Ергин Сергей Михайлович

The article examines the processes of urbanization and economic concentration in Russia. The authors identified two stages of urbanization: rapid growth and stabilization since the 1990s. It is shown that polarization of settling in the country is increasing: Moscow and St. Petersburg concentrate up to 32-40% of the population of their macro-regions. According to the official indicators of gross regional product and the author's estimates of gross value added, five models of economic dominance were identified: from hyper-concentration of megacities to stability of the cities against the background of the raw materials dominance of neighboring regions. It is concluded that there is no single trend of economic concentration of economic power in the cities-leaders: administrative decisions, resource rent and regional policy affect the economic landscape no less than natural growth of the cities.

The article analyzes the phenomenon of resource meso-level polarization based on the assessment of distribution of budget, investment and labour resources in the most important cities of the Republic of Crimea. The purpose of the study was to quantify the resource polarization between the cities of the Republic of Crimea and identify its economic consequences. The methods used in the article are generalization, data grouping, analytical sampling, statistical analysis and observation, and comparison allowed analyzing the degree of income inequality both among the population and the urban districts of the region as a whole, as well as to identify the key factor influencing intraregional differentiation, as well as the formation of meso-level monopolies in the republic. The research methodology is based on the official database of municipalities of the Republic of Crimea and uses a three-component structure of resource polarization. The obtained results allowed formulating conclusions and proposals aimed at expanding the boundaries of meso-level analysis of urban municipalities development, based on the consideration of investment resource forming the basis of inter-territorial differentiation.

The article substantiates the possibility and value of involving an entrepreneur in the work of certain enterprises outside the narrow framework of the firms they founded as managers with extensive entrepreneurial experience, thereby helping such enterprises to succeed in competition. It is proposed to take into account the size of the enterprise, because a unified approach to appointment of a manager is not suitable for all economic entities. The purpose of the article is to determine the value of attracting entrepreneurs to the board of directors who have created other firms, and their ability to increase the value and efficiency of companies that they have not created. Some enterprises in certain industries are more suitable for management by external entrepreneurs, while in other firms the effectiveness of their involvement will be low. This thesis should form the basis of corporate decisions concerning appointment of external entrepreneurs to their board of directors. Studies have shown that enterprises headed by owners perform better than those run by external professional managers. Based on the resource point of view when analyzing the firm, it was shown that entrepreneurs who have created other firms that act as external directors are more focused on increasing investments in research and development and higher sales growth rates. Their impact on the value of enterprises is greater among firms in industries with intensive use of research and development work and in competitive industries. Such business directors from the outside increase the value of the company due to their risk inclination and ability to anticipate demand patterns and create new markets.