2020 Issue №4

The article focuses on the theoretical aspects of the development of behavioral geoeconomics as a new area of interdisciplinary research. The authors attempt to introduce the “strategic economic behavior” construct into scientific circulation. The approach is based on the results of empirical and theoretical verification of the methodological individualism postulate. According to researchers, the experimental data suggest that the behavior of the state cannot be narrowed down to the behavior of individuals. The rejection of the methodological individualism principle allows us to consider that the rationality of the state economic behavior should be considered through the correlation of goals, available resources and the planning prospects. The proposed theoretical construct is postulated as the basis for a new interdisciplinary research program that integrates the institutional-evolutionary economics and behavioural economics.

The geography of modern innovation processes increasingly covers not only megalopolises and large industrial cities, but also rural areas. The issue of innovative development of the countryside has acquired particular prominence in the context of securing human capital and preventing the marginalization of rural settlements, though creating a favorable environment for life and business in particular. At the initial stage, the innovation of rural areas is associated with the diffusion and implementation of innovations in the economy and social sectors, as well as expanding the public access to various innovative solutions and technologies that can increase the level of well-being and the quality of the living environment. The purpose of this study is to assess the existing differences between the rural and urban population in the provision of banking, public, information and communication services as the basis for activating the innovation process. The study is carried out on urban and rural municipalities of the Leningrad region. Special attention is paid to the spatial factor in concentration of service renders. It is revealed that there is a significant gap in innovation susceptibility both between urban and rural settlements, and within rural settlements, depending on their proximity to a densely populated urban agglomeration, significant highways, large industrial and port infrastructure.