The Economic Nature and Essence of Regional Competitiveness: A Narrative Approach

Abstract

Regional competitiveness remains a debated issue. This problem requires a solution, as competitiveness is now seen not only as an indicator of achievement, but also as a tool for performance assessment of regional authorities. Additionally, a correct understanding of the essence of this phenomenon helps define objectives and tools of regional policy and management. The article aims to reveal the true nature of regional competitiveness as a form of competitiveness and describe its specific characteristics. The content analysis of relevant foreign and Russian publications shows that the stated problem cannot be solved by existing methods. Therefore, it is necessary to apply a fundamentally different approach that looks at the problem from the standpoint of struggle for economic benefits. A system-reproductive method of analysis demonstrated that, by its nature, competitiveness is the ability of economic entities to redistribute economic value in their favour. Regional competitiveness is interpreted as a form of competitiveness, occurring when regions acquire economic subjectivity. Such subjectivity is characterised by the presence of separate material interests, authority and regulatory powers resulting from the transformation of regions into elements of the productive forces of society. This creates competition between regions for investment resources necessary to achieve regional goals. Regional competitiveness is defined as the ability of a region to redistribute investment flows in its favour by creating an attractive environment and incentives for their application. The given interpretation, which adequately describes the nature of regional competitiveness, has a number of advantages, such as syntheticity, sustainability, flexibility and operability.