Home – Home – Jornals – Region: Economics and Sociology 2019 number 3

The paper examines the investment aspects of the foreign economic activity of the Russian regions in order to identify changes in the regional distribution of foreign direct investment (FDI). A hypothesis that investment is becoming less concentrated in regions relies on favorable prerequisites manifested in the sectoral diversification of new projects, the growing interest of foreign investors towards Russian regions, and regional authorities ’ efforts to attract investment under difficult political and macroeconomic conditions. The study uses relative indicators illustrating FDI flows and stocks in the regions of Russia, taking into account the scale of their economies, as well as concentration indicators based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman index. We have examined the dynamics of the percentage ratio of FDI flows to gross regional product, calculated and analyzed the percentage ratio of FDI stocks to GRP, indicators of the concentration of FDI stocks and GRP. Research results can be applied in regional economics and investment policy. The relative investment indicators confirm the thesis about the high concentration of regional FDI distribution and show a high dependency of Sakhalin, Vologda and Lipetsk Oblasts, where FDI stocks exceed GRP. In the long-term indicators, no significant changes have yet occurred. The Central and Far Eastern Federal Districts remain in the lead. Yet, the short-term indicators of the relative attractiveness of Russian regions for new projects point to a trend of diversifying the regional distribution of FDI: the Urals and Siberian Federal Districts are among the leaders. The trend revealed at the district level is exhibited at the disaggregated one: concentration in the distribution of FDI stocks between the federal subjects of Russia has an increasing tendency to drop.