REGIONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF SMALL BUSINESS AND PRIVATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACTIVITY: A COEFFICIENT-BASED INDEX FOR THE DISTRICTS OF NAMANGAN REGION, UZBEKISTAN

Abstract

This paper measures the intra-regional differentiation of small business and private entrepreneurship (SBPE) activity across the twelve cities and districts of Namangan region (Uzbekistan) over 2020–2024. Using administrative statistics for industrial production, market services and foreign trade, it applies a share-coefficient methodology and aggregates the domain coefficients into a composite activity index benchmarked against an equal-distribution norm of 0.083. The pattern is strongly monocentric: Namangan City accounts for 36–41 per cent of entrepreneurial output in every domain and exceeds the norm by a factor of 4.6, while eleven districts remain below it. The coefficient of variation of the index falls from 1.14 to 0.33 once the centre is excluded, and domain coefficients are almost uncorrelated among peripheral districts (r = 0.08 between industry and services). Differentiation is thus driven by the centre–periphery divide, and districts specialise rather than develop uniformly. A three-tier typology of districts and a specialisation-based support policy are proposed.