The Analysis of Incentive Contracts in Russian Universities and Recommendations for Increasing Research Productivity in Higher Education

Over the past decades, Russia has been actively engaged in the development of research activity in universities. Due to the reason that academic staff are those whose publication activity can stimulate the development of university science, one of the directions of reforming the higher education system is structuring contractual relations with the faculty using the incentive contract. It is assumed that its implementation in the academic sector will significantly improve the quality of faculty’s educational and research activities and their productivity. This paper investigates what Russian academics are rewarded with incentives for within an incentive contract, and how different activities contribute to their salaries. The study reveals whether the indicators included in the incentive contract structure create the right incentives to increase the research productivity of employees or not. Based on the data of 2020 study carried out by the Monitoring of education markets and organizations, it was found through comparative and regression analysis that HEIs that have received targeted support under the project «5-100», leading and national research universities have more accurate system of incentive payments compared to HEIs with no special status. However, even their system is not perfect. Although significant differentiation of salaries depending on an administrative position and gender was not found in HEIs with special status, as it was in the second group of universities, incentive contracts in all HEIs are focused on the quantity rather than quality of research. Moreover, on average, all universities use incorrect indicators that do not contribute to salaries and do not help to stimulate the academics’ research activity. The results have helped to develop a set of public policy recommendations on the management of the current incentive contract system in Russian universities.