Research and Development Management: From the Soviet Union to Russia

In the past, intensive interest in Soviet research and development has been sporadic both in the West and in the USSR. The end of the 1980s coincided with the demise of the Soviet model of economic development. As a result, a surge of attention has been given to the factors driving the motor of Soviet growth and development, as well as R&D. The opening, first, of the Soviet and, subsequently, of the Russian economy, finally exposed it to global standards. The long period of international isolation with respect to scientific and technological exchanges made it difficult for scholars and policy makers at home and abroad to measure the status of Soviet advances. Consequently, some overrated the levels, while others underestimated them. \n\nThe purpose of this study is to provide a clear picture of the R&D resources and management that were created under the former Soviet-style system and of the roots and prospects of the present reform movement.