An empirical study of information technology clusters and regional economic growth in Russia

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the identification of the “Information Technologies” cluster in the regions of the Russian Federation and verification of the assumption that there is an interaction between the degree of cluster representation in the region and the GRP size. The authors considered the main theoretical and methodological provisions concerning the identification of clusters with the Top-down approach. Based on the develops of M. Porter and G. Lindqvist, the “Information Technologies” cluster characteristics such as local content, size and focus were calculated for 80 regions of the Russian Federation. The conclusions about the specifics of the cluster development in the country were made. Using the methods of regression analysis, the authors tested a number of hypotheses and revealed the presence of a positive interaction between the GRP volume and the “Information Technologies” cluster presence in the regions of the Russian Federation, as well as the local content, size and focus of this cluster in the regions of the Russian Federation.