Abstract

Abstract

Studying the development problems of the Arctic and the Far East has always been relevant due to the specific nature of these territories. At the same time, the existing support tools do not always consider this specificity, which is why the effects of their use are minimal.

In this regard, the purpose of this study is to develop recommendations for improving the social and economic development policy tools for the Far Eastern and Arctic regions. This goal will be addressed within the framework of solving the following tasks:

systematization of existing development tools,

assessment of the economic and social effects of the measures applied,

producing recommendations for the development or exclusion of existing tools.

The study was conducted using the methods of content analysis, retrospective analysis, and classification. The sources of information included regulatory documents and strategic planning documents, scientific publications, analytical data, and official statistics.

As a result, a list of measures for the development of the regions of the Far East and the Arctic was produced, and areas that required improvement were identified. The key findings are as follows.

Most of the development tools are focused on stimulating economic growth and increasing investment appeal, rather than improving the demographic situation.

The measures taken fail to translate into the expected economic and social effects. The number of specific and individual instruments for stimulating the socio-economic development of the Far East and the Arctic is insignificant. Some of the instruments duplicate each other, which entails uncertainty when considering opportunities for capital investments, disorienting potential investors.

As recommendations, it is proposed to review the list of instruments towards greater social support, development of individual mechanisms, and unification of territorial development instruments with overlapping scopes.

Abstract

The outflow of the population of young working age from the regions of the Far East and the Far North is a serious constraint on the economic and social development of these regions. Unfavorable climatic working and living conditions, underdeveloped economic and social infrastructure, distance from development centers, relatively low wages and lack of career and personal prospects - these factors encourage a significant part of young people to leave the region of the Far East and Far North. The objectives of the study are to answer the following questions: • What is the scale of departure of young people from the Far Eastern Federal District and the Far North? • What are the reasons for their departure? • How reliable are disposal volume statistics? • Is it possible for at least some of the young people to return to the regions of origin and under what conditions? The study was conducted on the basis of Rosstat statistics on the volume and structure of internal migration in Russia for 2011-2020, the results of a sample survey of the labor force in 2029-2022, as well as Rosstat reports “Socio-economic situation in Russia” in 2018-2022. The study shows that published statistics underestimate the real scale of the outflow of young workers from the regions of the Far East and Far North due to the so-called “auto-return” process. The North and Far East are losing young people during migration exchanges with large and major cities in the European part of the country. Large cities of the North and Far East compensate for the loss due to the influx from the periphery of these same regions. Retaining young people in the labor markets of the regions where they were born is only possible if there is an influx of investment into the regional economy and social sphere, and this process should not have the character of a short-term campaign, but be a long-term guarantee for several generations of workers.