Estimation of Competitiveness of Single-Industry Towns of the Samara Region

Abstract

In order to prevent negative socio-economic trends, to predict the social consequences of decisions on the implementation of state policy in the development of single-industry territories, public authorities monitor the socio-economic situation in single-industry towns based on an assessment of a number of statistical indicators. Such a differentiated assessment of statistical parameters does not allow a comprehensive assessment of the level of development and competitiveness of a single-industry town by territory, which is of particular relevance in modern conditions of glocalization. Of particular scientific and practical interest is a comparative analysis of the level of development of single-industry towns on the basis of an integral indicator that takes into account aspects of various spheres of life of the population and allows an objective assessment of the competitive positions of single-industry territories, which is currently not used by state authorities for monitoring. The purpose of the work is to assess and justify the conditions and development trends of single-industry towns of the Samara region on the basis of calculating the integral indicator of competitiveness, taking into account the level of development of the economy, finance, employment, social security and demography, as well as the mono-profile level of territories. In this study, we used the methods of system analysis, the method of comparisons and analogies, the method of generalization, the methods of dialectic and statistical analysis, the method of expert estimates, the method of retrospective estimates and structural-dynamic analysis. The paper provides an overview of the single-industry towns of the regions of the Volga Federal District; the results of testing the methodology for assessing the competitiveness of single-industry towns of the Samara region on the basis of an integral indicator are presented and trends in its change in the period 2013–2017 are identified. The study involved four single-industry towns of the Samara region: Oktyabrsk, Pohvistnevo, Tolyatti, Chapaevsk. The calculations showed that For five years Oktyabrsk was an outsider in four of the six areas under study (economics, labor, social services, demography), which led to the lowest competitiveness index and allowed us to identify the competitiveness of a single-industry town as “below average”. In relatively equal socio-economic conditions, there were Pohvistnevo, Togliatti and Chapaevsk, the level of competitiveness of which is “above average”.