Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2021 number 3

Methods for calculating the volume of potentially available markets and assessing their impact on the development of entrepreneurship are proposed. It is found that the market potential is higher in a number of coastal and border regions of Russia as well as in the European part of the country near large agglomerations. Over the past twenty years, it has grown many times, especially in the south of the Far East. It is established that small businesses are more developed in regions with large consumer markets (Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Samara oblast), a favorable institutional environment (Novosibirsk, Yaroslavl and Voronezh oblasts) and access to foreign markets (Khabarovsk and Primorskii krais, and Kaliningrad oblast). It is concluded that the introduction of quarantine measures can cause the most significant damage to small businesses in large cities and coastal regions. The results of econometric calculations confirmed the initial hypothesis: a reduction in the volume of available markets by 1 trillion rubles leads to a decrease of the number of micro- and small firms by ≈0.5 (per 1000 people of the labor force), taking into account the level of economic development and the availability of capital. The estimated 3 % reduction in global markets, a reduced availability of bank financing and household income may lead to a 9-10 % (200-260 thousand) drop in the number of micro and small enterprises in Russia in 2020. It may then be expected that GDP will decrease by 0.5-1.7 %. The results can serve as an additional justification for subsidizing demand, supporting SMEs, digitalizing public services, and developing infrastructure for international and inter-regional trade.