The article substantiates the impact of the institutional factor on the development of regional international economic relations. The scope of the study is regional international economic activity (IEA), the subject- matter is the role of the institutional factor in its development. The study purpose is to develop a scientific approach for the assessment of the institutional factor impact on the development of region’s international economic relations. The hypothesis is that the targeted efforts of all participants of IEA of the region (business, authorities, local community) to strengthen of theese components of the institutional factor, which have a strong influence on the regional socio-economic development. A methodological approach for the assessment of this influenceis developed. It includes determining three elements of IEA institutionalization — agreements, organizations, events. A three-dimensional model is proposed for the coordination of these elements with 3 groups of countries — developed, developing and CIS, including the Eurasian Economic Union, and also with basic indexes characterizing the qualitative and quantitative contribution of region’s IEA into its socio-economic development. This model is tested on the example of the Sverdlovsk region of Russia for 2003–2015. That has allowed to define various kinds of the effects from strenthening the IEA institutional component, which are expressed in the increase of the export of the region, improvement of its investment attractiveness, the diversification of regional economy as well as the the generation of additional jobs and tax flows increase.

In current geo-economic conditions, we need to consider the foreign economic factor as an instrument for structural changes, for the diversification of regional economy, as well as for the realization of a policy of import substitution, including exportoriented one. The article generalizes and systemizes preconditions and sources of the research of regional foreign economic activity in the works of the scientific school of the Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of RAS since the middle of the 1980s. The Institute was one of the first among the regional centres of the academic science of the country, which has addressed the foreign economic relations of a region. The purpose of the article is to systematize both the evolution of scientific definitions and the development of the Ural school of regional foreign economic research during the 30-years period. We apply the interdisciplinary approach and a broad range of methods: a historical method, an economic and statistical method, a comparative analysis, etc. The paper has systemized and characterized the research directions carried out by the staff of the Institute and in cooperation with Russian and Ural colleagues from other institutions. There are geo-economic shifts; international comparative research; regions’ involvement into global economic relations; realization of Ural export potential in terms of neo-industrialization and import substitution; international economic cooperation in the framework of SCO, BRICS, Eurasian Economic Union, etc. The Academician A. I. Tatarkin played an invaluable role as the Head of the Institute from 1990 to 2016. He initiated, facilitated and led many research directions. Thanks to this, the Institute of the Ural Branch of RAS over the years has being a kind of regional research-communicational platform, where scientists can search the mechanisms and tools for the realization of the foreign economic potential of the region with an account of national priorities. It underlines a high practical importance of the research in this sphere

The purpose of the research is to substantiate what kind of influence the import substitution has on the positioning of different types of regions in the system of international economic relations. The research is focused on two types of regions — the industrial type (the Sverdlovsk region) and the agricultural type (Rostov and Krasnodar regions). The research hypothesis is following: import substitution influences not only the replacement of imported goods by the domestic ones, but also can change regional positioning in the international economic relations system. The authors propose the methodological approach. It examines the regional economy according to three levels: a system of entities engaged in foreign economic activity; a system of the support of import substitution and export orientation in a region; a system of international economic relations. Regional positioning in the system of international economic relations is expressed in manufacture and agriculture exports and imports. Our methodological approach reveals the dependence between manufacture and agriculture exports and imports and the manufacturing and agriculture output, including correlation analysis. . We have offered a technique based on the comparative analysis of the effectiveness of import substitution in two regions’ types applying correlation analysis. The analysis has shown the interrelation of the development processes of domestic manufacturing and agriculture, their export and import in 2005– 2016. The import decrease and export increase (after 2014) were mainly due to regional specialization in international division of labour. This demonstrates the results of import substitution. The research results can be used for further development of the strategies of regional international economic activity including such instruments as import substitution and export promotion.