Specificities of Innovation Activity in Russian Industry

Abstract

Technological innovation has a key role to play in the revival of Russian industry in transition. However, contemporary innovation trends in Russia are notable for peculiar features determined by a combination of negative phenomena of the transition period and the stagnation inherited from the formerly centrally-planned economy. To facilitate the study of innovation activity as a complex of scientific, technological, organisational, financial and commercial measures related to development and introduction of new or improved products or processes, the Centre for Science Research and Statistics (CSRS) has begun to collect and analyse Russian innovation statistics in a new way (Gokhberg, 1995; Gokhberg and Kuznetsova, 1995). The gradual introduction of market mechanisms has created a need for modern methodological approaches to innovation studies, including innovation types and sources, incentives and obstacles, resources and outputs. The implementation of the first national innovation survey in Russia in line with the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) was a major step forward in this regard.