High-tech business in crisis conditions: development trends of large, medium and small enterprises

Abstract

Leading world countries view innovative development and high-tech business as an opportunity to overcome economic stagnation and decline in economic growth. One of the modern trends in the analysis of high-tech development is the study of high-tech knowledge-intensive service industries and their development in times of crisis. The purpose of the paper is to identify patterns of development of large, medium and small enterprises in high-tech service industries in Russia during periods of crisis. Economic and economic-mathematical methods of analysis are applied to the formed samples of enterprises. The research period is 2013-2017. The financial indicators of enterprises were adjusted for the level of accumulated inflation in relation to 2013. According to results, large and medium-sized enterprises showed insignificant or weak significant positive dynamics of revenue during all years of the crisis period. The crisis period did not lead to a decrease in the revenue of these groups of enterprises. The acute phase of the crisis (2014-2015) had a pronounced negative impact on the group of small enterprises in all studied industries, but they successfully recovered in 2016-2017 and reached the pre-crisis level of revenue. The total revenue by industries and groups of enterprises in 2017 became higher than in 2013, and its growth rates were significant for many groups of enterprises, which indicates a successful overcoming of the crisis period and signs of growth in high-tech service industries. Our study shows the need for state support for small businesses in high-tech service industries in crisis conditions, and identifies the possibilities of adaptation of enterprises in these industries to an unfavorable external environment. Our results may be useful for the purposes of government stimulation of economic development in the current environment.