Abstract <p>In order to identify internal resources for the development of a territory based on human capital, this study identifies a sector of the regional economy associated with the economic activity of the local population. The concept of “embeddedness” of economic activities in the regional community is used to characterize the sector. It is proposed that the share of local personal incomes from entrepreneurship and property be considered the criterion for the embeddedness of the economy, reflecting the degree of the regional community’s involvement in market relations as a subject of economic processes. The spatial differences in the degree of embeddedness are considered, with allocation of Siberia’s resource regions, where the basis of the economy is the activity of external corporations for these regions in the extraction and primary processing of raw materials. The degree of development of the embedded sector, especially in areas related to intellectual activity, influences the consolidation of the most active and educated part of the population in eastern regions. The results of the study can be applied in regional socioeconomic planning, which should shift the emphasis from resource potential to human potential through the priority development of the embedded sector of the economy.</p>