The impact of regional entrepreneurial ecosystems quality on the development of the digital economy sector in Russia[Влияние Качества Предпринимательских Экосистем Регионов России На Развитие Сектора Цифровой Экономики]

Digitalization is the main factor in the countries` international competitiveness. The Russian economic growth can be supported by the digital sector expansion in regions with a large historically determined gap in the level of economic development. The digitalization of regions characterized as resource-abundant, old-industrial, agricultural, and depressed could contribute to the high-tech clusters` development in the manufacturing and service sectors. That can become a growth driver in these territories. The influence of the regional projects implementation on the digital economy is determined by the quality of regional entrepreneurial ecosystems more than by their goals, content, and financing. The entrepreneurial ecosystem concept is a relatively new scientific area formed at the intersection of cluster theory and the theory of regional innovation systems. It explains the success of the regional industrial clusters’ development through a business-friendly environment. The basic hypothesis of the study is the influence of the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem quality on the size of its digital economy sector. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the dissemination of the digital economy in the Russian regions depending on the quality of regional entrepreneurial ecosystems. Based on data from 87 Russian regions, we assessed the size of regional digital sectors, constructed, and calculated a regional entrepreneurial ecosystems quality index. The correlation analysis results revealed the determining impact of regional population income level and the quality of human capital on digital economy development. Hierarchical cluster analysis based on the squared Euclidean distance identified four groups of regions characterized by different levels of the digital economy development, entrepreneurial ecosystems, as well as the potential and mechanisms of digital growth.