Russian retail trade: institutional differences of trading companies as a factor of industry dynamics

Abstract

The article establishes: a) the fact of significant institutional differences between groups of companies in the Russian retail trade; b) the trend of increasing these differences in recent years. Criteria for structuring a sample of large companies in the form of a number of clusters that differ in their institutional strength and compete with each other are identified and tested. Among the criteria — presence in ratings, market coverage, participation in business associations, size and complexity of companies, etc. The mechanism of dominance of market leaders over other companies is revealed on the basis of the concept of institutional rent received by a group of leading companies from the income of «lagging» companies; the conditions for the transition of companies from one group to another are revealed. Based on the analysis of information about retail chains included in the selected clusters, estimates of their integrated financial and economic indicators are given; the comparative dynamics of the latter is revealed. The hypothesis about the significance of institutional differences in clusters for the dynamics of the industry as a whole and individual groups of companies is confirmed. The article substantiates proposals for forecasting such institutional transformations of markets, scenarios of which take into account the existing market hierarchies of dominant and other companies. Recommendations are put forward to improve state regulation of industry development, taking into account the existing market architecture.