Members of the research group contributed to the conference in several ways. Jutta Günther and Katharina Friz contributed a recent research paper dealing with the innovation behaviour of firms during the economic crisis in transition economies. Katharina Friz presented the paper in one of the parallel sessions on “Science and Innovation”. Furthermore, Jutta Günther was invited as a participant of the podium discussion “The rise of state capitalism: consequences for economic and political development”. The workshop took place within the conference as an activity of the European Association for Comparative Economic Studies (EACES) focusing on “varieties of capitalism” and “state capitalism” as a possible new “variety” especially in emerging economies. Apart from this, Maria Kristalova, affiliated member of the working group, took part in the conference in Moscow, presenting a research paper that emerged during her earlier scientific employment in Bremen (paper with Ksenia Gonchar) related to innovation and economic performance.

The Higher School of Economics Moscow was established 1992 as an international university in economics and social sciences and has since grown rapidly. Today, HSE is one of the leading universities in Russia with 40,000 students, offering bachelor, master, and doctoral degree programs in English and Russian in all disciplines. The University of Bremen is connected to HSE Moscow and St. Petersburg through a university level cooperation contract. A frequent student and researcher exchange exists. For the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics at the University of Bremen, the cooperation was initiated by Jutta Günther when she joined the faculty in the year 2014.