K. Yu. Voloshenko. Economic Security within the Limits of Economic Complexity

UDК 330.16

DOI: 10.15507/2413-1407.115.029.202102.401-426

Introduction. The issues of ensuring economic security of regions (especially of those with a specific situation) taking into account the influence of economic complexity are a novel research problem. The development of regions, primarily the border ones, is determined by two divergent processes: growing economic complexity, determined by external constraints or opportunities, and economic security, associated with the internal potential and resources of the region. Based on the study conducted, the article reveals the features of the interconnection between economic security and economic complexity, the latter determining the innovative and technological limitations to the growth and development of territories.

Materials and Methods. The author has conducted semantic analysis and thematic clustering of economic security using data from bibliographic and reference databases of publications in English (Web of Science) and in Russian (eLIBRARY.RU). The assessment of economic complexity was based on the conducted analysis of the UN Comtrade foreign trade statistics, that of economic security – on the official data published by Rosstat.

Results. The author has identified the terminological connection between economic security and economic complexity, and has provided a theoretical representation of the relations and interdependence of these categories. The paper presents the methodological provisions for studying the economic security of border regions, taking into consideration the possibilities for increasing their economic complexity.

Discussion and Conclusion. In the context of systemic constraints in the development of the region, economic security is largely determined by both the available internal potential and resources, and the possibilities of their use. However, the region gains new capabilities with the increase in its economic complexity, the latter also limiting its economic security. In fact, the choice of key areas for the structural transformation of the region’s economy depends on whether priority is given to maintaining the level of economic security or increasing economic complexity. The mechanism and criteria discussed in this paper, as well as the methodological provisions of such a choice, contribute to further development of the theory of economic security and economic complexity at the regional level and are of practical importance for regional governance.

Keywords: economic security, economic complexity, border region, indicator, absorption capacity

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study was conducted with the financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Government of the Kaliningrad Region as part of the scientific project No. 19-410-390002.

For citation: Voloshenko K.Yu. Economic Security within the Limits of Economic Complexity. Regionology = Russian Journal of Regional Studies. 2021; 29(2):401-426. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15507/2413-1407.115.029.202102.401-426

REFERENCES

1. Voloshenko E.V., Voloshenko K.Yu. Evaluating and Measuring the Security of Russia’s Border Regions: Theory and Practice. Baltijskij region = Baltic Region. 2018; 10(3):96-118. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.5922/2079-8555-2018-3-6

2. Voloshenko K.Yu., Drok T.E., Farafonova Yu.Yu. The Economic Complexity at the Sub-National Level as an Innovative Paradigm for Regional Development. Voprosy innovacionnoj ehkonomiki = Russian Journal of Innovation Economics. 2019; 9(3):735-752. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.18334/vinec.9.3.40822

3. Mezhevich N.M., Tkachev S.A. Cross-border Cooperation: A New Position in System of Factors of Regional Development of the North-West Russia. Korporativnoe upravlenie i innovacionnoe razvitie jekonomiki Severa: Vestnik Nauchno-issledovatelskogo centra korporativnogo prava, upravlenija i venchurnogo investirovanija Syktyvkarskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta = Corporate Governance and Innovative Economic Development of the North. Bulletin of Research Center of Corporate Law, Management and Venture Investment of Syktyvkar State University. 2017; (1):69-74. Available at: http://vestnik-ku.ru/ru/arkhiv/2017-rus/vestnik-1-2017-rus/15-publikatsii/197-prigranichnoe-sotrudnichestvo-novoe-polozhenie-v-sisteme-faktorov-regionalnogo-razvitiya-severo-zapada-rossii (accessed 15.02.2021). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.).

4. Demyanenko A.N., Prokapalo O.M. Economic Space of the Russian Far East: Post-Crisis Dynamics and Economic Security. Regionalistika = Regionalistica. 2018; 5(5):25-32. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.14530/reg.2018.5.25

5. Kotilko V.V., Nemirova G.I., Pashennykh F.S. Competitiveness and Economic Safety of Frontier Regions: Realities and Prospects. Nacionalnye interesy: prioritety i bezopasnost = National Interests: Priorities and Security. 2013; 9(46):2-7. Available at: https://www.fin-izdat.ru/journal/national/detail.php?ID=59721 (accessed 15.02.2021). (In Russ., abstract in Eng.)

6. Nepelski D., De Prato G. Corporate Control, Location and Complexity of ICT R&D: A Network Analysis at the City Level. Urban Studies. 2015; 52(4):721-737. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098014534735

7. Balland P.-A., Rigby D. The Geography of Complex Knowledge. Economic Geography. 2017; 93(1):1-23. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00130095.2016.1205947

8. Buccellato T., Corò G. Structural Change and Convergence Аcross European Regions. University Ca' Foscari of Venice. 2018. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3197017

9. Reynolds C.A., Agrawal M., Lee I., et al. Sub-National Economic Complexity Analysis of Australia’s States and Territories. Regional Studies. 2018; 52(5):715-726. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2017.1283012

10. Roos G., Shroff Z., Gamble H., et al. Smart Specialisation – Insights for a Future Industry Policy. Economic Development Board of South Australia. Government of South Australia. Adelaide, South Australia; 2018. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.25616.92168

