Path Dependence and Regional Paths of Process Changes in the Russian Industry

The regional economy depends on the structure of industrial production which has beenestablished earlier. This study makes it possible to determine the hi-tech spheres in which theentrepreneurship is going to develop more successfully. The purpose of the investigation is todetermine the technological proximity of the industrial production branches with the high-techeconomy sector for further defining the egress from the previous development path. Design/methodology/approach: In order to determine possible egress of the region from theprevious development trajectory there has been proposed a method of proximity evaluation betweenthe high-tech sector and the existing structure of industrial production in the region. Thecharacteristics of high technologies relatedness to other industry branches in the Russian regions havebeen defined. Findings: For the Russian regions it was determined that less than 30% of sub-branches can beconsidered as connected with the high technology sector - 25%. The regions having the comparativeadvantages in the high-tech types of industry and sectors related thereto have been revealed. We havedemonstrated that individual regions can progress through investment into interregional connectionsand entrepreneurship domestic innovations. Research/practical implications: Considered as the investigatory contribution of the paper can bethe alternative proposed to the comparative advantage index in the form of a localization coefficientto be used at evaluation of the technological proximity of industrial branches. The results of this studycan be of benefit to representatives of the regional managerial bodies in the course of the economicpolicy development in the sphere of entrepreneurship. Originality/value: Proposed in the article is a method for evaluation of technological proximity ofindustry branches which differs from the traditional use of the localization coefficient. The calculatedproximity indexes make it possible to determine such high-tech industries to the development ofwhich there are the necessary prerequisites in the region, i.e. the technologically similar industrialproduction is under development.