The article is devoted to the study of the state's role in the development of technological innovations. In scientific literature, scientific and technological progress has long been recognized as the most important engine of economic development. However, there are economic and political forces that tend to oppose innovative development and create barriers. The study of the conditions that promote or hinder the development of technological innovation has become one of the mainstream trends in comparative political science. Nevertheless, the constant comprehension of the above-described problem has not yet been completed, and moreover, has led to some contradictions that still remain unresolved. The article analyzes two seemingly competing theoretical approaches to explaining the state's role in the development of technological innovations from the perspective of institutional theory and the theory of "agency relations". The author comes to the conclusion that the two theories do not contradict each other but describe “different” dimensions of the problem. While the institutional perspective emphasizes the resource advantage provided by state ownership, the theory of “agency relations” emphasizes the double agency problem with the allocation and use of resources. Both theoretical logics provide powerful arguments, and therefore, their traditional opposition reduces the explanatory power of each.
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A. А. Serova (2021) studied this question.