The Institutions and Mechanisms of The Russian Innovation System's Regulation in The Mirror of Narratives

Abstract

The innovation system is a set of institutions and regulatory mechanisms that create an environment for the interaction of organisations and actors in the academic sphere, business and the state. An analysis of the formal institutions of the Russian innovation system (RIS) showed that it has a complex structure consisting of numerous overlapping institutions and duplicating regulatory mechanisms. The state and the academic sphere are closely integrated into a single management hierarchy, and interaction with the business is carried out indirectly through development institutions and the mechanism of public procurement. In cooperation with the academy, large private and state-owned companies often solve the problem of training their own human resources rather than creating innovations. Comparison of the multi-level structure of the RIS and its reflection in the actors' narratives made it possible to show the complexity of the systemic perception of innovation activity in Russia and highlight the following dysfunctions of the RIS: The low quality of formal institutions and the lack of consistency in regulation; Selectivity and inconsistency of the ongoing state innovation policy; Underdevelopment of mechanisms for the formation of links between science and business; Lack of infrastructure, production and production capacities for scaling innovative products; Underfunding of education, science and innovative developments by the state and private business; Breach of the mechanisms for the reproduction of human resources for innovation.