Territories of Advanced Socio-Economic Development in Single-Industry Towns: the First Synthesis

Abstract

Introduction. There is an urgent need to assess the activity of Advanced Socio-Economic Development Territories (TASED) set up in single-industry towns and Administrative and Territorial Entities of Closed Type (ATECT). The research objective was to identify the current trends in the modus operandi of TASED set up in ATECT. Data and methods. The research featured official figures posted on the websites of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, on the official websites of local authorities, regional government, Corporation of Far East’s Development, the resident companies of TASED, and various scientific publications. The research was based on comparative analysis and the factor and system analysis. The research results. The population of TASED territories revealed an almost equal distribution. However, its concentration is higher in the towns with over 500.000 residents. The number of residents appeared to correlate with the activity of small and medium-sized enterprises on the territory. Large investment projects in TASED of single-industry towns make up less than 5 % of all projects. The main TASED’s investor is local business. There are mostly low- and medium technology productions. At its current state, TASED do not encourage development of high-technology industries and knowledge-intensive services. The authors propose some options of budgetary efficiency assessment. Discussion and conclusion. TASED proved to be beneficial for the economic development of single-industry towns, especially those with a machine-building complex as core enterprise. However, TASED revealed to have no positive effect on distant depressed towns and single-industry towns with sustainable working core enterprises. The research results can be used by scientists, public authorities, and managers of TASED companies.