The article is devoted to the processes of knowledge generation at the enterprises of military-industrial complex, which are the leaders of the regional innovative activity. The target of the research is to develop the methodology based on the use of resource application potential for increasing the efficiency of knowledge generation at the instrument-making enterprises of military-industrial complex. The system analysis of the knowledge generation processes is conducted at one of them. It allows to draw a conclusion that such enterprises have a lack of the institutes of knowledge generation processes. The authors are offered a technique of the development of the knowledge generation system at the military-industrial enterprises based on the accounting of assets and opportunities of the enterprise in the realization of intellectual activity. The developed technique is based on the determination of the horizontal resource potential of knowledge generation and allows to determine the potential of resource application at each stage of product life cycle. The comparison of the actual and theoretical values of horizontal resource potential allows to correct the distribution of a share of each of resources within a stage, and therefore, to optimize the realization of tasks at a specific stage. The offered tools were implemented in 2015 at one of the regional military-Industrial enterprises. The methodological tools of the research include the methods of expert assessment, mathematical statistics and the institutional analysis. On the basis of the offered technique and received empirical results, the institutional spiral of knowledge generation during the filling of state order at the military-industrial enterprise is developed. Its implementation will promote the decrease in the level of uncertainty during the whole life cycle of innovative activity product. The developed institutional spiral of knowledge generation at instrument-making military-industrial enterprises assumes the stimulation of knowledge generation processes at each of the stages of product life cycle. The results of this research can be used for the creation of the knowledge generation scheme as well as for the use of the efficiency increase mechanism of the knowledge generation processes at the enterprises of military-industrial complex.

Investigation of the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental responsibility on the economic performance over the past decades has shown that the implementation of CSR is one of the key drivers of value creation. Disclosure of social policy is one of the key CSR areas, it reduces information asymmetry and also contributes to the company’s reputation, decreasing uncertainty and risk in the assessment of the internal environment. This study shows that the disclosure of CSR information is able to increase the investment attractiveness of companies, and reduce the cost of equity. In the last decade, Russian industry has accumulated considerable positive experience in the implementing and positioning of corporate social responsibility (CSR) technologies, which has yet to be assessed. In this paper, we used the sample of social reports of 18 Russian companies in the period from 2004 to 2014. The authors provided content-analysis of information disclosure dimensions including staff training, social policy, charity and environmental responsibility. In contrast to other studies, the results show a comparatively moderate impact of disclosure on the cost of equity capital. Also, we found that different dimensions of the disclosure have an ambiguous impact on the investment attractiveness of companies. Our results allow formulating practical recommendations for the management of metallurgical, oil and gas Russian companies to increase their investment attractiveness, in particular, a prudent choice of CSR information for disclosure. The study is unique for the Russian practice of evaluating the effectiveness of CSR, as it is based on a sample of the largest industrial enterprises.

In the article, the authors show that the main institutions of scientific efficiency are the institutions that publish scientific articles in Russian and international journals as well as monographs, scientific conference abstracts, pre-prints, reviews, reports, and also the institutions that register patents. The purpose of the research is the development of the indicator for the evaluation of the dysfunction of the institutions of scientific efficiency depending on different types of transaction coasts; and verification of the authors’ indicator of scientific efficiency by the empirical study of the scientific organizations’ activities. In the research, we applied the methods of the system, logical and economic analysis. The empirical information was processed using the methods of statistical analysis and correlation analysis. On the basis of different scientific efficiency of the central and regional institutions confirmed by Scopus data, the authors have proved that the scientific efficiency of regional scientific institutions and central ones need to be analysed separately. We have determined the dysfunctions of these institutions depending on different types of transaction coasts. We have developed the indicator for the assessment of the dysfunction of scientific efficiency institutions depending on different types of transaction coasts. The authors have introduced the indicator of scientific efficiency equal to the ratio of the dynamics of the increment of scientific results to the dynamics of the increase of transaction coasts. Depending on a type of the analyzed transaction coasts, the indicator of scientific efficiency illustrates the efficiency of various economic institutions. On the basis of the analysis of the research findings of the middle Urals’ scientific organizations, we have arrived at the conclusion that the institutions that publish articles in the Russian and foreign scientific journals are efficient. We defined the dysfunctions of the institutions that publish articles in the Russian and foreign scientific journals depending on different types of transaction coasts. The authors conclude that it is efficient to increase certain types of transaction coasts. The received results can be applied by regional scientific institutions to increase the efficiency of their scientific activity.

