This article presents a unique source-critical and historical analysis, introducing previously unknown letters of Joseph Stalin discovered in the author’s personal archive into scholarly circulation. Utilizing these documents, the author reconstructs the fierce intra-party struggles within the Bolshevik leadership in 1925–1927 — a pivotal period that determined the outcome of the power struggle following Lenin’s death. The newly published letters, addressed to V.M. Molotov, A.I. Rykov, and other leaders, shed new light on the mechanisms of political decision-making, Stalin’s tactics in defeating the united opposition (Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev), and his assessments of international crises (the Istmen affair, the British general strike, the Chinese question). Particular attention is devoted to dramatic episodes: the Lashevich affair, the “war scare” of 1927, and the creation of the opposition’s underground center. The published letters not only complement the well-known Stalin–Molotov correspondence but also demonstrate the evolution of Stalin’s policy from a carrot and stick approach to the complete suppression of all factional dissent. The publication of the letters is accompanied by extensive historical context, allowing the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the reasons behind the eventual transition from the new economic policy (NEP) to forced industrialization and the tightening of the political regime.

The need to increase the effectiveness of the strategic spatial planning system in order to achieve Russia’s national development goals for the period up to 2036 is achieving special relevance in the context of technological sovereignty and geopolitical turbulence. The aim of the research is to develop the theoretical and methodological foundations for the functioning of an integrated system of strategic spatial planning as a driver of innovative growth and a tool for ensuring the economic security of the Russian regions. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach, methods of statistical analysis, expert assessment and spatial modeling. The analysis covers 85 subjects of the Russian Federation for the period 2023–2025. As a result, synergetic effects between the quality of spatial planning and the innovation activity of regions (correlation coefficient 0.73) are identified, a typology of regions on the effectiveness of the integration of spatial planning and innovation policy is developed, a methodology for a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the system is created. The conducted research allows identifying the role of the strategic spatial planning system in ensuring economic security and stimulating innovative growth. The author’s model of optimizing the spatial planning system to stimulate innovation is based on the principles of adaptive management, multilevel coordination and innovation orientation.

The scientific novelty consists in substantiating the concept of a strategic spatial planning system as an integrated mechanism for synchronizing territorial development with innovative processes through multilevel management of spatial transformations and clustering of territories. The practical significance is determined by the possibility of applying the developed methodological tools to improve regional policy and improve the effectiveness of public management of spatial development, including in the implementation of the current Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030 with a forecast up to 2036.

The article examines methodological foundations for positioning constituent entities of the Russian Federation within spatial development. The starting point is the gap between the strategic description of a region’s role, the statistically observed structure of its economy and its spatial position. Based on a conceptual review of 2019–2025 publications selected through Crossref, OpenAlex, eLibrary, Cyberleninka and relevant journals, the paper systematizes Russian and international approaches to the analysis of regional strategies, indicators of regional socio-economic profile and sectoral specialization and spatial relations. It proposes a framework in which regional positioning is treated as a comparison of three sources: strategy text, observable indicators and spatial context. The aim is to systematize approaches to this problem, identify methodological gaps and outline an agenda for empirical testing; the contribution lies not in a new substantive classification of regions but in a scheme that distinguishes methods by their dominant source of measurement. As a result, four groups of approaches are distinguished — descriptive and text-based, indicator-based, spatial-network and integrated latent-role — and a “source type — level of analysis” matrix is built. Russian literature discusses institutional constraints of strategizing and the heterogeneity of regional documents in detail but rarely links textual, statistical and spatial data in a reproducible procedure, whereas international NLP and spatial ML methods are not adapted to Russian regions. An illustrative micro case of Sverdlovsk Oblast demonstrates the limits of a simple lexical count and the need to test the declaration– observation gap on a regional corpus. A five-direction research agenda is formulated, turning the critique of declarativeness into a testable empirical task.

Ensuring economic security and technological sovereignty are inextricably linked, as both factors affect the state’s resilience to external challenges and threats. The article analyses the industry of production of means of production, namely, machine tool industry. The degree of development of this industry has a direct impact on the level of competitiveness of the economy of any country in the world. The events of 2022, related to the special military operation, became a turning point. They gave an impetus to the expansion of production capacities. The role of sanctions’ imposition on the Russian economy is clearly reflected in the dynamics of the volume of production of metalworking machines in physical terms. In 2023, the growth in the production of machine tools amounted to 24,7%. However, it is mostly provided by increasing the production of basic machinery. During the analysis of the foreign machine tool industry, the downward trend in European leaders in the production of machine tools is identified. It confirms the importance of research and development work in order to create modern domestic technologies to accelerate economic growth. The issue of strategizing the industrial core of the national economy plays an important role in the context of the problem under consideration. Nowadays, the Russian system is characterized by the imperfection of the applied methodology for the development and implementation of industrial development strategies. The OTSW-analysis of the machine tool industry in Russia, which focuses on the initial identification of opportunities and threats, is proposed in the article. It allowed identifying a promising direction of the domestic industry development, related to ensuring domestic demand for machine tools thanks to the innovation activity growth and achievement of Russian Federation technological sovereignty. General and specific methods were used during the study. Common methods include comparative analysis, modelling, correlation analysis, as well as analysis of regulatory legal acts and statistical data. The OTSW-analysis of the Russian machine tool industry was used as a specific method.

