Government Support for Innovative Activity of Small Business

Post-industrial development is a paramount trend in the global economy; therefore, the role of innovative development is currently of particular importance. Small business is the main creator and supplier of technological innovation in the economy. However, the share of small and medium-sized businesses in Russia's GDP is approximately half that of the United States and European countries. In addition, R&D expenses account for only 1.1% of Russia's GDP. In these conditions, effective state support for the innovation activity of small businesses is necessary for the successful development of the country's innovation system. The main goal of this work is to identify the degree of effectiveness of relevant measures and mechanisms of state support for innovative activities of small businesses in Russia. As part of the study, a content analysis of the media is carried out in order to identify existing problems for the development of innovative entrepreneurship in the country, as well as a comparative analysis of the regions to identify the key reasons underlying inequality in regional innovative development. In addition, measures taken by the state to support business in the current crisis period were examined. The study showed that innovative enterprises face financial problems, information accessibility problems are also significant. The regional inequality of innovative development is largely affected by the lack of strategic planning in the development of the innovation system, the lack of financial investments in the development of scientific, technical, entrepreneurial and human resources, poorly established relationships between the subjects of the innovation system, and the lack of necessary institutional and infrastructural elements for the development of the innovation environment. The results also showed that current state support measures for small and medium-sized businesses during the crisis demonstrate insufficient efficiency, they are focused on only a few industries and imply only deferred payments, which does not mitigate the impact of the crisis on business. The research results can be applied in further analysis of existing problems and growth points of innovative development of small business in the Russian regions and in the formation by government bodies of a set of measures and mechanisms to support innovative business.