Innovation Diffusion in Coastal Agglomerations of Western Russia

Abstract

The article identifies the innovation development features of coastal agglomerations and their role in innovation import substitution in the conditions of geo-economic changes. While maintaining the cross-border communication function, the western coastal regions accumulate tacit knowledge for performing innovation development and secure their innovation potential. The study traces the processes associated with innovation diffusion in the coastal regions of Western Russia via both analysis of regional statistics and the qualitative data acquired from expert surveys. The empirical data cover the cases on the Rostov agglomeration – the largest coastal center of the South-West Russia, and the Kaliningrad – the North-West exclave region, which is highly integrated into the European space. It is shown that the education and science centers of the coastal regions become the leading accumulators of innovations in the conditions of the lack of external technological development resource. The innovation diffusion in the regional production system demonstrates various trends depending on the support of regional authorities, the volume of internal demand for technologies and innovation products, the interdependence and technological exchange between civil and military sectors, etc. The findings are to be implemented in regional management and decision-making.