Institutional Foundations of the Regions’ Digitalization

Abstract The article is devoted to the study of the institutional foundations of the regions’ digitalization. Approaches to understanding and interpreting the essence of the concept of "digitization of the region" were considered, which made it possible to group them into four approaches: scientific, practical, regional and social. It has been proven that the process of forming the regions’ digital economy is significantly dependent on the institutional environment. It was determined that this is a set of socio-economic and political norms and rules that serve as the basis for the structural construction and relationships between the components of the digital economy. The following functions of the institutional environment are distinguished: integrative, stimulating, social, distributive, informational, and revenue. The concept, essence, possible variants of the relationship and interaction of formal and informal rules and norms are considered. The concept and essence of development institutes are clarified.