Regional growth: The quality of economic space

The degree of cohesion and homogeneity in the economic space of the Russian Federation is evaluated. The Russian regions are found to be not quite integrated, tending toward further alienation as seen in increased variation in parameters of cohesiveness. The homogeneity of Russia's economic space was evaluated in terms of the β- and σ-convergence hypothesis. The hypothesis of absolute β- and σ-convergence over the totality of Russian regions was not confirmed. The existence in some periods of a "club" β- and σ-convergence has been shown for most of the seven selected groups of regions. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2011.