Institutional-synergetic approach in benchmarking of territorial industrial policy

Abstract

The authors argue that an industrial policy for a territory is a crucial means for its development and suggest theoretical and methodological outline for its benchmarking. 
The fact of creating priority development areas (PDAs), which are similar to special economic zones, whose inefficiency is now recognized, confirms the suspicion that PDA creation is an outcome of political lobbing rather than economic planning. Governmental efforts on the federal, regional and municipal levels lack consistency. The current economic conditions lead to fierce competition for investment, which makes municipal and regional governments more open to investors, on the one hand, but on the other, may lead to some poor decision-making. 
The authors argue that in view of the current priorities of technological innovation, coordination of diverse stakeholders’ interests and goals in PDA dynamics, it is imperative to integrate a PDA development strategy into the industrial policy of a territory. 
Conceptually, this research relies on the institutional-synergetic approach to benchmarking of territorial industrial policies. This approach can help us develop an industrial policy for a specific PDA by building upon this area’s competitive advantages and by evaluating the available alternatives. To improve managerial decision-making, it is also recommended to study and adopt Russian and international experience in this sphere. PDAs should act as self-organizing systems in order to engage institutions and mechanisms of development ‘in the right place at the right time’ and employ tools of synergetic management (‘stimulate trigger points’) for positive synergetic effects.