ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN RUSSIA: FACTORS AND TRENDS

In this article the authors examine socio-economic development of Russian regions in conjunction with a large number of factors. The principle hypothesis of the study is the existence of the connection between the level of socio-economic development of regions and the level of entrepreneurial activity. This hypothesis is based on systematization and analysis of published studies on the nature of entrepreneurship and the factors affecting it. In order to test the hypothesis, the correlation-regression models were used to process the large amount of statistical data on the regional development. The findings revealed that there is a negative correlation between the growth of the Russian regions and the level of entrepreneurial activity. The authors made assumptions about the reasons of this relationship and discussed the conditions enhancing entrepreneurial activity in Russian economy. The findings might be relevant in the context of economic recession and numerous attempts of the government to increase the level of entrepreneurial activity.