The Nature of Innovation Channels at the Micro-Level: Evidence from Russian Manufacturing Firms

The main purpose of the paper is to analyze different channels for innovations. We analyze the influence of various incentives for innovation in Russian companies taking into account the organization of industries — vertical or horizontal orientation, peculiarities of corporate demography, role and motives of different owners (including government and foreign investors), demand trends, customers‘ profile, nature and intensity of competition in relevant markets. An empirical base for our study is provided by two surveys of Russian industrial companies conducted in 2011 and 2012. One of our hypotheses: in vertically organized sectors that define innovation activeness in the economy (for example, mechanical engineering), the innovative development of the head producers is constrained by the risk of technological gap with its partners in the supply chain. We find out that innovations in Russian industry spread in accordance with two main models: vertical through corporate connections, and horizontal, based on the example of foreign companies in the atmosphere of developed competition

Российские финансовые институты развития: процесс становления и основные проблемы в повышении результативности

The paper tells the history of Russian financial development institutions, analyses their scope and fields of operation, discovers crucial problems and imbalances of Russian financial developenment institutions system and speculates on possible ways to its improvement

Russian policies in support of innovation: elusive quest for efficiency

Focused on the efficiency of the Russian innovation-fostering policy, the research is based on an empirical analysis of how policy instruments impact firms’ behavior. The data is obtained from two surveys of more than 600 Russian industrial companies in 2011-2012. The analysis shows that tax incentives are more conducive to innovations with a longer payback period, whereas public funding is more likely to facilitate launching new innovative projects. At the same time, both kinds of innovation support tools are affected by crowding out private funds by public ones. Besides, innovation policy design and administration are not friendly to young companies

Fostering innovation in Russian companies in the post-crisis period: Opportunities and constraints

In recent years the Russian innovation policy has made a significant progress that manifests in developing its ‘tool kit’, increasing resource base, etc. However it has not yet succeeded in improving business innovation activities that remain local thus not giving prerequisites to transform the general macroeconomic context. Basing on a survey of more than 600 Russian industrial enterprises the authors analyze key features of innovation in Russian companies under economic recovery, as well as stimuli and obstacles for innovation activities. In particular, the paper shows that lack of competition is the key factor discouraging innovation and that the most limiting constraints to business innovation activities are instable economic environment and intra-corporate bureaucratization. Significant attention is paid to the analysis of the use of various instruments of state support for innovation and their beneficiaries. One of the findings is that Russian innovation policy is "neutral" to the size of companies, but there is a lack of instruments engaging new companies in innovation activities. The authors also discuss two possible models of government support for innovation: the former relies on international innovation spillover and the latter on domestic innovation and import-substitution

Fostering innovation in Russian companies in the post-crisis period: Opportunities and constraints

In recent years the Russian innovation policy has made a significant progress that manifests in developing its ‘tool kit’, increasing resource base, etc. However it has not yet succeeded in improving business innovation activities that remain local thus not giving prerequisites to transform the general macroeconomic context. Basing on a survey of more than 600 Russian industrial enterprises the authors analyze key features of innovation in Russian companies under economic recovery, as well as stimuli and obstacles for innovation activities. In particular, the paper shows that lack of competition is the key factor discouraging innovation and that the most limiting constraints to business innovation activities are instable economic environment and intra-corporate bureaucratization. Significant attention is paid to the analysis of the use of various instruments of state support for innovation and their beneficiaries. One of the findings is that Russian innovation policy is "neutral" to the size of companies, but there is a lack of instruments engaging new companies in innovation activities. The authors also discuss two possible models of government support for innovation: the former relies on international innovation spillover and the latter on domestic innovation and import-substitution

Российские финансовые институты развития: процесс становления и основные проблемы в повышении результативности

The paper tells the history of Russian financial development institutions, analyses their scope and fields of operation, discovers crucial problems and imbalances of Russian financial developenment institutions system and speculates on possible ways to its improvement

Cooperation between Russian research organizations and industrial companies: factors and problems