The article proposes an original methodology for the strategic positioning of the regions of the Russian Federation according to the level and degree of development of support systems for the creative sector of the economy. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing importance of the creative sector as a priority area of public policy and the need to improve methodological approaches to assessing the effectiveness of regional support mechanisms. The paper analyzes the evolution of scholarly approaches to the creative sector of the economy, reviews contemporary Russian methodologies for assessing its development, and identifies their methodological limitations related to the insufficient consideration of institutional quality and the maturity of regional support systems. The research is based on systemic, institutional, and ecosystem approaches and employs comparative analysis, scientific generalization, classification, and integrated assessment methods. The study develops an original model for the strategic positioning of regions based on a comprehensive assessment of the maturity of regional support ecosystems for the creative sector. Unlike existing ranking approaches, the proposed methodology is designed not only to measure the current level of development but also to identify the strategic position of Russian regions, determine their competitive advantages, reveal institutional constraints, and assess their development prospects. The practical significance of the study lies in the applicability of the proposed methodology to the design of differentiated public policies, the development of regional strategies for the creative sector, and the improvement of government support mechanisms.

The article discusses the problem of the formation of unclaimed material reserves in industrial enterprises with a long production cycle. In the context of design-oriented production, the calculation of the need for materials in the early stages is preliminary and is clarified as the documentation is being adjusted, which leads to discrepancies between planned and actual consumption, as well as the accumulation of excess inventory. The aim of the study is to assess the potential lack of demand for material resources and to justify the maximum share of their primary purchase under project uncertainty. The relevance is due to the high proportion of materials in costs, the growth of unclaimed stocks and the limited applicability of regulatory methods in the early stages of procurement procedures. The empirical database includes data on inventory balances, a history of adjustments to procurement standards, and an archive of material replacement maps. The work uses the calculation of savings from replacement, the coefficient of relative substitutability, an assessment of the volatility of norms and the coefficient of material involvement in production. Partial estimates for each of these indicators are combined into an integral score of the potential lack of demand. On this basis, a classification of production stocks is proposed, dividing materials into three risk categories. For low risk (5–6 points), the recommended share of primary purchase is up to 100%, for medium (3–4 points) — up to 85%, for high (0–2 points) — up to 70%, or a delay in purchase. The proposed classification algorithm has been tested on the data of an industrial enterprise with a long production cycle. The developed classification reduces the flow of unclaimed stocks without stopping the production process.

The study aims to identify changes in the role of the state in regulating economic processes through the lens of the structure and functions of the Russian government on the eve of radical market reform. A review of the scholarly literature revealed a lack of consensus regarding the desirability of state intervention in economic life. The historiography of the issue likewise shows that existing studies do not provide an accurate and integrated description of the structure and functions of the government’s financial and economic bloc, and therefore do not allow for a proper analysis of its activities during the period under consideration. The study is based primarily on normative and administrative documents of state authorities, as well as media materials. It is conducted within a structural-functional framework that views the government’s financial and economic bloc as an integrated mechanism, each component of which is designed to perform specific functions in order to achieve a common objective. The object of analysis was the set of government bodies directly involved in the operational management of economic processes: the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the RSFSR, the Ministry of Trade and Material Resources of the RSFSR, the Ministry of Industry of the RSFSR, the Committee for Foreign Economic Relations of the RSFSR, and the Currency and Economic Council of the RSFSR. This made it possible to identify the main factors driving the structural and functional evolution of the government’s financial and economic bloc. These included the absorption of union-level ministries and state committees, the concentration of executive levers in the hands of a narrow group of ideologically aligned specialists, and the absence of a legal and regulatory framework for subordinating the elements of the union system of state administration. The performance of these administrative bodies was accompanied by difficulties in establishing control over a large central apparatus, a shortage of financial and material-technical resources, and the restructuring of administrative mechanisms under conditions of partial economic liberalization. These factors brought to the fore the tendency toward the enlargement of government structures under the control of reformers and the concentration of regulatory functions within them. Although the government sought to reduce the role of directive methods of administration, its ability, under conditions of economic crisis, to allocate the scarcest resources predetermined the persistence of a high level of state intervention in economic processes.

