Cost structure - An important indicator of innovation activity in agro-industrial complex (by the example of crop production)

Abstract

In agro-industrial complex, cost structure is of strategic importance, because it allows to determine the level of innovation activity. The study revealed diversified influence of the innovation factor (acceleration of scientific and technological progress) on the cost structure and, first of all, on the change in the ratio of share of direct labor and materialized labor in favor of the latter. Implementation of the achievements of scientific and technological progress in enterprise activities leads to a reduction in the cost of direct labor and, at the same time, to an increase in its value due to the growth of qualification requirements. Furthermore, the innovative development of enterprises assumes the implementation of intensive technologies and the acquisition of more productive equipment. In the research, all the main agricultural crops in the Pskov region (Russia) are divided into groups according to the share of direct labor and materialized labor. The effectiveness of innovative development is determined by: ratio of the savings from reduction of direct labor costs to the effect from implementation of the innovations, which have affected this reduction; ratio of the savings from reduction of material costs and energy costs to the effect from implementation of the expensive technological innovations, which have affected this reduction.