Wirtschaftliche Grundlagen des Regionalismus in der Russischen Föderation

Economic Determinants of Regionalism in the Russian Federation. – In this paper the structure of the economics of 71 oblast-level regional units within the Russian Federation is analysed with a view to identifying economic incentives for regionalism. Such incentives are assumed to exist whenever individual units can expect to remain, or become, substantial net donors of transfers to the rest of the Federation. A cluster analysis is performed using as independent variables regional exports, raw material production, the output of heavy industry, the employment share of agriculture, and the percentage of the population dependent on the military industrial complex. The results suggest that, in economic terms, secession from Russia is a viable option at most for some regions in the Far East.