Technological sovereignty has become a central concept in Russian science and technology policy since 2022, but its regulatory interpretation as a static state does not account for the objective patterns of the innovation cycle and institutional inertia. The article aims to substantiate a dynamic model of technological sovereignty as a mechanism for the adaptive management of three types of innovation cycle gaps and for the transition from a mobilization paradigm to an ecosystem paradigm, taking into account identified empirical patterns. Based on the analysis and systematization of Russian regulatory legal acts (Decrees No. 83, No. 664, No. 660, Resolutions No. 353, No. 603, No. 1478, the Concept of Technological Development until 2030, the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation), the structural characteristics of the mobilization governance model are identified and its systemic contradictions are revealed. It is substantiated that the mobilization model is effective for short-term closure of critical niches, but creates a structural imbalance in favor of the state’s roles as customer and moderator to the detriment of the architect and strategist roles. The author’s concept of technological sovereignty as a process of adaptive management of three types of innovation cycle gaps is proposed. It is concluded that absolute sovereignty is unattainable and that managed competition and cooperation are necessary in the context of nootransformation as a transition to an economy and society based on the development of intellectual and creative activity.

From an institutional perspective, this paper studies the evolution of China’s state governance model and explores how age-old cultural traditions shape governance efficiency. Centralized bureaucracy, Confucian values and the Mandate of Heaven doctrine established performance-based political legitimacy built on socioeconomic stability. Special attention is paid to the imperial Keju civil service exam: its rigorous screening unified administrators’ outlooks and cultivated educated talents for grassroots governance. Drawing on macroeconomic statistics, the paper reviews 20th-century governance shifts. Mid-century mobilization-centered policies triggered economic structural distortions and fiscal deficits, while later reforms focused on institutional improvement, moderate decentralization and civil service professionalism. The core finding highlights institutional memory as a continuous thread. Modern personnel recruitment and supervision systems carry forward traditional talent-selection mechanisms, enabling China’s governance framework to sustain flexibility, adaptability and strong resilience amid political upheavals.

Digital government has become a central driver of public sector transformation worldwide, yet its development pathways remain highly heterogeneous across institutional contexts. This study conducts a comparative institutional analysis of digital government development in China and Russia, focusing on national integrated service platforms as key empirical cases. Drawing on longitudinal data from the United Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI) from 2014 to 2024 and qualitative analysis of official policy documents, the study adopts a mixed-methods comparative case study design. A five-dimensional analytical framework is developed, including institutional support, service integration, data governance, user orientation, and inter-agency coordination, to operationalize institutional logics in digital government development. The findings reveal two distinct institutional pathways. China follows an integration-driven model characterized by strong state coordination, deep administrative integration, and rapid post-2018 acceleration in digital government performance. Russia adopts an access-driven model emphasizing user-centered service delivery, incremental platform expansion, and functional accessibility through the Gosuslugi system. Longitudinal EGDI trends further support this divergence, showing that China’s rapid post-2018 acceleration is associated with institutional integration efforts, while Russia’s more stable growth reflects an incremental and access-oriented development trajectory. Despite these differences, both countries converge on the strategic importance of digital sovereignty and state control over digital infrastructure. The findings offer theoretical and practical implications for understanding how institutional environments shape digital transformation pathways in emerging economies.

The article examines the theoretical foundations of the companies’ growth utilizing generative artificial intelligence (generative AI), a technology that has gained particular relevance in recent years due to its ability to significantly accelerate business processes and provide firms with additional competitive advantages. The aim of the study is to assess the applicability of firm growth and innovation development theories to generative AI companies and, on this basis, to propose a classification of such companies and refine the criteria for identifying high-growth firms within the AI sector. Drawing on the concepts developed by J. Schumpeter, E. Penrose, D. Teece, C. Christensen, and R. Gibrat, the study identifies which elements of classical firm growth theory are applicable to the development trajectories of companies operating in the field of generative AI and which require further refinement. Generative AI is treated as general purpose technology, while acknowledging that this status remains subject to debate at the early stage of its diffusion. The article proposes a three-level classification by depth of use (categories A, B, and C), based on a formalized exclusion test and measurable threshold criteria. It also develops an extended multidimensional criterion for identifying high-growth firms before revenue generation. The analysis clarifies that the technology creates an innovator’s dilemma for incumbents through an attack by a qualitatively superior solution rather than through the canonical low-end disruption described by Christensen. The findings provide a theoretical basis for further analysis of growth models among Russian AI companies.

