Territorial differences in the innovative development of Sweden, Finland, and the North-western federal district of the Russian Federation

This article considers the innovative component of the economies of Sweden, Finland, and the Noreth-western federal district (NWFD) of the Russian Federation. The authors present the results of a comparative analysis of research and technological potential of the regions and their administrativeterritorial units in terms of innovative activity development. For the first time, the index of integral assessment of research and technological potential of the NWFD has been calculated in comparison to Sweden and Finland. The NWFD is proved to lag behind Sweden and Finland in terms of innovative development indices; however, the NWFD shows an increase in such indices in catches up in terms of individual indices (mobile communication density and Internet access availability). The authors offer sketch maps showing similarities in the character of territorial differentiation of innovative processes in the NEFD, Sweden, and Finland (which corresponds to the centreperiphery model).