The Impact of the Use of Flexible Forms of Employment on the Innovation Activity of the Enterprises in Russia

This paper attempts to estimate the impact of the use of fixed-term contracts and temporary help agencies’ contracts on the innovative activity of Russian enterprises. The main research methods were theoretical analysis, descriptive analysis and regression analysis with the use of a probit model with a continuous endogenous regressor. For the analysis, we used data from a survey of enterprises named “Interaction between the internal and external labor markets”, which is conducted annually by the Laboratory for Labor Market Studies of National Research University Higher School of Economics. For the analysis, cross survey data from 2016 to 2018 were used, the units of analysis are enterprises. The sample was 4930 enterprises. As a result of the study, it was found that an increase in the share of employees with fixed-term contracts, as well as an increase in the share of employees working under temporary help agency employment, leads to an increase in the likelihood of innovative activity of enterprises in general and an increase in the likelihood of research and development and training of personnel connected with the introduction of new products. Based on the results obtained, a number of recommendations were developed for employers and HR managers regarding the use of forms of flexible employment in enterprises, namely urgent forms of contracts and temporary help agencies’ contracts, in the context of the impact of flexible employment on organizations' innovative activity.