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Boosting Productivity in Russia: Skills, Education and Innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Lilas Demmou

    (OECD)

  • Andreas Wörgötter

    (OECD)

Abstract

The labour market in Russia is very flexible. Firms adjust to economic shocks through wage cuts, working hour reductions and minimisation of non-wage labour costs. Workers react by changing jobs. This results in a high and stable overall employment rate, but also high wage inequality, informality and labour turnover, which limits incentives for firms to invest in human capital and productivity improvements. While educational attainment is very high, the education system needs to be strengthened to respond to the needs of a skill-based economy. School-employer cooperation is low and opportunities for higher education are unequally distributed. Adequate funding for education institutions is not assured everywhere while inefficiencies persist. Private spending on innovation is very low and Russia underperforms in terms of scientific outputs and patents. Support for low-tech innovation and technology adoption, especially among SMEs is narrow because of a bias towards large and high-tech projects, which however are only loosely related to Russian manufacturing capacity. Reform of the public R&D sector is incomplete, notably with respect to strengthening funding on a competitive basis. Stimuler la productivité en Russie : Les compétences, l'éducation et l'innovation Le marché du travail en Russie est très flexible. Les entreprises s’ajustent face aux chocs économiques grâce à une réduction des salaires, des heures de travail, et des coûts non salariaux. Les travailleurs réagissent en changeant d'emploi. Il en résulte un taux d'emploi global élevé et stable, mais également un niveau élevé des inégalités salariales, de l’emploi informel et du taux de rotation de la main d’oeuvre, ce qui limite les incitations pour les entreprises à investir dans le capital humain et l'amélioration de la productivité. Bien que le niveau de scolarisation soit très élevé, le système d'éducation doit être renforcé pour répondre aux besoins d'une économie fondée sur les compétences. La coopération entre les entreprises et le système éducatif est faible et les opportunités d’accès à l’éducation supérieure sont inégalement réparties. Un financement adéquat des établissements d’enseignement n'est pas assuré sur l’ensemble du territoire alors que des zones d’inefficacités persistent. Les dépenses privées consacrées à l'innovation sont très faibles et les performances de la Russie en termes de production scientifiques et de brevets sont insatisfaisantes. Le soutien aux innovations à faible contenu technologique et à l'adoption des technologies, en particulier dans les PME, est faible en raison d'un biais en faveur des grands projets et des projets high-tech, qui ne sont cependant que faiblement liés aux capacités de production manufacturière russe. La réforme du secteur public de la R&D est incomplète, notamment en ce qui concerne le rôle joué par les financements accordés sur des principes de compétitivité.

Suggested Citation

  • Lilas Demmou & Andreas Wörgötter, 2015. "Boosting Productivity in Russia: Skills, Education and Innovation," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1189, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1189-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5js4w26114r2-en
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    Cited by:

    1. Smirnykh, Larisa & Wörgötter, Andreas, 2019. "The importance of institutional and organizational characteristics for the use of fixed-term contracts in Russia," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 24(1), pages 89-121.
    2. Kotyrlo, Elena & Bulgakov, Ilya, 2021. "Fatherhood, marriage and male labor market outcomes," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 62, pages 125-143.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    active labour market policies; adéquation des compétences; capital humain; collective bargaining; convention collective; education; enseignement et formation professionnelle; flexibility; flexibilité; formation continue; human capital; inequality; innovation; innovations; inégalités; labour turnover; life-long learning; PISA; PISA; politiques actives du marché du travail; prestations de chômage; rotation de la main d’oeuvre; skills matching; syndicats; trade unions; unemployment benefits; VET; éducation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

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