, and, on the other, in terms of forecasting and E. Mazilov [12-16]. Based on the essential adjusting regional socio-economic policies. characteristics of technological development, 5 basic blocks were designated as key indicators: research and At the moment, there are various approaches to the development, technologies, the state of the facilities of study of technological processes in the economy [1- technological development, staff acquisition, 11]. All of them can be combined into three groups: innovation. These blocks are complementary to resource-based, which involve the study of resources E. Mazilov's approach regarding the state of the main and determination of the potential for technological production assets and determining their ability to development; process-based, which reveal the features ensure the technological development of the territory. of transforming resources into a result; and efficiency- To characterise each of the blocks, specific indicators based, which focus on analysis of the results of were determined on the basis of official statistics, technological development. Regarding the advantages which ensures the reliability, comparability and and disadvantages of each of the selected groups, the relevance of the results obtained. authors consider the combined approach as the most Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press B.V. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license -http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 106 Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 162 Any developmental process implies an access to development in terms of the indicators presented in resources that is a potential, providing "entrance" to Table 1. the system. "Exit" from the system is considered Table 1. Indicators of technological development of regions Approach / Research and Technologies Facilities Staff acquisition Innovations Block Development Resource- Share of local Share of Share of The number of The share of based expenditures for organisations capital personnel expenditures for research and using information investments engaged in technological development, as and in GRP, % research and innovations, as a percentage of communication development in a percentage of the gross regional technologies in the the total the total amount product (GRP),% total number of population,% of delivered observed goods, works, organisations,% services Process- Share of local The ratio of the Depreciation Increase in Innovative based operating costs applied and the rate of fixed high- activity of for the equipment developed assets, % productivity jobs organisations, % in the total advanced in the region amount of local technologies,% expenditures, % Efficiency- Ratio of the Share of high-tech Fixed assets Increase in Share of based issued patents and knowledge- renewal labour delivered and the received intensive industries ratio, % productivity, % innovative patent in the gross products in applications,% regional GRP, % product, % according to the results obtained for each of the In general, the Volga Federal District is selected blocks. The very process of transforming characterised by the share of local expenditures on resources into a result is considered as a certain "black research and development in the amount of 1.46% of box" and can be studied under the process-based the gross regional product, which is 1.07 times higher approach. Thus, the study of trends in technological than the national average of Russia (1.36%). development can be carried out in the context of five Regarding investments in the district, the leaders in identified blocks under the resource-, process- and financing research and development are Nizhny efficiency-based approaches (Table 1). Novgorod Oblast with 6.05%, Ulyanovsk Oblast – 4.02% and Penza Oblast – 1.5%. The highest average Of note is the specific character of technological annual growth of research and development development indicators: being a result in one expenditures in the GRP since 2010 has been distinguished period, they can be considered as a demonstrated by such regions as the Udmurt Republic resource in subsequent periods. (11.84%), the Chuvash Republic (9.81%), Ulyanovsk Based on the proposed approach, the authors Oblast (6.43%) and Kirov Oblast (6.39%). The analyse the prerequisites and indicators of negative growth rates of the indicator under technological development for the data of the regions consideration is observed in Samara Oblast of the Volga Federal District for 2010-2018, presented (-5.58%), the Republic of Mordovia (-2.51%) and the in the "Official statistics" page on the Rosstat website. Mari El Republic (-0.9%). The negative dynamics is considered to be caused by a significant decrease in the 3. TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT amount of research and development funding in 2014- IN THE REGIONS OF THE VOLGA 2016. The rest of the regions show a steady trend in FEDERAL DISTRICT providing research and development with local costs with a slight positive growth from 1.05% to 4.05%. 3.1. Potential for technological development Taking into account the rapidly growing demand for financing research and development, triggered by the Perspectives for technological development of sanctions the need to switch to import substitution regions are determined by the region's potential. using domestic technologies and equipment, only a Within the framework of this study, it seems stable dynamics of financing can provide a solution to appropriate to consider the potential for technological 107 Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 162 this problem. At the same time, it should be noted that number of people engaged in research and a low growth or even a decrease in the research and development in Orenburg Oblast (0.05%) and in the development expenditures cannot be regarded as a Mari El Republic (0.04%). As a matter of fact, it is in negative factor, the very existence of this funding this segment of the employed where the intellectual indicates the prerequisites for technological capital is concentrated, providing the ideas generation development. In addition, industry specialisation and for the formation of prerequisites and determining the the spatial location of research centres determine the vector of technological development not only of speciality of the territory and focus on certain stages separate regions, but also of the country and the world of the innovation process: some regions can be community as a whole. It should be noted that since considered as idea generators, while others as 2010 this indicator has increased by 83% in Samara conductors and main drivers for the development of Oblast due to the support of the scientific sector and innovations in the real economy. the formation of prerequisites for conducting research. At the same time, this indicator has decreased by The proportion of organisations using information almost 2 times in the Udmurt Republic. Changes in the and communication technologies in the total number structure of the employed serve as an indicator of the of observed organisations is one of the indicators of distribution of territories