SPATIAL DIFFERENTIATION OF AGRICULTURE'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL MUNICIPALITIES: ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY AND REGULATORY DIRECTIONS

Abstract

The study develops a methodological approach to assessing the spatial differentiation of agriculture's contribution to sustainable rural development and tests it using data for the regions of the Central Federal District, excluding Moscow. The approach distinguishes the scale of agricultural specialization from the territorial effect of agriculture expressed through economic, social and labour, investment and reproduction, and spatial and resource components. Indicator normalization and the CRITIC method are used to derive objective weights. The empirical base consists of official Rosstat data for 2022–2024. The calculations reveal considerable territorial heterogeneity in the role of agriculture in gross value added, employment and investment, while rural labour-market indicators vary much less. A typology of regions is constructed using an integral contribution index, and differentiated regulatory priorities are proposed for each type. The approach is scalable to rural municipalities provided that unavailable regional indicators are replaced with statistically comparable municipal proxies.