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Innovations in uncertainty and aging: factors and new drivers of innovation in russian manufacturing 2019-2022
To effectively respond to the challenges of an aging population in both developed and developing countries, fostering innovation is crucial. This includes not only social innovation but also industrial innovation, which plays a key role in boosting labor productivity and mitigating the economic slowdown associated with demographic aging. Typically, crises lead to reduced innovation spending, but some firms demonstrate resilience by increasing their innovation investments. The ambiguous behavior of enterprises during crises has become a focal point in innovation research. This study examines the innovation activities of Russian manufacturing firms from 2019 to 2022, a period marked by two significant crises: the pandemic in 2020 and extensive sanctions in 2022. Using a quasi-panel database from CEO surveys of nearly 1,800 enterprises, we analyze the factors of innovation, pay attention to the role of the CEO's age, and distinguish between innovation by persistence and novelty. Our findings reveal a significant shift in the composition of innovators over the study period. We find that younger firms exhibit stronger innovation activity, and that state participation has become increasingly significant for innovation activities. We find that the absence of innovation activity is also related to age—low in both young and mature stages—meaning that population aging is unlikely to significantly impact innovation activity. At the same time, the novelty and persistence of innovations do not depend on age. Empirical evidence indicates that the role of the state in promoting innovation has grown amid external constraints.