Uneven Development of Russian Regions in the Context of Infrastructure Financialization

The impact of public and private infrastructure investment on reducing regional inequalities has not yet received sufficient scientific attention, especially in the context of the BRICS countries, including Russia. To fill this gap, this article is devoted to assessing the impact of infrastructure financialization on the unevenness of regional development in Russia. Using a regression model and panel data for the period from 2006 to 2019, the study measures the characteristics of uneven regional development in Russia. Infrastructural financialization is included as the main explanatory variable. The obtained results show that the development of infrastructure financialization leads to a decrease in the unevenness of regional development in Russia. Despite the fact that the Russian economy is completely oriented towards state management, it is necessary to increase the volume of regionally proportional private investment in infrastructure for the convergence of regions. However, this study differs from previous ones conducted in other countries using similar methodology, highlighting the controversial nature of this topic.