Problems of assessing defence contractors’ efficiency

Abstract

The latest completed state armament programme in Russia contributed significantly to the development of the technological and innovative potential of the Rosatom State Corporation’s enterprises. Along with a number of organisational decisions on the withdrawal of non-core assets, it provided other prerequisites for a substantial increase in efficiency. However, the prerequisites need an objective economic assessment, which not only will characterise the actual results of organisational and technical changes, but also offer a tool for monitoring the movement and use of strategically important resources of the country, thus influencing positively the national economic security. The paper explores the problems of evaluating efficiency of the defence contractors forming part of the Rosatom State Corporation. Methodologically, the research relies on the new classical economics. The authors apply index method, factor analysis, and graphical modeling. The obtained regression model illustrates the dependence of the financial performance of the Rosatom enterprises on the labour productivity growth in 2008–2017, and allows scrutinising the correspondence between the planned short- and midterm changes in the organisational and technical potential, and the economic results of these enterprises’ production. The findings indicate a decrease in capital productivity accompanying considerable investments in enterprises’ equipment, which is a glaring contradiction, but also an expected result of low efficiency of using fixed assets.