The understanding of economic polarization as one of the possible sources of economic development is rooted in a number of scientific papers and in strategic planning documents. This understanding requires the revision of the implications that emerge due to the formation and development of growth poles. The goal of our present research is to develop an approach that will help assess the impact of growth poles on the surrounding space. Scientific novelty of the work consists in the justification of an approach to the identification of direct and reverse effects of the development of growth poles, which allows us to measure the scale of the impact they have on the territories concentrated around. Theoretical and methodological basis of the study is formed by a set of scientific ideas in the field of regional economics, spatial analysis and modeling. Using the assessment of spatial autocorrelation (by determining the values of Moran’s Global Index and Moran’s Local Index) and the implementation of cartographic analysis, we assess the relationships between individual constituent entities of the Russian Federation according to the resulting parameters of territory development such as “permanent population” and “gross regional product”. According to the calculations we prove that the influence of growth poles on the surrounding space is ambiguous: the territories located near large-scale socio-economic systems do not receive a significant impetus to their own development; moreover, they lose the resources they already have. The revealed pronounced reverse effect of economic polarization determines the importance of applying a balanced approach to the use of growth poles as a tool of economic development. The results of our research can be used in the work of public authorities at different levels and can also form the basis for further studies related to the measurement of the effects of development of growth poles and the development of priorities and mechanisms of regional policy, taking into account the interests of the territories that surround them
Keywords
growth pole, assessment of the effect, direct effect, opposite effect, spatial autocorrelation, moran’s index