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International Journal for Quality Research 15(2) 549–564 ISSN 1800-6450 Elena Nikitskaya1 CLUSTER ANALYSIS OF FACTORS Meri Valishvili EFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF Maxim Astapenko INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY AND Anna Namgalauri INFRASTRUCTURE QUALITY Abstract: One of the priorities in terms of building an Article info: innovation economy and promoting innovation activities at Received 17.09.2020 all level is infrastructure development, i.e. a modality for Accepted 24.12.2020 integrating innovation processes at different levels and in different economic sectors. Among the most significant UDC – 519.237.8 limitations to innovative growth is infrastructure DOI – 10.24874/IJQR15.02-12 qualitywhich conditions the investment appeal of national economy and the speed of return on investment.This paper adopted Ward’s hierarchical clustering method to analyze various Russian regions. Cluster analysis revealed a direct correlation between infrastructure development indicators and innovation parameters. One of the disruptive factors is a time lag between innovation subjects’ demand for individual infrastructure elements and their actual exploitation. In the current context, there is a need to develop projections and comprehensive plans for regional development, thereby improving the efficiency of innovation potential and eliminating the existing disproportions between the levels of innovative development. Keywords: Cluster analysis; Innovation capacity; Innovative infrastructure; Information and communication infrastructure; Quality of infrastructure. 1. Introduction the framework of regional innovation systems. The innovative development of the Russian Innovative infrastructure – in its modern economy, defined as a priority area for understanding – is multidimensional, economic reforms, is a focus of the systemic and not limited only to ensuring the regulatory control exerted by government innovative development process. structures. Innovations adopt a leading role From the semantic point of view, the term in the socio-economic and technological ‘infrastructure’ is defined as the foundation, development by enhancing the the internal frame of an entity or “a set of competiveness of innovation-based interrelated service structures that provide enterprises, creating new jobs and improving and/or ensure a basis for addressing a the population’s quality of life and welfare. problem (a task)” (Big encyclopedic They also help reduce intraregional dictionary, 1998). The term is derived from differences. Of special importance in this two Latin words: infra (‘under’, ‘below’) and process is the level of infrastructure within structura (‘frame’, ‘location’). According to 1 Corresponding author: Elena F. Nikitskaya Email: [email protected] 549 the Online Etymology Dictionary, the term Managing the development of economic has been used in the English language since infrastructure as an economic benefit is the the late 1920s, whereas the Oxford prerogative of the State. Based on research Dictionary states that this is a military term results, InfraOne experts concluded that borrowed from the French language. Russian infrastructure has been developed Various interpretations of infrastructure over several dozens of years with no emerged in the first half of the 20th century coherent road map to territorial development in response to macroeconomic issues and and no unified statistical framework or crises. The term ‘infrastructure’ is said to condition assessment (Development index of have been introduced in economics in 1955 Russian infrastructure). Infrastructure- by Paul Rosenstein-Rodan (1961), the building is a capital-intensive process Austrian economist who elaborated an requiring considerable budget funds to be economic growth model for third world spent on expensive and often unprofitable countries. Rosenstein-Rodan defined projects and programs. In this regard, federal infrastructure as “a set of general and regional authorities are faced with, at environments to ensure the favorable least, two dilemmas over whether to invest development of private enterprises in the key in social or industrial infrastructure and economic sectors and to meet the needs of whether to produce high-quality physical the entire population. In Rosenstein-Rodan’s infrastructure entities or entities of lower view, its main elements were the following qualities based on available funds. In economic sectors: energy, transportation, elaborating long-term development agriculture, industry and communication strategies, however, government whose development provides a material basis organizations should take into consideration for the disposal of quickly repaying the apparent direct relationship between investment. infrastructure quality and quality of life reflected in transport systems, housing and In the post-war years, economic growth utilities, urban upgrading, up-to-date school became the most widely discussed topic in and hospital equipmentand so on. economics. Economists reached the conclusion that economic productivity and Research confirms the existing relationship non-productivity growth is triggered by the between the growth rate of innovative so-called auxiliary industries production and the population’s improved (communication, transportation, power- quality of life and welfare, especially in the producing companies and entities, the industrially developed countries financial sector and the media) as well as (Safronchuk, 2012). A number of specialists certain social spheres (education, housing point out that advances in science and and public utilities, access to food and technology are a key factor behind the others).Infrastructure plays an auxiliary role improving quality of products and services, in the field of innovation and has both a labor and material cost savings, growth of short- and long-term positive effect on productivity, the improving production economic performance as long as its quality organization and efficiency (Khasanova & is high. Importantly, the low quality of Kapoguzov, 2009). infrastructure is determined not only by In our opinion, low production of innovative technical/technological parameters, the products, services and projects results extent of wear and progress rate, but also by ineconomic crises that go hand-in-hand with low geographical connectivity, remoteness a decline in income and business from economic centers and main competitiveness. If neglected, the emerging transportation hubs throughout the country trends could lead, in the medium-to-long and in border areas. term, to a drop in innovation activities, 550 E. Nikitskaya, M. Valishvili, M. Astapenko, A. Namgalauri human capital and the technological regional differentiation. Russian and foreign degradation of production sites. research has shown that innovative In the context of the Russian economy’s low infrastructure established at the national and innovative activity, high risks and regional levels is the most important of such uncertainty in the innovative sphere, public structures. authorities are confronted with the problem of identifying the priority areas in terms of 2. Methodology socio-economic development. Some researchers point to the need for optimal The innovative national economic system is distribution of resources between innovation formed taking into account the regional development through the innovative economies’ existing resource capacity, infrastructure of regions and production including the deployment of the existing development through the development of innovative infrastructure, the availability of innovative infrastructure (Kalenskaya, manufacturing facilities, intellectual 2015). resources and other competitive advantages The innovation-focused State policy should in creating and launching advanced, not only address the activities of companies, knowledge-based products. Currently, the but also set up a macro-industrial setup of regional innovation systems, infrastructure that any technological society including the deployment of existing needs to maintain its activities (Van De Ven, infrastructure, is somewhat spontaneous, 1993). Importantly, investment in given that each region individually identifies infrastructure can produce a multiplicative its promising development areas and raises effect and give new impetus to overall investment. economic growth. According to the The scope of the present study is to assess specialists from InfraOneResearch, the how the quantitative parameters of economic minimum additional need in infrastructure infrastructure elements affect the innovation- investment in 2021 amounts for 3.4 trillion focused activities of Russia’s most advanced rubles and 7.2 trillion rubles are needed to regions based on their clustering in terms of boost the economy (Investment in infrastructure indicators. infrastructure, 2019). The study targets 14 federal subjects of Russian regions differ significantly between Russia, selected on the basis of the themselves in terms of access to innovative maximum mean value of the share of resources because Russia’s scientific and innovative products, projects and services in innovation capacity is concentrated in major the total amount of products shipped and research and industrial centers. projects/services carried out between 2014 Consequently, big business can be expected and 2018 (Table 1). to show interest in the environments with the What complicates the current state of the best possible investment conditions, which Russian economy’s innovation sphere, results in regional differentiation
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