Evolution of the regional economics paradigm

The ongoing fourth industrial revolution, which is giving birth to new value chains, puts pressure on regional economies. To maintain the economic growth Russian regions should pay closer attention to shaping competitive advantages and search for unoccupied niches in the global economy. Such context kindles the interest in regional economics. The paper aims to summarise many years of research on the evolution of scientific views on regional economics as an actively developing, relatively independent, and important research programme. The methodology of the research involves applying the evolutionary approach to examine the transformation of the subject field of regional economics, which consolidates economics of territories, theory of productive forces distribution, and theory of regional management. The study uses general scientific methods, including analysis and synthesis, generalisation and grouping. According to the findings, regional economics is a special construct in economic theory, which integrates and synthesises not only paradigm peculiarities of regional science itself, but also such related disciplines as economic geography, economic theory, territorial planning, city science, etc. Regional economics is energetically extending its subject and making it more complex by attracting non-production activities into its research orbit. The evolution of the paradigm of regional economics should be based on the formation of the hard core of its subject field, which includes, first and foremost, theoretical and methodological regularities, principles and matters of public production distribution, second, theories and concepts making up the regions’ development paradigm, and, third, theories and concepts of regional management, which all together create an adequate picture of the subject of regional economics. Concept of territoriality, theory of self-developing economic systems, concept of regional (local) identity form the “protective belt” of regional economics. Theoretical and practical significance of the research consists in that the paradigm of regional economics provides a basis for designing an adaptive regional policy in accordance with the new technological trajectories.