Economic Potential of Internationally-Oriented Patenting Activity in Russia

Abstract

Objective: This paper investigates the dynamics of internationally-oriented patenting activity in Russia, with the objective of exploring the link between innovation and entrepreneurship in an emerging economy.

Research Design & Methods: By using the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) statistics, we create a typology of PCT applicants. Patent categories are compared based on their technological footprint, measured as consequential patent references.

Findings: The article reveals a shortage of domestic companies engaged in internationally-oriented innovation in Russia. The majority of international patent applications published by WIPO in 2013 were filed by individuals. Russian companies, as well as individual applications, demonstrate lower technological impact, measured as citations, than foreign subsidiaries operating in Russia.

Implications & Recommendations: The innovation capability of Russian business, small or large, must be prioritized and strengthened via creating the right incentives and providing a stable institutional and infrastructural foundation. 

Contribution & Value Added: This project discovers the weak role of the domestic private sector in international patenting, which points to the imbalanced nature of the Russian national innovation system (NIS).

Keywords

national innovation system, Russia, patent statistics, patent data, innovation, invention, entrepreneurship

Author Biography

Irina Ervits

Irina Ervits holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Miami University of Ohio, USA, and is a lecturer in International Business and Political Economy at Cologne Business School. Her Ph.D. thesis focused on the developments in the automobile industry in Russia and China. Her research areas of interest also include strategies of multinational enterprises, innovation, patent statistics, emerging economies and institutional development.

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