Cluster Initiatives of Information Technology and Machinery Sectors in Russia: Identification, Structure and Geography

Cluster initiatives have become a widespread instrument for the increase of economic growth. The necessary condition for development of highly qualified cluster is the abnormally localized areas in a certain industry. In the research 31 cluster initiatives supported by the Ministry of Economic Development (2012) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (2016) in Russia, were evaluated according to its structure, location and specialization in Information Technology and Machinery Manufacturing industries. The methods from spatial statistics were applied to determine the geographical localization area according to cluster’s size and specialization. As a result, there were identified 114 core and 3090 secondary concentration zones for IT and Machinery Manufacturing industries together. Overall, it can be concluded that 11 initiatives completely intersect with concentration area, 6 coincide only partially and 14 completely overlap but in different locations. Most cases of the complete match prevail in high-tech and development of computer software, consulting services. The geographical distribution of both concentration zones and initiatives is quite similar: with main accumulation in European part of Russia and more vastly allocation in Siberia and Far East.