Innovative development is one of the political priorities of the European Union countries. The Commission of the European Communities recommends that countries pursue innovation policies at the regional level. The regional development of innovations is possible only in conditions of openness. It is important to understand in which conditions the regions will support each other, and in which they will become competitors pulling over limited resources. The strength of mutual influence is determined by economic, technological and geographical distances. In this study we determined how technological development in one region effects the level of development of neighboring territories in the European Union. The research methodology is the calculation of spatial autocorrelation (global and local Moran index I) by the number of patents in 2018-2021 in 169 regions of Europe. Among the regions four groups were identified: innovation cluster centers, innovation agglomerations, the neighbors of innovative cores and the territories outside the influence. The dynamics of development is also analyzed. It is shown that in some cases regions form technological clusters (in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands) or pull assets from neighbors to more innovative regions (in France, Austria, Denmark). In general, most regions of the EU regions have the low level of patent activity. At the same time, it is possible to identify regions - innovation centers, for instance, Castile-Leon (Spain), Masovian voivodeship (Poland). Understanding the emerging innovation blocs in the European Union will allow to implement more focused and effective policy.

Solow–Swann’s neoclassical theory of economic growth shows that without technological progress, capital accumulation can only lead to a short-term increase in the growth rate of output per capita. The challenges of sustainable innovative development in many countries are coming to the fore today. The creation, dissemination and use of innovations occur in companies, universities, scientific organizations (micro-level), between economic entities within the framework of regional (meso-level) and national (macro-level) innovation systems, as well as at the international level. Innovation support is carried out at the meso-level, focuses on companies and organizations, and is evaluated at the level of the country as a whole. State support for innovation is necessary for the following reasons: 1) the ease of information transfer puts manufacturing companies in a less favorable position compared to consumer companies; 2) the difficulty of obtaining a loan for R&D with the risk of information leakage and lack of confidence in the final results; 3) the socio-economic system of the country receives more benefits from innovation than all companies in the aggregate. The article discusses such types of support as government subsidies and grants, tax incentives, measures for the development of human capital in an innovative environment, competition and intellectual property protection policy. In the international practice of stimulating innovation, tax incentives are used, 1) allowing to reduce R&D costs, 2) based on non-reduction of R&D expenditures and 3) preferential tax regimes derived from innovation activities. It is shown that the methodological approaches used to assess the effectiveness of tax measures are the B-index (calculated and published by the OECD by country), the analysis of the validity of tax instruments and the use of the European Tax Analyzer model – computer modeling. The analysis of innovative development showed that the European Union in terms of the number of patents, residents and non-residents, the share of researchers in the total population and the share of R&D expenditures in GDP for 2000–2022 is often inferior to China, the USA, Japan and Korea, but generally has a positive development trend. The most popular tools in the European Union countries are tax deductions, “super deductions”, R&D grants and other incentives. There is no direct correlation between the number of benefits and the level of innovation development. At the same time, it is noticeable that countries using a large number of support tools are becoming attractive to innovative companies and entrepreneurs. The article analyzes the measures of state support for R&D during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Of these, the most relevant are grants and subsidies, and tax benefits. The analysis of tax instruments for stimulating innovation carried out in the article may be useful in the implementation of appropriate policies in other countries.

Introduction. Social capital is an important strategic asset for regional development. It refers to the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of social interactions. Human assets, social capital, and institutional environment are the three pillars of human potential for the creation of wealth. The present article introduces basic approaches to the definition and assessment of social capital and its types. The research results can help to create new strategies for the socio-economic development of regions. Study objects and methods. The authors identified three parameters of social capital: frequency of human contacts, homogeneity, and hierarchy. The paper also describes four types of social capital: linking, bonding, identifying, and uniting. Results and discussion. The research featured the development of social capital in the regions of the Central Federal District in 2000–2019, as well as the priority directions of the development of social capital in the city of Moscow and the regions of Moscow, Kaluga, and Kursk. Conclusion. At the regional level, strategic priorities for the development of social capital depend on its key components, current state, forming factors, and trends. The research can be of interest for scientists and decision-makers in the field of territorial strategic development.