For the economic description of the social driving forces in modern society at the regional level, the author offers his concept of econotronics. It is considered as a section of social sciences, which is focused on the dynamics of the development of economic institutions of interaction between actors and society in the digital economy. The initial data used for the research are the investigations of foreign scientists and the author’s findings. The subject matter of the research is the forces driving the development of the public sector of the economy. The purpose of this study is to develop the principles and ideas of institutional modeling of the processes of public goods production in the framework of the author’s conception of econotronics. It is shown that the successful development of modern public goods is determined by network interactions between economic agents of the public sector. Institutional simulation of the production of local public goods should be based on the matrix of the current state in the coordinates of the «dynamics of the number of consumers — the dynamics of financing.» The rapid development of modern social projects depends on the application of advanced economic tools such as social innovation, crowdfunding, fundraising, etc. The development of social entrepreneurship is provided by formal and informal economic institutions adopted in the society. Creation of social innovations begins with the idea of potential innovators of how to solve a social problem, then moves to the development of a socially innovative project and concludes by the approbation of the project by the society. The establishment of the institutional atlas determines the role and place of social innovation projects in addressing market failures in social services. Economic efficiency of the implementation of a social project depends on the implementation of the commercial and public benefits. This efficiency can be determined within the matrix of the performance evaluation of social innovations. The obtained results give the opportunity for a comprehensive institutional modeling of the public sector in modern conditions to predict the further development of its driving forces.

The purpose of the study is to systematize the challenges of the public economic security in the context of the development of global digitalization. The paper shows that the priority task of economic security, particularly notable in the rapidly changing conditions of today’s globalized world, is to predict the challenges and threats of general digitalization. We have highlighted the features of the digital economy development, which include the intellectual assets, the increase of the relevance of data, network management, wide Internet penetration as well as global data exchange. In the conditions of the digital economy, we have grouped the issues of economic security on system, structural and sectoral problems, as well as the problems of enterprises and individuals. The main problems of economic security are the issues of «digital inequality», a lack of own element base, changes in the labour market, industrial intelligence, personal data manipulation, etc. We have found tools for solving the issues of digital society. These tools include digital platforms for the development of «shared economy», as well as cloud technologies and methods for processing large databases. The Network Readiness Index is a tool for monitoring the development of network digital society. We have formulated the principles for constructing systems for the development of skills, which allow solving the problems of the public economic security in the conditions of digitalization. These principles include the rational use of resources combining short-term and long-term development goals, lifelong learning, consistency, unified approach to management at different levels as well as involvement stakeholders in the process of digitalization. The results of this paper can be useful to public authorities for the development of the principles of digital economy management, as well as to the representatives of scientific community for the study of the economic security issues in the conditions of digital society development.

The study aims to systematise the existing methodological approaches to assessing the development of smart cities, elaborated by a number of international institutions (organizations). Moreover, it identifies characteristics of the assessment and possibilities of its application in the Russian context. We considered the fundamentals of a smart city’s development as our research object. Methodological approaches to assessing the development of smart cities are our research subject. We analysed scientific research, published in the periodical press, as well as the results of the authors’ study on the digitization processes of socio-economic systems, the principles of the urban environment’s digitization, and the urban development’s fundamentals based on the smart city’s concept. The research method is a logical analysis of modern approaches to assessing the development of smart cities. The paper identifies and analyses the main characteristics and conditions for the effective functioning of smart cities. We consider a model of the development levels of a smart city. Furthermore, we demonstrate the importance of cooperation among stakeholders in the field of the urban environment’s development, as it creates new opportunities and ensures the long-term viability of smart cities’ projects. We note that one of the most important factors in the development of smart cities is the increment in human capital of their inhabitants. Lifelong learning and advanced training are becoming a condition for the development of modern socio-economic systems. The dominant role of highly-skilled creative work becomes the determining factor for the development of a new type of society and its inherent economy. In the paper, we have described and systemized the main approaches to assessing the development of smart cities. We have formulated a number of principles for constructing a methodology for assessing smart cities. The study has theoretical relevance due to the development of approaches to assessing the development of smart cities. The practical significance of the research lies in shaping possible future studies of rational economic management in the context of the digital society.