The paper analyzes key achievements in sociocultural research of economic development for the last twenty years. Firstly, the paper describes the main approaches in sociocultural studies and key trends in empirical research (including causality issues). Secondly, it poses critical open questions in sociocultural research concerning the relationship between culture and institutions, within-country cultural differences, and culture in dynamics. It demonstrates how the research into culture is connected to the studies of social capital. Finally, the paper formulates the theses of the sociocultural economics research field.

The success of the country's innovative development depends not only on the supply side (production of innovative products), but also on the demand side – the readiness of the population to adopt new technologies. In this article we test two hypotheses using data from representative surveys conducted in 2018 and 2020. The first hypothesis is about a positive relationship between institutional trust (trust in federal, regional and municipal authorities), belief in the security of personal data collected by the state and attitudes towards new technologies (in the field of healthcare and unmanned vehicles). The hypothesis is based on the assumption that the state is perceived as a guarantor of the quality of the institutional environment and the infrastructure used, which are important for ensuring the safety of the introduction and use of new technologies. The second hypothesis is about a negative relationship between institutional trust and attitudes towards medical technologies, which act as a substitute for the functions that a person performs as part of his job duties. It is based on the assumption that in the case of low institutional trust, the population makes an increased demand for technologies that can replace the activities of a person working in a state system that they do not trust. The results show that, regardless of the type of technologies considered, higher levels of institutional trust and confidence in the security of personal data collected by the state is positively related with attitudes toward new technologies. The results obtained are important for building institutional and informational measures aimed at increasing the acceptance of new technologies by the population. It can also be important to customize measures for specific socio-demographic groups of the population, taking into account the level of institutional trust in the group.

The article considers the ineffective balance of Russian informal institutions, which is blocking economic development. The possibilities of overcoming the inefficient equilibrium are limited by social norms, which are reproduced, among other things, in the system of higher education. Higher education is one of the most effective channels for transmitting social norms. According to the hypothesis of socialization by R. Inglehart and the hypothesis of “impressionable years” by P. Giuliano and A. Spilimbergo, the period of greatest mental plasticity, when values and behavioral attitudes are formed, falls on the period of early adulthood — from 18 to 25 years. The change in social norms in Russian universities was demonstrated on the basis of a longitudinal sociological survey of students of Russian universities conducted in 2014—2016 in 10 regions of Russia. It is proved that Russian students increase their loyalty to opportunism and violation of the rules as they grow older — there is a reproduction of inefficient social norms.

There is abundant evidence of the correlation between culture (or sociocultural characteristics, by which we mean here values and behavioral attitudes shared by a certain community and changing slowly over time) and economic and innovation development. At present most studies have been carried out at national level. At the same time, sociocultural differences within the countries with a large territory and significant socio-economic and ethnic diversity (Russia, in particular) are understudied. The subject of the research is the differences in socio-cultural characteristics between Russia’s regions. The purpose of the paper is to determine the presence or absence of differences in socio-cultural characteristics according to G.Hofstede between the regions of Russia. The empirical basis for the study is data from representative polls, collected by the Russian Venture Company and the Institute for National Projects in 14 regions in 2018–2020. Econometric analysis (ecological approach) and univariate disperse analysis shows the existence of sociocultural heterogeneity between Russian regions measured with Hofstede characteristics: individualism and power distance (more pronounced differences) and uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation (less pronounced differences). Statistical differences between regions in masculine dimension are non-existent. Regions tend to form sociocultural clusters that are not explained by geographic, socio-economic or ethnic factors separately. The results are useful for the analysis of sociocultural drivers and barriers for regional development, as well as for institutional design, raising efficiency of formal institutions by harmonizing them with regional culture.