Factors Determining the Propensity of Russian Industrial Enterprises to Export Activities

The purpose of the research is factors determining the propensity of Russian industrial enterprises to export activities. The object of the research is Russian manufacturing enterprises, the subject is the process of performing out export activities by the company. This research is relevant, since there are few studies conducted on data on Russian manufacturing enterprises; the available research is usually focused on the study of a single factor. This research simultaneously assessed the influence of a complex of external and internal factors determining the propensity of Russian industrial enterprises to export activities. The factors are the access of firms to external sources of financing, the presence of a foreign owner of the enterprise, the receiving of state support (financial and organizational), the implementation of investments in fixed assets, R&D costs, the technological level of the enterprise, the size and year of foundation of the enterprise, its location. The empirical analysis is based on data from surveys of firms: two "waves" of monitoring the competitiveness of Russian industrial enterprises in 2014 and 2018, conducted by the HSE IEMA. The proposed hypotheses were tested using binary models, ordinal models, OLS, and a multinomial logistic model. It is established that the availability of R & D costs and a higher technological level of the enterprise have a positive impact on the propensity of the enterprise to export in both periods. Data from 2014 show that such a factor as the implementation of investments in fixed assets increases the propensity of Russian industrial enterprises to export, although the role of this factor is insignificant for 2018. According to the 2018 "wave" data, enterprises with foreign ownership or firms that have received state organizational support also show a higher probability of performing out export activities, although in the previous period, in 2014, these factors were not significant. The size and year of foundation of the enterprise also influence the firm's decision to start export activities: the size has a positive impact, the year of foundation – a negative one. The impact of these factors should be taken into account by firms when deciding to start exporting activities and by the state when implementing policies that support exporting firms.