Currently, the participation of states in the digitalization of all public spheres including the economy is in the list of strategic priorities of most countries. А national digitalization strategy is becoming critical in the field of government planning. Institutions leading the development of the digital economy have different approaches to creating a favourable environment for innovation and addressing the challenges that arise in this regard. The aim of this article is to analyze the institutional design of the digital economy in countries that demonstrate successful results and have examples of effective policies in the field of digital development. The relevance of the research is defined by possibility of scaling the best practices in the field of innovation development in the Russian Federation and other countries of the world. The article solves a number of practical tasks, namely, identifying international mechanisms that are designed to be a reference for the development of innovations, the main strengths of government policies, as well as assessing the possibility of scaling the successful mechanisms. Based on the structure of management of innovation development in the digital economy in the world countries, the authors identify three country models sharing the similar criteria of institutional design. The analysis of policies for the development of the digital economy in a number of countries allows concluding that the sustainable development of the digital economy is achieved only if there is a balanced interaction between the state, private business and civil society. The study demonstrates that the flexibility and adaptability of institutions is a key factor enabling states to build a system of innovative development that meets the requirements of a rapidly changing digital environment.

China’s modern development model is based on the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the concept of humanistic economics, which posits that economic development is parallel to cultural development, with individual at the center of transformation. This concept interprets Marxism ideas. As socialism with Chinese characteristics has developed, certain contradictions have become apparent between the population’s ever-growing demand for a better life and unbalanced economic development. China’s innovative, high-quality development strategy in the 15^th Five-Year Plan period aims to correct this imbalance. This strategic vector focuses on poverty alleviation, rural revitalization, the development of new urbanization focused on county-level cities, and East-West cooperation. China’s new development paradigm pursues not only sustainable growth and increased material wealth but also an improved quality of life, including comprehensive personal development. As economic prosperity increases, the population increasingly seeks spiritual and cultural development. Currently, provincial development disparities persist, with significant economic and cultural gaps between cities and rural areas. Regional policy places particular emphasis on reducing these disparities in territorial development. Since the early 2000s, state policy has been aimed at ensuring high-quality infrastructure development in all provinces of the country and increasing the competitiveness of less developed regions. The modern development of socialism with Chinese characteristics is primarily driven by cultural reform and transformation. China’s regional and municipal policies are based on the development of national culture and local specialization. This article aims to examine the foundations, mechanisms, and regional and local practices of implementing the concept of a humanistic economy in contemporary China during the era of modernization and innovation.

The relevance of the study is driven by the need to effectively manage the manifestations of key social parameters of digital transformation in public organisations in the age of algorithmisation: the changing professional roles of civil servants, the transformation of organisational culture, and the emergence of new models of interaction between civil servants and algorithmic systems. The article attempts to reassess the theoretical heritage of the Russian school of human sciences in relation to these parameters. The author proceeds from the assumption that the fundamental ideas formulated by I.M. Sechenov, V.M. Bekhterev, I.P. Pavlov, A.A. Bogdanov and V.A. Bazarov in the second half of the 19^th – early 20th centuries not only chronologically anticipated many Western management doctrines, but also retain methodological value for addressing the challenges faced by contemporary public service personnel management. Three managerial gaps between contemporary public service management practices in the age of AI and unresolved problems are identified: the activity gap, the motivational gap, and the institutional gaP. Each of these three managerial gaps can be bridged by drawing on the ideas of Russian scholars. Based on the analysis of historical primary sources, five key principles are identified that form an integral system of personnel management in public organisations: active recovery through the change of activity (I.M. Sechenov); goal-setting as a socially formed mechanism (I.P. Pavlov and V.M. Bekhterev); continuity and anticipatory nature of training, comprehensive development; and systematic organisational change (A.A. Bogdanov and V.A. Bazarov). The conclusion is drawn on the necessity of reintegrating the heritage of the Russian school of human sciences into contemporary public service HR management practice as a methodological resource that allows building a system of civil service personnel management capable of meeting the challenges of the digital age and taking into account the institutional specificity of the domestic system of governance.

The development of small and medium-sized businesses is recognized as a priority for ensuring economic sustainability of any state. Despite the positive dynamics of this process in Russia, the achieved level of contribution of this sector of the economy to the country’s GDP is insufficient. Many associate the prospects for solving this problem with the development of youth entrepreneurship and increased support for student initiatives from universities within the framework of the third mission of universities. The study took as a basis a proactive approach to considering entrepreneurial opportunities, which is fully consistent with the main postulate of the theory of planned behaviour. One of the key factors of entrepreneurial success in the framework of this approach is the presence of entrepreneurial thinking or the so-called entrepreneurial mind. The aim of the study is to determine the real perception by students of the value of entrepreneurial activity, to identify the reasons that limit the entrepreneurial initiative of students and the professional competencies and personal qualities they most demand that can ensure students’ readiness for entrepreneurshiP. Questionnaires and focus groups were used as study methods. As a result of the study, the attitudes of students in relation to entrepreneurial activity were revealed, the reasons limiting the entrepreneurial initiative of students as well as the professional competencies, capable of increasing the readiness of students for entrepreneurship, were identified. Students are largely aware of the role and importance of work, giving work a predominantly instrumental character and considering it as a means of ensuring material well-being and financial stability. Many of them combine or would like to combine their learning activities with work.