Areas of Study

Russian Companies: Organization and Corporate Governance

The Institute tops Russian research centers that deal with the organization of Russian companies. Firstly, emphasis is placed on trends of the ownership structure and concentration; patterns of corporate control; the influence of the corporative integration on business restructuring; inward and outward foreign investment effects with respect to corporate governance; and trends in the evolution of corporate governance affected by the world economic crisis.

Analysis of the corporate governance and integration is above all based on data from a survey of 822 industrial and communication sector joint-stock companies carried out together with the Institute of Economic Research at Hitotsubashi University (Japan) in 2005.

The organization of corporate control in state-owned enterprises and mixed firms represents a specific sphere of the IIMS’s analytical work.

The main findings from this research are summarized in:

• Dolgopyatova T., Iwasaki I., Yakovlev A. Оrganization and Development of Russian Business: A Firm-Level Analysis. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2009.
• Yakovlev A., Danilov Yu. Entwicklungsperspectiven russischer Großunternehmen im post-sozialistischen Kontext: Eigentümerstructur, Finanzierrung und Corporate Governance // Heiko Pleines (Hrsg.) Corporate Governance in post-sozialistischen Volkswirtschaften, Ibidem-Verlag, 2008, p. 215-241
• Dolgopyatova T. «Corporate Ownership and Control in the Russian Companies: Trends and Specifics» - in ‘Corporate Restructuring and Governance in Transition Economies’ / Ed. by B. Dallago and I.Iwasaki, Palgrave MacMillan, 2007.
• Dolgopyatova T., Iwasaki I. Exploring Russian Corporations: Interim Report on the Japanese-Russian Joint Research Project on Corporate Governance and Integration Processes in the Russian Economy. Tokyo, Hitotsubashi University, Institute of Economic Research Discussion Paper Series (B), No. 35
• Yakovlev, A. Evolution of corporate governance in Russia: Governmental policy vs. real incentives of economic agents. Post-Communist Economies, Vol. 16 (2004), p.387-403.
• Dolgopyatova, T., Corporate control in the Russian industry: Actors and mechanisms, East-West journal of economics and business, vol.V, 2002, No.2, p.197-215.
  
  

Russian Companies: Productivity and Factors Affecting Competitiveness

Measuring the productivity and competitiveness of Russian companies – mostly in the manufacturing industry – is one of the most important research topics at the IIMS. The study allows researchers to trace effects linked to path dependence, local markets of production factors, demand, competition, and the performance of a firm’s managers.

Among our larger applied projects is a survey of 1,000 enterprises in the manufacturing industry conducted jointly with the World Bank in 2005 and 2006. The key finding from the survey’s analysis reveals the deep heterogeneity of industrial enterprises in their productivity and competitive stand even within the same industrial sector.

Within the Institute’s work, competitiveness is assessed not only at the company level, but also within value chains. It is shown how the organization of value chains affects the possibility and incentives of upgrading enterprises.

The main findings from this research are summarized in:

• Kuznetsov B. et al. Russian Manufacturing Revisited: Industrial Enterprises at the Start of the Crisis. SSEES UCL,  Economics Working paper 111, October 2010.
• Kuznetsov B., Schaffer M. Productivity – in R.Desaj, I.Goldberg (eds.) Can Russia Compete? Enhancing Productivity and Innovation in a Globalizing World. Washington DC, Brookings Institution Press, 2008.
• Kuznetsov B. Russian Industry and Competitiveness: Trends and Prospects. – in “Varieties of Capitalism and Transformation”: Center for Advanced Economic Analysis, Kyoto Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University, Bunrikaku publisher, 2008.

• Gontschar K. Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Innovationen in der russischen Industrie. Das schnelle Wachstum einer nicht wettbewerbsfähigen Wirtschaft - in Pleines Heiko; Schröder, Hans-Henning (Hrsg.). Länderbericht Russland. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 2008
• Avdasheva S. Russian Furniture Industry: Enterprises Upgrading from the Value-Chain Theory Perspectives. Pan-European Institute Electronic Publication Series, 2006, No 8.

• Golikova V., Gonchar K., Kuznetsov B., Yakovlev A. Russian manufacturing at the crossroads. What Prevents Firms from Becoming Competitive? HSE, 2007

• Golikova V., Ermilova G. Competitiveness of Small Enterprises: Evidence from Empirical Survey in Two Russian Regions. Tokyo, Hitotsubashi University, Insititute of Economic Research Discussion Paper Series (B), 2006, No. 34, pp. 39-65.
• Avdasheva S., Budanov I, Golikova V., Yakovlev A. (2005) Upgrading Russian enterprises from the value chain perspective: the case study of tube & pipe, and furniture sectors. Economics Working Paper 58, SSEES UCL, London, UK. 
  
  

Russian Companies: Management Practice and Innovation Activity

The IIMS provides extensive coverage of the best management practices and innovative activities in enterprises.

