BUSINESS INNOVATION ACTIVITY AND THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA5

The research is devoted to a comparison of the level of Russian companies’ innovation activity for the period 2011-2020. The authors propose the Index of Innovative Activity based on the integrated indicator calculation, which combines a range of factors reflecting different aspects of business innovation activities. The generalised principal component approach, which was the basis of this study, didn’t neglect any residual dispersion of source data and allowed us don’t give any subjective weights to the factors. Based on the study results, the authors try to identify the reasons for the growth or decline in innovative activity in the specified period. The research illustrates that the role of barriers to innovation is gradually decreasing, and factors that promote innovations are becoming more important. Our study lays the foundation for the regular calculation of the index to assess the trends. © 2022, Bulgarska Akademiya na Naukite. All rights reserved.