Measuring triple‐helix synergy in the R ussian innovation systems at regional, provincial, and national levels

We measure synergy for the R ussian national, provincial, and regional innovation systems as reduction of uncertainty using mutual information among the 3 distributions of firm sizes, technological knowledge bases of firms, and geographical locations. Half a million units of data at firm level in 2011 were obtained from the O rbis ™ database of B ureau V an D ijk. The firm level data were aggregated at the levels of 8 F ederal D istricts, the regional level of 83 F ederal S ubjects, and the single level of the R ussian F ederation. Not surprisingly, the knowledge base of the economy is concentrated in the M oscow region (22.8%) and S aint P etersburg (4.0%). Except in M oscow itself, high‐tech manufacturing does not add synergy to any other unit at any of the various levels of geographical granularity; instead it disturbs regional coordination. Knowledge‐intensive services ( KIS ; including laboratories) contribute to the synergy in all F ederal D istricts (except the N orth‐ C aucasian F ederal D istrict), but only in 30 of the 83 F ederal S ubjects. The synergy in KIS is concentrated in centers of administration. The knowledge‐intensive services (which are often state affiliated) provide backbone to an emerging knowledge‐based economy at the level of F ederal D istricts, but the economy is otherwise not knowledge based (except for the M oscow region).