Features of the Formation of Technological Expectations in Russia: Analysis of the Results of Business Tendency Surveys of Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Enterprises

The purpose of the article is to analyze the technological expectations of managers of Russian enterprises from the manufacturing industry in the face of changes in the external economic environment. Firstly, the authors have calculated a specially developed «index of fulfillment» of technological expectations, reflecting the ratio of the expectations of the introduction of digital technologies formed in the previous period and an increase in the real level of implementation. Secondly, using regression analysis, the authors investigated the mechanisms of the formation of technological expectations of managers in various conditions: non-crisis 2018, pre-crisis 2019, and crisis 2020. The influence of the three mechanisms was tested in intertemporal context: the «inertial» one, which presupposes the preservation of the expectations formed in the past in the current period; «adaptive» which involves adjusting expectations in accordance with the current dynamics of technology implementation; «predictive» which implies the connection of expectations with the future level of implementation.The basis for empirical calculations was the data of annual business tendency surveys of digital activity of Russian manufacturing enterprises for 2018–2020. The aggregate sample of surveyed enterprises for three years included more than 3000 enterprises from 23 manufacturing industries. The paper studied patterns of implementation of 19 digital technologies, most of which, according to specialists, belong to Industry 4.0.The results obtained indicate that technological expectations are characterized by great heterogeneity in terms of feasibility. Regression analysis showed that all three identified mechanisms can play a role, but their influence varies. In particular, when a crisis occurs, the adaptive mechanism plays a key role, and the inertial mechanism becomes irrelevant.The results of this study indicate that Russia is characterized by the initial and transitional nature of digital transformation in the manufacturing industry, with technological development achieved through «breakthroughs» rather than a steady process of modernization. The main conclusion of the work is that external uncertainty greatly affects the evolution of technological expectations, destroying their continuity from previous plans and negatively affecting the predictive capabilities.

Front Matter

We regret that the 130th annual scientific meeting of The Ohio Academy of Science—originally scheduled for April 24, 2021, at Edison State Community College—was not held due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.No abstracts were published in Volume 121, No. 1.The annual business meeting will be held virtually in December 2021.The University of Findlay will host the 2022 annual meeting on April 9, 2022. Please follow the Academy website for details. https://www.ohiosci.org/

Frank Knight, uncertainty and knowledge spillover entrepreneurship

In his seminal 1921 book, Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit, Frank Knight distinguished uncertainty and risk. This paper applies Knight's concept of uncertainty to knowledge generated in incumbent organizations to explain the inherent difficulty in assessing potential innovations along with the key role played by knowledge spillover entrepreneurship as a conduit for transforming new knowledge created by an incumbent organization but ultimately commercialized through the creation of a new firm and innovation. Knowledge is inherently uncertain and constitutes what is characterized as the knowledge filter impeding innovative activity in the context of incumbent firms and organizations. The organizational and institutional context and market uncertainty can either facilitate or impede the spillover of knowledge from the firm where it was created to the entrepreneurial startup where it is transformed into innovation. The empirical evidence based on a large, unbalanced panel of 9,126 UK firms constructed from six consecutive waves of a community innovation survey and annual business registry survey during 2002–2014. Implications for managers, scholars, and policymakers are provided.

Measuring the Impact of COVID-19 on Businesses and People: Lessons from the Census Bureau’s Experience

We provide an overview of Census Bureau activities to enhance the consistency, timeliness, and relevance of our data products in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight new data products designed to provide timely and granular information on the pandemic's impact: the Small Business Pulse Survey, weekly Business Formation Statistics, the Household Pulse Survey, and Community Resilience Estimates. We describe pandemic-related content introduced to existing surveys such as the Annual Business Survey and the Current Population Survey. We discuss adaptations to ensure the continuity and consistency of existing data products such as principal economic indicators and the American Community Survey.

Guidelines and criteria used by formal financial institutions to assess credit applications from small and medium enterprises in South Africa

Background: The involvement of formal financial institutions (FFIs) in financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is and always has been a fundamental issue of concern amongst policymakers and practitioners in developing countries such as South Africa, which experience very low or no economic growth.Aim: This study analysed the guidelines and criteria used by FFIs to assess credit applications from SMEs.Setting: This study investigated the guidelines and criteria instituted by the head office of FFIs when assessing and evaluating credit applications from SMEs in Johannesburg, South Africa.Methods: This study used an interpretivistic research paradigm to achieve the research objectives. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to collect data from participants and analysed using the Terre Blanche, Durrheim and Kelly five-step process of content analysis.Results: The findings revealed that assessing the amount of risk, scrutinising financial records, performing thorough background checks and requesting all relevant documentation constitute ways used by FFIs to measure the amount of risk associated with a particular credit application. Additionally, collateral, audited financial statements, annual business turnover, relationship with the bank and credit profile of the owners and/or business are the most important criteria used by FFIs when assessing credit applications.Conclusion: This study provides insights into the guidelines used by FFIs in assessing credit applications and the criteria used by FFIs when assessing and granting credit. This study revealed that some FFIs do not finance foreign-owned businesses as part of their institutional policy.