Development of the IT Industry and Structural Transformation: Focused on the Russian it Industry and Korea-Russia it Cooperation

Abstract

Russia has been chronically suffering from a structural problem that its economy heavily relies on energy resources. The long-standing and excessive economic dependence on the energy sector decayed qualitative growth through productivity, necessary for long-term growth as the economic transition to mid- and high-value-added manufacturing gets delayed. In other words, Russia’s economic growth since 2008 can mostly be attributed to quantitative growth driven by physical capital and labor input. This study analyzes the impact of innovation in the IT sector on the Russian economy from a structural transformation perspective. More specifically, the research theoretically examines how technological innovation in the IT sector helps address the structural transformation delays that middle-income countries have suffered, and investigates the possibility of IT cooperation between Korea and Russia in policy and technological aspects.