University-Industry Relations in the Oil and Gas Sector in Russia


Abstract


Russian technical universities carry on the tradition of Soviet-era industrial institutes by providing skilled labour force to the industry. In recent years university-industry collaboration has grown in size and depth to include several other functions. This study explores university-industry relations in the oil and gas sector. Taking cues from the Triple Helix theory, a comparison is made between two renowned technical universities in Western Siberia that have been adopting different models of cooperation with industrial partners. The analysis shows that university's mission, funding strategies, and organizational culture determine the pace of cooperation. Findings underline the high regional engagement of both academic institutions, which figure as crucial nodes of the oil and gas value chain. On the background of increasing state pressure on higher education institutions to become more entrepreneurial, it is argued that technical universities are set to become crucial innovation actors in the coming years. This enables a more nuanced look at oil and gas governance in today's Russia and offers new insight into the role played by refashioned elite universities.

DOI Code: 10.1285/i20356609v15i3p885

Keywords: Higher Education; Oil & Gas; Russia; Triple Helix; University-Industry; Western Siberia

References


Andrianova E. V., Davydenko V. A., Romashkina G. F. (2017). The Industrial Growth Path of the Tyumen Region in the Context of the History of Its Social-Economic Embeddedness. Siberian Socium, vol. 1, no 2, pp. 12-46.

Balzer, H., & Askonas, J. (2016). The triple helix after communism: Russia and China compared. Triple Helix, 3(1), 1-31.

Block, M., & Khvatova, T. (2017). University transformation: Explaining policy-making and trends in higher education in Russia. Journal of Management Development, 36(6).

Bouzarovski, S., & Bassin, M. (2011). Energy and identity: Imagining Russia as a hydrocarbon superpower. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 101(4), 783-794.

Chatterton, P., & Goddard, J. (2000). The response of higher education institutions to regional needs. European Journal of Education, 35(4), 475-496.

Chirikov, I. (2016). Do Russian research universities have a secret mission? a response to Forrat. Post-Soviet Affairs, 32(4), 338-344.

Clark, B. R. (1998). Creating Entrepreneurial Universities: Organizational Pathways of Transformation. IUA Press & Pergamon.

Domjan, P., & Stone, M. (2010). A comparative study of resource nationalism in Russia and Kazakhstan 2004–2008. Europe-Asia Studies, 62(1), 35-62.

Etzkowitz, H. (1998). The norms of entrepreneurial science: cognitive effects of the new university–industry linkages. Research policy, 27(8), 823-833.

Etzkowitz, H. (2008). The triple helix: university-industry-government innovation in action. Routledge.

Etzkowitz, H., & Leydesdorff, L. (1998). The triple helix as a model for innovation studies. Science and public policy, 25(3), 195-203.

Etzkowitz, H., & Leydesdorff, L. (2000). The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and “Mode 2” to a Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations. Research policy, 29(2), 109-123.

Fominykh, A. (2017). Russia’s public diplomacy in Central Asia and the Caucasus: The role of the universities. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 12(1), 56-85.

Forrat, N. (2016). The political economy of Russian higher education: why does Putin support research universities?. Post-Soviet Affairs, 32(4), 299-337.

Fortescue, S. (2006). Russia's oil barons and metal magnates: oligarchs and the state in transition. Springer.

Gel’man, V. (2016). The vicious circle of post-Soviet neopatrimonialism in Russia. Post-Soviet Affairs, 32(5), 455-473.

Gel’man, V., & Tarusina, I. (2000). Studies of political elites in Russia: issues and alternatives. Communist and post-communist studies, 33(3), 311-329.

Graham, L. R., & Dezhina, I. (2008). Science in the new Russia: Crisis, aid, reform. Indiana University Press.

Gustafson, T. (2012). Wheel of fortune. Harvard University Press.

Hanson, P. (2009). The resistible rise of state control in the Russian oil industry. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 50(1), 14-27.

Hanson, S. E. (2011). Plebiscitarian patrimonialism in Putin’s Russia: Legitimating authoritarianism in a postideological era. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 636(1), 32-48.

Hoffman, D. E. (2011). The oligarchs: Wealth and power in the new Russia. Hachette UK.

Ivanchev, S. S. (1998). The role of industrial institutes in creating and maintaining Russia’s industrial potential. Technology Commercialization: Russian Challenges, American Lessons, National Academy press.

