Importance of a Region’s Research Environment for the Development of High-Tech and Knowledge-Intensive Companies

In the development of high-tech business (HTB), a special role is played by the scientific and innovative activity of technology companies and their interaction with the external environment. We examine this problem at the mesolevel and assess the impact of the degree of development of the region’s research environment on the scale of HTB activity. An important aspect of the analysis is taking into account the industry specifics of HTB’s development. For this, we divided the entire sector into three groups of activities: high-tech sectors, medium-high-tech sectors, and knowledge-intensive sectors. Adhering to a formal approach to defining HTB, we include 17 high-tech and knowledge-intensive activities in our consideration. The analysis covers 2016–2020 and is based on aggregated data on the activities of individual companies (SPARK-Interfax database) and official Rosstat statistics. Russian HTB is concentrated in six developed regions (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow oblast, the Republic of Tatarstan, and Nizhny Novgorod and Samara oblasts), which are also distinguished by a high level of innovative and scientific and technological development. From the viewpoint of innovative behavior, the most active companies are those involved in activities such as research and development and high-tech manufacturing. The article tests the following hypotheses: (1) investments in scientific research and development create the basis on which HTB successfully develops, and this dependence is more pronounced for high-tech sectors; (2) high-tech and knowledge-intensive companies are developing at a more noticeable pace in territories where labor resources not only have a high level of qualifications, but also have creative competencies. Testing by regression analysis of panel data allowed us to confirm the first hypothesis. The second hypothesis was not formally confirmed, but the analysis showed the importance of HTB staffing: companies are faced with an acute shortage of qualified personnel. The results indicate that in the Russian economy, in conditions of stability, there is a significant relationship between the state of a region’s research environment and the scale of HTB activity.