Ecosystem of structural and technological development: restarting growth of firms and entrepreneurial factor

Abstract

The article examines the problem of structural and technological development of the Russian economy in conditions of an unfavorable external environment. In the context of the digital transformation of the economy at the micro level, several areas of the structural and technological development can be distinguished: generation of new business, accelerated development of successful (growing) enterprises, transition to restarting growth of enterprises that have been showing declining sales for a long time. The purpose of the work is to study the restarting growth of firms. The article assesses its economic results and also explores the influence of the entrepreneurial factor on the transition of enterprises to the restarting growth. The full sample consists of 2 918 enterprises that have been demonstrating a decline in revenue for a long time. This sample has been divided into groups of organisations that show and do not show the restarting growth. Using economic and mathematical methods, we have assessed the rate of revenue growth and examined the influence of the enterprise manager’s personality on the transition to the growth in the context of formed groups of companies. The paper has found that firms with the restarting growth show high rates of revenue growth that exceed its decline during the problematic period. The best results are demonstrated by a group of enterprises with the long-term rapid growth. Consequently, enterprises with the restarting growth can be considered as one of the options for the structural and technological development of the Russian economy along with the generation of new firms and development of growing enterprises. It has been proven that one of the growth factors is human capital, namely the head of the organization (entrepreneurial factor). Manager replacement has occurred more frequently in the group of enterprises with the long-term restarting growth compared to the group of enterprises that have not shown it. We believe that new leaders have initiated processes of digital and technological transformation of the business that lead to long-term growth.