Title: Types of imitation and startup market performance: the case of Russia

Authors: Sergey Alexandrovskiy; Mikhail Shushkin; Denis Fomenkov

Addresses: National Research University Higher School of Economics, 20 Myasnitskaya Ulitsa, Moscow 101000, Russia ' National Research University Higher School of Economics, 20 Myasnitskaya Ulitsa, Moscow 101000, Russia ' National Research University Higher School of Economics, 20 Myasnitskaya Ulitsa, Moscow 101000, Russia

Abstract: Companies might see imitation as an easy strategy for growth. Many imitators, coming from emerging markets, suffer from lack of resources and original technologies. The authors suggested categorisation of imitations in two dimensions. First, imitators copy products, aesthetic, brands and business models of market leaders. Second, imitators copy innovations to different level from pure clones to creative imitations. This study aims to test if different types of imitations in Russian startups lead to varying market and financial results of these startups. The study used quantitative data collected from 76 Russian startups from 18 Russian cities through structured interview. For data analysis, the authors used multiple regression analysis. The findings of this study revealed that product clones lead to better performance than innovations in Russian startups.

Keywords: innovation; imitation; startup; performance; Russia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2022.122966

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2022 Vol.28 No.1, pp.22 - 42

Received: 18 Feb 2020
Accepted: 09 May 2020
Published online: 19 May 2022 *

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