regional inequality

Introduction. The socio-economic development of Russia is characterized by the presence of inter-regional imbalances that lead to the destabilization of a single economic space, crisis phenomena and economic losses. Theoretical analysis. The article outlines the main ideas of some basic theories of the regional economy in terms of substantiating inter-regional disparities in socio-economic development. It is shown that these theories should underlie the understanding of a natural, insurmountable factor of disproportions of territorial development and social inequality existence, which is associated with competitive advantages, location of economic activity and forms of settlement in the economic space. It is proved that inter-regional disparities in socio-economic development lead to inefficient use of economic space and the formation of local markets in regions characterized by significant differences. Results. Appealing to the theoretical heritage of the regional economy in order to search for objective reasons and identify trends and uneven socio-economic development of regions in modern Russia will allow you to choose the right strategy for managing regional development and minimize the negative effects of interregional differentiation.