Russian Regional Matrix of Distances: Use in Economic Analysis

Abstract

The spatial factor plays an important role in solving many practical problems of modern economics — from the analysis of trade and migration to the study of the dynamics of regional prices and the spread of epidemics. At the same time, the method of calculating the distance matrix plays a very important role. Countries and even regions are not point objects, and economic activity in them is distributed all over the territory, but the distance is measured between two points. In addition, the distance between points can be calculated along a straight line (great circle arc), roads and railways, or by some synthetic method. Special attention is paid to the regions without railroad connection. The paper considers the main problems of distance matrix construction and possible ways to solve them. As a result, we recommend a distance matrix that can be used by all specialists in spatial economics.