The prime objective of the research is to examine the factors influencing both the alteration in the income distribution and the relative change in the incidence of poverty in the regions of Russia. The list of the identified factors/determinants includes economic, demographic, and infrastructural factors. An econometric model, indicating the relationship between the explanatory variables with both the income inequality index and the relative poverty proportions in Russian regions has been provided in this article. The determinants that cause variations in the income inequality and poverty of a country such as social mobility, average life expectancy of urban women, life expectancy of rural men, the number of university graduates, etc. have also been specified in this study. The analysis was executed based on a dataset of 72 Russian regions for the period between 2012-2017.

Relevance. Regional infrastructure development directly affects economic growth, social development and the quality of life. To identify the key areas of infrastructure development in Russian regions, it is necessary to develop a methodological approach to the analysis of the impact of infrastructure on socioeconomic development, which determines the relevance of this study. Research objective. This study aims to improve the methodology of assessment of the role infrastructure plays in the socioeconomic development of Russian regions. Data and methods. The analysis relies on a system of general and integral, static and dynamic indicators used to assess the current state and dynamics of infrastructure in regions. The analysis takes into account the structural and functional features of infrastructure. The proposed methodology comprises methods for obtaining comparative estimates of regional infrastructure development, which can be applied to compile regional rankings. The study also uses methods of econometric and K-means cluster analysis. Results. A comparative analysis of the infrastructure development of Russian regions allowed us to assess the infrastructural potential of these regions, the discrepancies in infrastructure development and compare the infrastructure-related characteristics of the leading lagging regions. The results of econometric analysis as well as cluster analysis of regions based on general and integral dynamic indicators are discussed. Conclusions. The methodological approach proposed by the authors has been tested by using the data on Russian regions. The analysis has revealed the most typical problems faced by Russian regions. These problems should be taken into account in strategic decision-and policy-making.

Inequality in the distribution of income of the population has a certain impact on different aspects of the economic and socio-cultural development of countries and regions. This inequality arises due to a number of factors as the current nature of the production specialization, the availability of production and economic infrastructure, the achieved level of development of the social sphere, socio-cultural, demographic, and other factors. The main objective of this study is to assess the nature and extent of the impact of income inequality in the Russian regions for the subsequent justification of the directions of socio-economic development. We conducted an econometric analysis of the impact of intraregional income inequality (the Gini coefficient), fixed capital investment per capita, and average per capita consumer spending on one of the main indicators of regional economic growth (GRP) per capita was carried out. The model is based on panel data for the period 2012-2018 for 85 regions of the Russian Federation. The results of the study confirm two of three hypotheses. As prospects for further research, it is proposed to consider the impact of inequality in the distribution of household income on economic growth for different groups of regions, including resource-type regions and regions with a predominance of manufacturing industries, as well as for leading regions and regions with a relatively low level of socio-economic development.