Russian science in the context of cross-country comparisons: review of r&d funding indicators

This publication provides a brief statistical review of the key indicators of R&D funding in Russia over the recent decade, as compared to the developed and the most fast-growing economies. The review is based on statistics compiled and disseminated by the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation (Rosstat), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It covers absolute and comparative indicators of expenditures for R&D in selected countries, expenditures on R&D by source of funds, distribution of funding by type of research. The selected time period, from 2007 till 2014, allows to analyze funding strategy of various investors under the pressure of financial crisis. It is argued that recent geopolitical shocks and economic recession have a major impact on the R&D funding in Russia. This situation is different from the world trend, which is described as expanding or, at least, unchanging level of funding during a time of crisis. To great extent this is due to entrepreneurial sector. The problems faced by the Russian science are explained by out-of-date R&D funding structure, where the share of business sector is significantly lower in comparison with the world's leaders. The paper discusses the issue of the adequacy of strategic documents and target indicators of science and technology development to the national and global trends reported by statistics.