%I IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca
%X We study the long run effects of a unique historical place-based policies targeting R&D: the
creation of ?Science Cities? in former Soviet Russia. The establishment of Science Cities and
the criteria for selecting their location were largely guided by political and military-strategic
considerations. We compare current demographic and economic characteristics of Science
Cities to those of appropriately matched localities that were similar to them at the time of
their establishment. We find that in the modern Russian economy, despite the massive cuts
of governmental support to R&D that followed the dissolution of the USSR, Science Cities
host more high-skilled workers and more developed R&D and ICT sectors; are the origin of
more international patents; and generally appear to be more productive and economically
developed. Within a spatial equilibrium framework, we interpret these findings as the result
of the interaction between persistence and agglomeration forces. Furthermore, we rule out
alternative explanations that have to do with the differential use of public resources, and
we find limited support for a case of equilibrium reversion. Finally, by analyzing firm-level
data we obtain evidence in favor of spillover effects with a wide spatial breadth.
%L eprints3971
%D 2018
%T The Long Run Effects of R&D Place-based Policies: Evidence from Russian Science Cities
%A Helena Schweiger
%A Alexander Stepanov
%A Paolo Zacchia