INNOVATIVENESS AND INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS: CASE OF RUSSIAN R&D COMPANIES

The number of Russian companies entering international markets has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. The development of innovative industries has intensified as well. Do innovations play significant role in internationalisation? Do innovators internationalize more actively? Does operating on international markets make companies more innovative? This paper studies innovations and internationalisation of companies in Russia, based on the survey of R&D-oriented companies located in the two most developed areas of Russia (St. Petersburg and Moscow). The study aims to identify the clusters of companies according to their exports and R&D expenditures, and fulfil in-depth analysis of innovations-related determinants that could explain the structure of the clusters. The main results of the study show the significant impact of innovation activities, competition and new product development on export intensity.Innovation, R&D, export intensity, internationalisation, Russia, competition

Mapping inclusive innovation:A bibliometric study and literature review

Inclusive innovation is a type of innovation that targets not only affordability but also localization of underdeveloped countries, with the aim of reducing poverty. Despite the increasing attention paid to inclusive innovation, there is no common understanding of how the inclusive innovation notion is formed among researchers and experts. This study adopts a novel approach by combining bibliometric methods of co-citation analysis and text codifying of 293 core and relevant journal articles on inclusive innovation. The results reveal that the notion of inclusive innovation has evolved in five clusters: (1) innovation as a tool for affordability, (2) innovation as a tool for inclusion, (3) building of capabilities and innovation, (4) innovation constraints associated with social empowerment, and (5) innovation as an inclusive system. Furthermore, this study proposes a conceptual model based on these clusters, and discusses the nature of how these clusters lead to the possibility for further studies on inclusive innovation.</p

MNEs’ Contribution to Sustainable Energy and Development: The Case of “Light for All” Program in Brazil

Access to affordable and sustainable energy is crucial for the improvement of the well-being of modern societies. Most energy technologies require comparatively high up-front investment, which adds to the challenge of electrification, despite the recognized multiple benefits. Partnership with multinational enterprises (MNEs) can provide necessary investment in infrastructure, finance, and technology for renewable energy and contribute to improving development indicators. However, remote areas with poor infrastructure do not have access to MNEs that are profit seekers. The Brazil experience with MNEs and "Light for All" (LfA) program shows that people gaining access to electricity invest more in businesses, education, health, and women reduce their drudgery at household chores. However, areas having a poor infrastructure in the north remain out of electricity, and attempts to create universal access were failed until a regulatory incentive framework and particular attention from the government was established. This is a great learning for the developing countries aiming to achieve sustainable development goals. A host country can gain development cooperation from MNEs with rightly formulated and implemented policies and regulatory conditions

The Contribution of the Pharmaceutical Industry to the Health Status of the developing World

There is sufficient evidence to prove that the improved health status of a nation’s citizens results in economic growth and development via improved functionality and productivity of labor. It is also commonly accepted that healthcare expenditure significantly influences health status through, for instance, improving life expectancy at birth and reducing morbidity, death, and infant mortality rates. Within healthcare, medicines account for a considerable share of health-related expenditure in both developed and developing countries. Therefore, it seems reasonable to assume that improved access to medicines is likely to contribute not only to the well-being of families and individuals but also to the economic growth and development in all societies. It has been widely advocated that pharmaceutical multinational enterprises (MNEs) can play an important role to address this problem, as they develop and supply a significant proportion of the drugs imported by low- and middle-income countries. This chapter is dedicated to a systematic review of literature in order to identify the strategies implemented by pharmaceutical MNEs to improve access to medicines in the low- and middle-income countries. A total of 76 research articles have been identified, and we have found that the main strategies of pharmaceutical MNEs are related to improving health outcomes through R&D, establishing partnerships for product development, pricing strategies to improve access to medicines, technology transfer, licensing agreements, and nonmarket efforts to improve access to medicines, among other strategies to overcome barriers imposed by intellectual property rights. We have also found that pharmaceutical MNEs’ strategies take place within a complex system and often involve interactions with a wide range of actors, such as international organizations, governments, private not-for-profit sector, universities and research institutes, and generic manufacturers. However, there is still a need for major progress in the field of access to medicines, and pharmaceutical MNEs should be more active in this field in order to avoid potential negative consequences, such as loss of legitimacy and compulsory licensing of their patented medicines