Potential of small and medium-sized enterprises in containing spatial inequality of regions of the Siberian Federal District

The purpose of the study is to determine the potential of small and medium-sized businesses in containing spatial inequality through a comparative analysis of the spatial distribution of small and medium-sized enterprises and economic activity in general (using the regions of the Siberian Federal District of Russia as an example). The methods of descriptive statistics, the Herfindahl-Hirschman index, the Gates coefficient, and the coefficient of specialization of regions in small and medium-sized businesses were used. Small and medium-sized enterprises are located in the regions of the Siberian Federal District more evenly compared to the structure of the gross regional product, which constrains spatial inequality. In particular, in 2022, the Herfindahl-Hirschman index for the structure of gross regional product was 1616.3, compared to 1474.0 for the spatial concentration of small and medium-sized enterprises placement. The variation in the indicators of the distribution of gross regional product in the regions of the Siberian Federal District is also significantly higher than the indicators of the distribution of small and medium-sized enterprises. Therefore, support for small and medium-sized enterprises can be used as a method of curbing spatial inequality.