Innovative potential of youth of industrial regions of Russia

Abstract

Despite the ongoing reforms, the Russian economy maintains a low demand for innovation from private and public sector. The level of innovation activity of enterprises is inferior to the indicators of leading countries in this area. The transition of a society from a resource economy to an innovation one is associated with the development of human potential, primarily in the area of technology and innovation. The most valuable human resource of transition – working youth of industrial regions of the country. The main task of the authors is to assess the quality of the innovative potential of young people employed in regional enterprises and to identify institutional factors for increasing it. In order to implement research tasks, a questionnaire of young workers (N = 1050), employed at industrial enterprises, was conducted in May-September 2018. The results of the study recorded a gap between subjective (internal) and objective (external, institutional) characteristics of innovation potential. The achieved level of innovative activity of youth is largely limited to stage of initiation and development of innovative projects. Only a small part of working youth is attracted to design of innovative projects and their promotion.