Can the Periphery of a Region Develop More Successfully than Its Core?

The paper examines the development of regions in the Northwestern and Central Federal Districts of the Russian Federation and compares the dynamics of key indicators for regional capitals, their agglomerations, and the regional periphery. The study aims based on municipality-level data to compare the dynamics and economic performance of regional capitals and their agglomerations relative to their peripheries. The findings show that regional capitals and their agglomerations exhibit lower levels and growth rates of labor productivity and output. Moreover, labor productivity in the regional periphery grows faster than in the Moscow and St. Petersburg agglomerations.