Innovations and Productivity: the Empiric Study of Barriers to Advancement through Longitudinal Analysis

The paper is devoted to the research of the factors interfering “Industries 4.0” innovations for the Russian companies of manufacturing industry. We analyze the influence of various barriers effects at each stage of an innovative cycle on company productivity as a productivity indicator of its activity. The empirical analysis is based on 678 manufacturing industry companies’ data from 2012 to 2016. We use the modified CDM model for the analysis, allowing estimating the investments dependence in researches and development (R&D) on productivity at each stage of an innovative cycle. This research Within this research two main levels of studying the influence of factors interfering productivity increase at the expense of innovations are emphasized: the level of creating the innovation and level of commercializing the innovation: contribution to development of the complex offer for the late majority, creation of an ecosystem of an innovation, after-sale support and focus on services, cooperation with consumers and partners at a stage of commercialization of innovations. Such an approach allowed us to carry out deeper analysis of the barriers interfering introduction of innovations and to analyze tools stimulating transition to the fourth industrial revolution. The received results have shown the following: 1) the barriers of innovative activity are various: at the level of creating the innovations the greatest negative effect spreads over the factors of insufficient liquidity, attraction complexity of investment resources for innovative activity financing, as well as the complexity of the commercialization, insufficient demand for innovative production and the lack of risk assessment procedures and return of investments, as for the stage of innovations commercialization the factors of experts shortcoming, capable to be engaged in innovative activity have the greatest value, a lack of experience of the heads in innovative projects implementation; 2) the assumption that the influence power of innovative activity barriers effects will be various in different sectors of manufacturing industry, is confirmed; 3) relations between innovation investments and productivity growth are not linear and have a steady positive interrelation only after a certain critical mass of investments in research and design and experimental works is reached; 4) the companies of low-technology branches have negative investments elasticity in innovations and productivity that is connected with the influence of unprofitability effect into investments innovations (appropriability effect), i. e. the additional investment profit is not really essential.

innovations, barriers of innovative activity, the fourth industrial revolution, CDM model, R&D investment, firm productivity, appropriability effect

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