The role of technological, organizational and managerial innovations is paid special attention. Comparative analysis is made both at the company level and at the state level, and innovation policy in Russia and in other new industrial countries is studied. Special attention is paid to the problem of strategic management goals, development of the organizational structure of enterprises and specific management techniques such as international quality certificates, encouraging contracts for managers, etc. In these studies, the Institute collaborates with the World Bank Institute.

The findings from this research are summarized in:

• Ksenia Gontschar. «Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Innovationen in der russischen Industrie. Das schnelle Wachstum einer nicht wettbewerbsfähigen Wirtschaft. In «Schröder, Hans-Henning (Hrsg.). Länderbericht Russland. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 2010
• K. Gonchar. 2006. Corporate industrial innovations in Russia: empirical results. Paper commissioned by the World Bank.
• K. Gonchar and A. Ponomarev, 2006. Promoting Academia-Industry Linkages: Analysis of Existing Initiatives and Defining the Institutionalization Agenda. The World Bank Institute  
• K. Gonchar and A.Ponomarev, 2003. Overview of the initiatives within the emerging venture capital industry in Russia”. The World Bank Institute
• K.Gonchar, 2001. Russian R&D between the state and the market / In “Government Laboratories. Transition and Transformation”. , ed. by D.Cox, Ph.Gummett and K.Barker, 2001.PREST-NATO Science series, Science and Technology Policy
  
  

Russian Companies: State-business Relations

Another priority subject for the IIMS is connected with the state-business relations  in developing and transition economies. The analyses are aimed at defining those links between the state authorities and enterprises that may form a solid basis for further development of economy. In these studies the Institute collaborates with Professor Timothy Frye (Columbia University, USA).

Business associations as mediators between the state authorities and enterprises keep a special position in the agenda of the Institute. We analyze how business associations affect both the companies themselves and the decisions of the state authorities. In these studies the Institute collaborates with Professor William Pyle (Middlebury College, USA).

The main findings from this research are summarized in

• Frye T., Yakovlev A., Yasin Ye. The “Other” Russian Economy: How Everyday Firms View the Rules of the Game in Russia // Social Research: An International Quarterly of the Social Sciences, 2009, Vol. 75, №1, p.29-54.
• Yakovlev A. Interest Groups and Economic Reform in Contemporary Russia: Before and After Yukos - in S.White (ed.), Politics and The Ruling Group in Putin's Russia. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, p. 87-119
• Yakovlev A., Avraamova E. Public attitudes toward business in contemporary Russia: influence of economic policy and opportunities for corporate response // Post-Communist Economies, Vol. 20 (2008), No.3.
• Yakovlev A. The Evolution of Business-State Interaction in Russia: From State Capture to Business Capture // Europe-Asia studies. Vol.58, No.7, November 2006.
  
  

Russian Markets: Competition and Competition Policy

The issues of competition and structural shifts in Russian industrial sectors are also addressed by IIMS. We study the intensity of competition and its influence both on restructuring of companies and on structural shifts within the markets and industries.

Projects connected with the antitrust policy are based on economic analysis of law and tend to evaluate influence of the antitrust law and technical standards’ regulation law on the development of the markets. The institute being one of the few centers that apply both theoretical and practical knowledge in this sphere acts as the leading centre for economic analysis of the competition policy. In recent years a series of publications has been prepared that covers practically the whole scope of Russian antimonopoly legislation including its development, application and efficiency.

The findings from this research are summarized in

• Avdasheva S. The Russian Furniture Industry: Firms' Upgrading According to the Value-Chain Theory. //  Competition and Change, 2007, vol. 11, No 4, pp. 307-328
• Avdasheva S., Shastitko A., Kuznetsov B. Competition and Industrial Organization in Transition Markets: What Can We Derive from Empirical Studies? // Post-Communist Economies, Vol.19, N1, March 2007, pp. 17-33
• Avdasheva S. Is optimal industrial policy possible for Russia? Implications from value chain concept// Electronic Publications of Pan-European Institute, 2/2007. http://www.tse.fi/pei/pub
  

The Public Procurement Market: its Regulation and Behavior of the Key Actors

This subject is researched by IIMS since 2009. Among methods employed are case studies, in-depth interviews with the state agencies involved in procurement procedures, as well as surveys of enterprises awarded with public contracts. On the foundation of this research IIMS in cooperation with the Institute for state procurement and Lab of institutional analysis has drafted the HSE policy paper and proposals of amendments to the public procurement legislation. A series of academic publications was also put together.

The findings from this research are summarized in

• Yakovlev A. et al The system of public procurements in Russia: on the road of reform. HSE policy paper, March 2010.
• Yakovlev A., Demidova O. Regulatory Reform and the Practice of Selecting Suppliers for Government Procurements in Russia: 2005-2009. Paper presented at 11^th EACES conference, Tartu, August 2010