Research background: Many contemporary empirical studies and theories of economic growth have revealed the dependence of innovative development of countries on the adequacy of funding for innovation. However, much of the empirical literature has discussed the issue of innovativeness without assessing the impact of the structure of funding sources on the success of the innovation process. Purpose of the article: The aim of this paper is to prove the hypothesis of the inefficiency of innovative systems in which the proportion of public investment is high compared to private investment. In Russia, the share of public R&D funding is 67%, and the EU average is 33%. Methods: Based on the empirical research, we have compared the EU Horizon 2020 program with Russian VEB Ventures programs, conversion and digitalization programs of the Industrial Development Fund and found out how the structure of funding sources for these programs affects the success of their implementation. Findings & Value added: The results of our research show that a large share of public funding is not the cause, but the result of low private innovation activity and a lack of private investment. Significant reasons for their shortage were identified: the economic feasibility of purchasing ready-made solutions on the global market instead of funding research; cheap labour; adverse business climate. Thus, a high share of public financing of innovations in a country can serve as an indicator of the existence of serious reasons for restraining innovative development.

Research background: Numerous attempts not only in the Russian Federation but also in many other countries to copy successful examples of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EEs) from the USA did not lead to equally outstanding results. In scientific literature and in the media, the underestimation of the influence of informal institutions, also called cultural traditions of the country and business customs, is increasingly cited as a reason for that unfulfilled expectations. We postulate that the main reason for unfulfilled expectations lies in the underestimation of the influence of political culture. Purpose of the article: the goal is to prove the hypothesis that the prevailing culture of statism hinders the development of effective relationships between two key EEs actors - founders and venture funds. Methods: analysis of data from a wide range of publications by keywords and their classification into groups of factors that influence on EEs. Findings & Value Added: - The mature EEs dictates the rules to every new member, but the evolving EEs itself obeys the code of conduct that existed before it appeared. - The larger the share of state-funded startups, the stronger the distorting influence of the state in the sensitive period of EEs formation. - As a result of the contradiction that has arisen between the cultural environment and the need for security and support for startups, there is an outflow of startups to EEs with a friendly environment. This is the main reason for the lack of private venture capital in the country.