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

Global Value Chains: How to Enhance Resilience under Sudden Shocks?

The vulnerability of global value chains (GVCs) to sudden shocks generated by the COVID-19 pandemic carries risks of destabilization of national economies. Limited studies on this issue give space to debatable assessments (also in Russia) of the expediency of countries’ participation in GVCs. Since various aspects of such participation have already been widely considered in the Russian literature, we focus on another aspect of the topic — possible strategies of international business (leading MNEs) for enhancing GVC resilience under high uncertainty. The initial section provides background definitions related to the GVC concept, including the treatment of resilience (as the ability of systems to respond flexibly to shocks and adapt to a changed environment through internal restructuring). Then we formulate advantages of the modern distributed model of production and trade in value-added through GVCs, as well as display a typical design of a manufacturing GVC and its global supplier network. Further, we consider stages in the GVCs’ expansion and describe the distributed model vulnerabilities before and during the COVID-19 crisis. On this basis, we systematize strategies of leading MNEs, outlined in 2020, for enhancingGVC resilience in the post-crisis period, with highlighting two directions in MNEs’ activities — 1) restructuring and diversification of supplier networks and 2) optimization of production control through applying digital technologies. We then reveal possible impact of these strategies on GVCs’ regionalization (their transition from a globally distributed to macroregional format), and point to potential shifts in the global production landscape. Final section outlines a new phase of globalization titled reglobalization. We conclude that reconfiguration of GVCs allows developing economies, including Russia, to improve their position in the global production, provided they are ready to implement necessary structural reforms

Some Aspects of Development and Histological Structure of the Visual System of Nothobranchius Guentheri

In this, work some aspects of the development of the visual system of Nothobranchius guentheri at the main stages of ontogenesis were described for the first time. It was possible to establish that the formation of the visual system occurs similarly to other representatives of the order Cyprinodontiformes, but significantly differs in terms of the individual stages of embryogenesis due to the presence of diapause. In the postembryonic period, there is a further increase in the size of the fish’s eyes and head, to the proportions characteristic of adult fish. The histological structure of the eye in adult N. guentheri practically does not differ from most teleost fish living in the same environmental conditions. The study of the structure of the retina showed the heterogeneity of the thickness of the temporal and nasal areas, which indicates the predominant role of peripheral vision. Morphoanatomical measurements of the body and eyes of N. guentheri showed that their correlation was conservative. This indicates an important role of the visual system for the survival of fish in natural conditions, both for the young and adults. In individuals of the older age group, a decrease in the amount of sodium (Na) and an increase in magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) were found in the eye lens. Such changes in the elemental composition of the lens can be a sign of the initial stage of cataractogenesis and disturbances in the metabolism of lens fibers as a result of aging. This allows us to propose N. guentheri as a model for studying the structure, formation, and aging of the visual and nervous systems