The Institute for Industrial and Market Studies (IIMS) has been conducting routine surveys of Russian manufacturing companies since 2005. There have been five rounds of evaluating the manufacturing sector's competitiveness so far: the first in the fall of 2005, the second in the spring of 2009, the third in June through October of 2014, the fourth in July through November of 2018, and the fifth in July through December of 2022. The Russian Federation's Ministry of Economic Development commissioned and funded the first two initiatives. The HSE's internal resources were used to carry out the third, fourth, and fifth rounds.

The projects aim to provide empirical datasets that are accessible to HSE researchers and educators, enabling them to address various research issues. Databases are also successfully employed in the educational process as a resource for term papers and final papers, as well as for practical exercises on the use of contemporary analytical methodologies.

The projects' overarching scientific objective is to conduct a thorough analysis of the state of Russian industrial firms with a focus on evaluating the elements that contribute to their competitiveness. However, each wave of monitoring has a different focus based on the requirements for the research and the ongoing economic activities.