Assessing the competitive advantages of regional agricultural enterprises

The article develops a methodology for assessing the competitive advantages of regional agricultural enterprises. Its advantages include industry focus, comparability, and versatility. The methodology includes the calculation of five main indices depending on the relevant blocks of economic activity. These indices include a resource index reflecting the level of resource availability, an investment index characterizing the intensity of investment processes, a market index constructed taken into account the characteristics of the price situation for product sales, an operational index correlating with the economic efficiency of business processes, and a production index expressing the cost intensity of production. The proposed integral index, formed on the basis of a five-element index system, acts as a universal tool for analytical monitoring of the manifestation of competitive advantages of regional agribusiness entities. The author's approach to analytical monitoring proposed in the article is relevant for diagnosing the current level of competitive advantages based on the developed system of indicators, identifying areas for the formation of additional competitive advantages, and forecasting short-term and medium-term prospects for industry development. An assessment of the competitive advantages of agricultural enterprises in the Kursk region, based on the developed methodology and taken into account the constructed dynamic index map, allowed us to identify negative trends in the operational, investment, and production indices, as well as positive trends in the resource and market indices. These trends, taken together, led to a decrease in competitiveness, reflected in the declining dynamics of the integrated index. The presented methodological approach can be used to develop new and adjust existing federal and regional government regulation programs for agricultural enterprises to improve the competitiveness of the industry, as well as to assess the effectiveness of corporate management.