Klochikhin, E. A. (2012). Russia's innovation policy: Stubborn path-dependencies and new approaches. Research Policy, 41(9), 1620-1630.

Kratochvíl, P., & Tichý, L. (2013). EU and Russian discourse on energy relations. Energy policy, 56, 391-406.

Krempin, D. (2017). Rise of western Siberia and the Soviet–West German energy relationship during the 1970s. In Cold War Energy (pp. 253-281). Palgrave Macmillan.

Kryukov, V., & Tokarev, A. (2021). Spatial trends of innovation in the Russian oil and gas sector: What does patent activity in Siberia and the Arctic reflect?. Regional Science Policy & Practice.

Kuzemko, C. (2014). Ideas, power and change: explaining EU–Russia energy relations. Journal of European Public Policy, 21(1), 58-75.

Kuzyk, M., Grebenyuk, A., Kakaeva, E., Manchenko, E., & Dovgiy, V. (2017). What Prevents Universities from the Involvement into the Creating Dual Technologies?. Foresight and STI Governance, 11(4), 84-95.

Leydesdorff, L., Perevodchikov, E., & Uvarov, A. (2015). Measuring triple‐helix synergy in the R ussian innovation systems at regional, provincial, and national levels. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 66(6), 1229-1238.

Mitrova, T. (2016). Shifting political economy of Russian oil and gas. A report of the CSIS Energy and National Security Program. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Rowman & Littlefield.

Ovchinnikova, N., Ovchinnikova, O., Kolmykova, T., & Bredikhin, V. (2018). New generation of regional universities in Russia. Journal of Applied Engineering Science, 16(1).

Pavlova, I., & Burenina, M. (2016). University-industry cooperation in the context of the regional innovation system in Russia: A case of the Tomsk region. Journal of Eastern Europe Research in Business and Economics.

Perepechko, L. N., & Belyakova, G. Y. (2018). The Interconnection among Science, Industry, State, and Society in Russia. Journal of Developing Societies, 34(4), 425-443.

Perevodchikov, E., Uvarov, A. (2012). The entrepreneurial university in Russia: from idea to reality. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 52, 45-51.

Robinson, N. (2011). Russian patrimonial capitalism and the international financial crisis. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 27(3-4), 434-455.

Robinson, N. (2017). Russian neo-patrimonialism and Putin’s ‘cultural turn’. Europe-Asia Studies, 69(2), 348-366.

Rogers, D. (2016). The depths of Russia. Cornell University Press.

Rudenko, D., Pogodaeva, T., & Golubev, E. (2017). Transition towards an entrepreneurial university: a case study of the Tyumen State University. International journal of business and globalisation, 18(1), 96-111.

Rutland, P. (2008). Russia as an energy superpower. New Political Economy, 13(2), 203-210.

Rutland, P. (2015). Petronation? Oil, gas, and national identity in Russia. Post-Soviet Affairs, 31(1), 66-89.

Rutland, P. (2018). The political economy of energy in Russia. In The international political economy of oil and gas. Palgrave Macmillan.

Sakwa, R. (2009). Liberalism and neo-patrimonialism in post-communist Russia. In Private and Civil Law in the Russian Federation (pp. 327-346). Brill Nijhoff.

Sakwa, R. (2014). Putin redux: Power and contradiction in contemporary Russia. Routledge.

Schimpfössl, E. (2018). Rich Russians: From oligarchs to bourgeoisie. Oxford University Press.

Simachev, Y., & Kuzyk, M. (2018). Industrial Development, Structural Changes, and Industrial Policy in Russia. In Exploring the Future of Russia’s Economy and Markets. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Skolkovo Education Development Centre. (2019). T-universities. Moscow School of Management Skolkovo.

Sosnovskikh, S. (2017). Industrial clusters in Russia: The development of special economic zones and industrial parks. Russian Journal of Economics, 3(2), 174-199.

Tynkkynen, V. P. (2019). The energy of Russia: Hydrocarbon culture and climate change. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Vaguet, Y. (2013). Oil and Gas towns in Western Siberia: past, present and future challenges. Nordregio, (125-132).

Williams, D., & Kluev, A. (2014). The entrepreneurial university: evidence of the changing role of universities in modern Russia. Industry and Higher Education, 28(4), 271-280.


Full Text: PDF

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.