Russia’s opportunities for entering Industry 4.0 markets by improving its position in distributed production

Abstract

The paper attempts to clarify Russia’s possibilities to enter the advanced manufacturing markets (Industry 4.0) through participation in global value chains (GVCs). We analyze transformations in GVCs, generated by the renewal of global business strategies (transition from mass offshoring to smart-sourcing, manufacturing servitization, strengthening of GVCs’ resilience and their digitalization), and how Russia corresponds to them in its accumulated but not yet realized comparative advantages (in the field of science and education, development of digital sectors, transportation of goods between Europe and Asia, etc.). We conclude that in the 2020s, Russia has an objective chance to advance to new export markets by entering into both traditional and new service niches of sophisticated industrial GVCs. But to realize this chance, Russia needs a serious adjustment of its structural policy upon considering not only technological, but also institutional and behavioral shifts in the distributed production.