The article examines modern points of view on the factors smoothing out regional disparities, as well as the possibilities of state influence on these factors during the implementation of the policy of spatial development of territories. The views of domestic and foreign authors on the composition of such factors, their mechanism and priority are studied. A critical review of opinions is carried out, the advantages and disadvantages of each of the approaches are identified. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that in most of the considered approaches, factors are not considered in terms of the degree of controllability, which could serve as a guide for prioritizing the impact of state regulation on them. In addition, a common drawback is the difficulty of applying the approaches in practice due to their multifactorial nature. The author’s classification of factors smoothing out regional disparities is proposed, which differs from other approaches in the following aspects: taking into account the multifactorial nature of regional disparities by identifying factors of different origins; taking into account the degree of controllability of factors; lack of duplication of factors; measurability of factors; applicability of the classification both at the interregional and global (national) levels.
Borisov et al. (Thu,) studied this question.