Development and Testing of a Methodological Approach to Assessing the Effectiveness of Regional Investment Policy

Abstract

The level of development of the regional economic system in modern conditions significantly depends on the quality and elaboration of the implemented investment policy. In this paper, the author presents a comparative analysis of existing methodological programs dedicated to assessing the effectiveness of regional investment policy. According to the results of the analysis, it was found that most of the methodological approaches are based on such methods as comparing the growth rates of investments with the growth rates of the gross regional product, integral assessments, analysis of the qualitative component of regional investment policy, and so on, in connection with which it is concluded that in public administration there is a need to develop improved methods for assessing the effectiveness of regional investment policy that are complex and available to researchers (in terms of open information data). The author proposes a methodology for assessing the effectiveness of regional investment policy; the methodological framework is based on the ideology of a systematic approach, in which investments have an impact on all aspects of the socio-economic development of the region. The proposed methodological approach is based on two groups of indicators directly and indirectly related to the receipt of investments in the region. Direct indicators for assessing the effectiveness of regional investment policy are related to the overall socio-economic development of the territory and include three independent blocks: indicators of investment activity, indicators of economic growth, and indicators characterizing the level and quality of life of the population. Indirect indicators are not divided into separate blocks within the framework of the methodology and are considered in unity. In the process of the methodology, summary indices for each group of direct indicators and a generalizing integral index are calculated, which makes it possible to make a final conclusion about the effectiveness of the implementation of regional investment policy. The results of the interpretation of the indices make it possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current regional investment policy and, taking this into account, develop promising areas for its improvement.