Nowadays, the most typical reforms in higher education are conducted through the reorganization of universities either in the form of a merger, acquisition, or new status attainment. As a result, universities which educate local leaders for their respective national economies and have a profound impact on the regional economic development, as well as the composition of the labor market and intellectual potential, often encounter negative economic outcomes. The reforms that are imposed by the policymakers “from above” often hamper the development of universities and prevent them from fulfilling their roles described above. The process of reforming higher education in Russia is in many ways similar to the changes in the higher education systems of other European countries, in particular in post-Communist transition economies. Firstly, this process went through the integration into the global market of educational services. Secondly, it proceeded with the rethinking of the role of the university as a self-sustainable business organization. Thirdly, it was concluded by an increase in the demand and accessibility of education using the advancements offered by the digital technologies. Our paper argues that focused and well-balanced economic institutional design might be required for the sustainable development of reorganized leading universities. The project perspective implies that it is necessary to develop an institutional design in relation to what the organization seeks to achieve (either as its regulator or reformer) and how it intends to achieve these goals. In connection with the foregoing, we propose the following principles of designing effective institutions for the sustainable development of reorganized universities: (i) preservation of education as a “mixed” good (i.e., one that has the features of both public and private goods); (ii) transparency of decision making; (iii) complementarity of institutional change; and last but not least (iv) reduction in transaction costs.

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Objective: to examine the influence of positive and critical narratives in the media, illustrating the problems and strengths of the Russian innovation system development, on the formation of public opinion.Methods: the methodology of narrative analysis of economics and original institutionalism is used in relation to the national innovation system.Results: with the help of narrative analysis, we analyzed 43 media outlets from Internet sources selected in accordance with the Medialogiya rating “Federal Mass Media: 2020” for the period from 01.01.2010 to 01.07.2021. A range of significant issues is highlighted which affect the innovative development, mentioned by media addressees and the Russian innovation system actors (policymakers, business, academic circles). Four types of positive narratives about the Russian innovation system are identified: 1) narratives about significant technological achievements; 2) narratives about the development of innovative infrastructure; 3) narratives that tell about the public recognition of the success of the Russian innovation system actors at professional conferences or by the state; 4) futurological narratives about prospects in the medium or long term.Scientific novelty: consists in the development of the narrative economics approach and the concept of public arenas for the analysis of the Russian innovation system with the help of mass media.Practical significance: the identified positive narratives allow studying the best practices and rules that contribute to the integration of science, government and business into a single innovation system in order to further upscale the positive experience to the entire economy. Positive narratives also contribute to the formation of a favorable innovation space and public opinion in Russia.

структурных подразделений и научно-педагогических работников, преобладание трансакций нормирования в управленческих иерархиях вузов препятствует эффективному внедрению и развитию рыночных принципов их функционирования, налаживанию эффективных схем взаимодействий с предприятиями и организациями региона. Ключевые слова: реформы в сфере высшего образования; институциональные изменения в сфере высшего образования; Россия; федеральные вузы; опорные вузы; стратегии развития университетов.

Narrative economics holds a vast potential since it can expand the array of questions and data covered by the analysis of economic change. The ideas that narratives contain reflect the actors’ perceptions of the rules structuring recurring interactions. Therefore, analysis of popular narratives can provide valuable insights into the relevant rules and behaviour patterns in their relation to the social context. In this study, we identified the most significant sources containing narratives and selected the most relevant narratives with biographical elements. The biographical method implies that narratives about events and phenomena are examined by looking at the actors’ biographical stories. Our research aims to test the applicability of the biographical method within the narrative economics approach to study the Russian innovation system. The analysis has revealed the most widely spread ideas associated with rules and institutions, such as researchers’ dependence on the funds that the government or companies are willing to invest in their studies. Another problem is the production of the next generation of academic workforce in Russia. We systematized the problem situations linked to the spreading of narratives and found that they are related to the setbacks in the state management of the Russian innovation system. We conducted a qualitative study of narratives combined with quantitative content analysis. The changing frequency of the key words and phrases reflects the dynamics of narratives and shows their ‘viral’ quality. Further analysis and systematization of qualitative data on innovation systems will create a better understanding of complex non-ergodic processes. It would also be productive to analyze official documents on the current rules and institutional development and compare the results with the evidence obtained through the narrative approach.