Cluster analysis of the Russian regions by the human capital development and digital resources factors

Abstract

© 2019, Research Trend. All rights reserved. The article performs the analysis of the structure of multidimensional data on the factor of development of human capital and digital resources of Russia. The objects under observation were the subjects of the Russian Federation, the factors of each object under observation were the average annual indicators of the corresponded factors of the monitoring of the information society development in the Russian Federation for the period from 2010 to 2017. The article substantiates an increasing role of digital resources in improving the quality of human capital of clusters of the subjects of the Russian Federation which differ in the level of development of digital infrastructure, social conditions and the peculiarities of rendering electronic services. The theses of this study can serve as methodological instructions for the formation of regional cluster networks aimed at improving the competitiveness of the subjects of the Russian Federation that form clusters. To determine the optimal number of clusters, several models were applied with the subsequent selection of the best number by means of the BIC (Bayesian Information Criterion) assessment. The structuring of data through cluster analysis was performed using the EM method (Expectation Maximization) and the Ward Hierarchical Clustering method. These methods were implemented in the R studio integrated development environment. As a result of applying the methods of clusterization, clusters of the regions of the RF that differ in the level of development of resource base, processes and results of using digital technologies for the development of constituent entities of the Russian Federation have been singled out. A stable cluster of the subjects of the RF differing from the majority of the subjects of the RF by special characteristics of human capital development and electronic technologies has been identified.