11. Gao J., Zhou T. Quantifying China’s Regional Economic Complexity. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications. 2018; 492:1591-1603. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2017.11.084

12. Bandeira Morais M., Swart J., Jordaan J.A. Economic Complexity and Inequality: Does Regional Productive Structure Affect Income Inequality in Brazilian States? Sustainability. 2021; 13(2). (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13021006

13. Lee I., Lin R.F.-Y. Economic Complexity of the City Cluster in Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, China. Sustainability. 2020; 12(4). (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145639

14. Roos G., Shroff Z. What Will Happen to the Jobs? Technology Enabled Productivity Improvement – Good for Some, Bad for Others. Labour & Industry: A Journal of the Social and Economic Relations of Work. 2017; 27(3):165-192. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10301763.2017.1359817

15. Sweet C., Eterovic D. Do Patent Rights Matter? 40 Years of Innovation, Complexity and Productivity. World Development. 2019; 115:78-93. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.10.009

16. Díaz-Lanchas J., Llano C., Minondo A., Requena F. Cities Export Specialization. Applied Economics Letters. 2018; 25(1):38-42. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2017.1290784

17. Hartmann D., Bezerra M., Lodolo B., Pinheiro F.L. International Trade, Development Traps, and the Core-Periphery Structure of Income Inequality. Stuttgart: University of Hohenheim; 2019. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3312097

18. Hidalgo C.A., Balland P.-A., Boschma R., et al. The Principle of Relatedness. In: Unifying Themes in Complex Systems IX. Springer Proceedings in Complexity. Springer, Cham; 2018. p. 451-457. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96661-8_46

19. Lyubimov I.L., Ospanova A.G. How to Make an Economy More Complex? The Determinants of Complexity in Historical Perspective. Voprosy ehkonomiki = Issues of Economics. 2019; (2):36-53. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2019-2-36-53

20. Lyubimov I.L., Iakubovskii I.G. How to Make Economic Complexity Index More Complex: Taking Export Geography into Account. Zhurnal Novoj ehkonomicheskoj assotsiatsii = The Journal of the New Economic Association. 2020; (3):12-39. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.31737/2221-2264-2020-47-3-1

21. Kadochnikov S.M., Fedyunina A.A. The Dynamics of Export Diversification and Economic Growth: Empirical Analysis for Russian Regions, 2003‒2010. Vestnik Uralskogo federalnogo universiteta = Bulletin of Ural Federal University. 2013; (5):73‒89. Available at: https://elar.urfu.ru/handle/10995/55011 (accessed: 13.02.2021). (In Russ.)

22. Kravchenko N.A., Ageeva S.D. Diversification of the Economy: Institutional Aspects. Journal of Institutional Studies. 2017; (4):52-67. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.17835/2076-6297.2017.9.4.052-067

23. Lyubimov I.L., Gvozdeva М.A., Kazakova М.V., Nesterova К.V. Economic Complexity of Russian Regions and their Potential to Diversify. Zhurnal Novoj ehkonomicheskoj assotsiatsii = The Journal of the New Economic Association. 2017;  (2):94-123. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.31737/2221-2264-2017-34-2-4

24. Lyubimov I.L., Lysyuk M.V., Gvozdeva M.A. Atlas of Economic Complexity, Russian Regional Pages. Voprosy ehkonomiki = Issues of Economics. 2018; (6):71-91. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2018-6-71-91

25. Voloshenko K.Yu., Drok T.E. Econometric Analysis of the Impact of the Intensity of Transboundary Activities on the Level of Economic Complexity: The Case Study of European Countries. Regionology = Russian Journal of Regional Studies. 2019; 27(4):602-632. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.15507/2413-1407.109.027.201904.602-632

26. Roos G., Voloshenko K. Yu., Drok T. E., Farafonova Yu. Yu. An Economic Complexity Analysis of the Kaliningrad Region: Identifying Sectoral Priorities in the Emerging Value Creation Paradigm. Baltijskij region = Baltic Region. 2020; 12(1):156-180. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.5922/2079-8555-2020-1-9

27. Roos G., Voloshenko K.Yu., Drok T.E., Zverev Y.M. European Countries’ Typology by the Intensity of Transboundary Cooperation and its Impact on the Economic Complexity Level. Geography, Environment, Sustainability. Special issue: “Border and Coastal Areas of Greater Eurasia: Environmental and Socio-Economic Challenges”. 2020; 13(1):6-15. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2019-66

28. Callon M., Courtial J.P., Laville F. Co-Word Analysis as a Tool for Describing the Network of Interaction between Basic and Technological Research: The Case of Polymer Chemistry. Scientometrics. 1991; 22:155-205. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02019280

29. Hidalgo C.A., Hausmann R. The Building Blocks of Economic Complexity. PNAS. 2009; (106):10570-10575. (In Eng.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0900943106

Submitted 19.02.2021; approved after reviewing 23.03.2021; accepted for publication 31.03.2021.

About the author:

Ksenia Yu. Voloshenko, Director, Center for Regional Socio-Economic Research, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (14 A. Nevskogo St., Kaliningrad 236016, Russian Federation), Cand. Sci. (Economics), Associate Professor, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2624-0155, kvoloshenko@kantiana.ru

The author has read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

To download article