INNOVATION-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT OF TERRITORIAL ECONOMIES IN RUSSIA: AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK AND REGIONAL SPECIFICS (EVIDENCE FROM KAZAN AND THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN)

The paper provides a theoretical justification for analyzing innovation-driven development of territorial economies and identifies key features of its implementation in Russia at the present stage, illustrated by the regional specifics of Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan. The aim of the study is to develop a coherent analytical framework that links the resource prerequisites of innovation, the processes of implementation and diffusion, the results of innovation activity, and the socio-economic effects for a territory. The methodological basis includes content analysis of domestic and international approaches to defining innovation and innovation-driven development, as well as a systematization of factors and barriers shaping innovation dynamics at the territorial level. The empirical part is based on official statistical and analytical data describing innovation activity of organizations, the structure of innovation expenditures and outputs, and key indicators of the innovation environment in Tatarstan for 2019–2024. The study shows that, at the current stage, the main conditions of effective innovation-driven development are the quality of the institutional environment, the presence of “first demand” for innovations, the density of cooperative ties, and the availability of infrastructure for piloting and scaling solutions. These parameters largely explain spatial heterogeneity of innovation dynamics across territories. The paper concludes that innovationdriven development of a territory should be treated as a reproducible process in which innovative potential is transformed into sustainable effects through mechanisms of implementation and diffusion.