The study is focused on the cooperation of Russian companies with research organizations in implementing R&D projects during technological innovation. Taking into account behavioral changes, authors carry out a micro-level analysis based on empirical data of executive survey of over 600 Russian industrial firms (2011—2012) and about 350 research organizations and universities (2012). The authors emphasize the key factors of firms’ demand for outsourcing R&D reveal the main barriers to the development of university-industry cooperation and their particularities for different cooperation actors. The analysis shows that there is a positive relation between the size of a company and R&D outsourcing. As for the factor of age, the highest cooperation activity of Russian firms is observed among enterprises founded over 20 years ago. As far as concernes cooperation activity of research organizations, large ones are significantly more likely to cooperate with business. A common prerequisite for research organizations' R&D cooperation with business is sufficient academic ranking. Business and science evaluate differently various obstacles to effective cooperation. For firms, the main problems are the inflated costs of national R&Ds, insufficient research organizations’ orientation at company needs, and low quality of developments. As for representatives of research organizations, they mention as barriers primarily the lack of companies' receptivity to innovation and inadequate information about promising developments. Businesses are more optimistic about cooperation with science if they already have a relevant experience of interaction. In the case of research organizations we observe a different pattern: most problems seem more significant to organizations conducting R&D in business interests

Industrial Revolution 4.0 in the BRICS countries: What are the challenges for industrial policy?

Long-term scenarios predict that the BRICS countries can overtake the G7 countries in their contribution to the world economy, but, as follows from the analysis of multicomponent international indices, the same countries lag significantly behind the G7 countries in terms of preparedness for a technological future. In this regard, the growth prospects of the BRICS economies are largely determined by possible strategies of the countries to disseminate and use the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) technologies.Analysis of TiVA OECD data revealed that BRICS was not very profitably integrated into global value chains — far from the final consumer abroad and relatively close to suppliers of raw materials and semi-finished products — which in the long term determines the limitations on increasing economic complexity. Analysis of the WITS World Bank data revealed that BRICS was relatively poorly involved in the processes of international exchange of products related to the technologies of Industry 4.0 — industrial robots, additive technologies, computer-aided-design and computer-aided-manufacturing technologies, and biotechnologies — and retained the position of net importers, with China making the greatest contribution to the dynamics of trade.Taking into account the general growth of global competition for technologies associated with Industry 4.0 and the continuing lag of BRICS in creating and using such technologies, the authors highlight the challenges for the industrial policy of the BRICS countries and discuss possible answers within the framework of industrial and trade policies. Challenges for BRICS include continued participation in global networks as countries serving the production and trade of new technologies; lagging behind in the level of development of the institutional environment and infrastructure for development of technologies; formation of limited “hotbeds” intensively using the Industry 4.0 technologies; and, thus, growth of spatial, inter- and intra-sectoral inequality

Assessing the impact of public funding and tax incentives in Russia: Recipient analysis and additionality effects evaluation

Eine beträchtliche Anzahl von Studien hat bereits das Konzept der Additionalität als Basisbewertungsansatz verwendet, aber bisher gab es keine Versuche auf die Additionalitätsseffekte der russischen Innovationspolitik zu evaluieren. Diese Studie behandelt eine mikroökonomische Evaluierung der Innovationsförderung russischer Industriebetriebe, die auf zwei Instrumenten basiert: direkte Finanzierung und indirekte Steueranreize. Basierend auf den Daten einer Surveys von Top-Managern russischer Produktionsfirmen aus dem Jahr 2015 wurden Profile und Entwicklung von Empfängern von Direktfinanzierungen und Steueranreizen identifiziert und bewertet. Wir bewerteten auch die "relative" Additionalität - die Additionalität eines konkreten Instruments für ein bestimmtes Unternehmen im Verhältnis zu allen anderen verwendeten Instrumenten – mittels Propensity Score Matching. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die industrielle Innovationspolitik der Russischen Föderation in der Regel auf ausreichend große und langlebige Unternehmen abzielt. Im Hinblick auf die Effekte, wurde nicht nur die Bedeutung der fiskalischen Unterstützung und die Existenz von Additionalitätseffekten bestätigt, sondern auch ihre Bedeutung für die Verdrängung privater Investitionen. Unsere Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass steuerliche Anreize kaum zur Additionalität beitragen, die in Bezug auf die Input-Additionalität besonders ungewöhnlich ist. Es sollte auch darauf hingewiesen werden, dass sich die öffentliche Unterstützung nur in geringem Maße auf die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft auswirkt, was angesichts der erheblichen Anstrengungen unerwartet ist