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Abstract

This paper examines business–science collaboration in Kazakhstan in the context of national innovation policy. Despite increasing emphasis on commercialization and university–industry linkages, such collaboration remains limited and uneven. The study explores how institutional conditions and policy design shape the development and effectiveness of these partnerships.

The analysis draws on a mixed-methods approach, combining policy and document analysis with semi-structured interviews involving policymakers, researchers, and industry representatives, supported by data on research funding and scientific output.

I argue that collaboration is constrained by a persistent gap between formal policy instruments and their implementation. While existing policies promote collaboration through grants and tax incentives, their effectiveness is limited by unstable funding mechanisms, rigid administrative procedures, and the absence of clear partnership frameworks, particularly in relation to intellectual property and cost-sharing. These challenges are further compounded by weak trust between academia and industry and low private-sector engagement in R&D.

The paper contributes to broader discussions on innovation systems in developing economies by highlighting how institutional factors shape knowledge transfer and collaboration outcomes.

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Abstract

Corporate governance reforms have become a central element in the transformation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), particularly in transition and emerging economies seeking to enhance efficiency, transparency, and competitiveness. In recent years, Uzbekistan has initiated comprehensive economic reforms aimed at restructuring its SOE sector, improving state asset management, and aligning governance practices with international standards. This paper examines the role of corporate governance reforms in the transformation of SOEs in Uzbekistan, with a focus on achieved outcomes, existing challenges, and emerging development trends. The research is based on a qualitative and comparative analysis of corporate governance reforms implemented in Uzbekistan’s SOE sector. The study draws on national legal and regulatory frameworks, including relevant laws, presidential decrees, and policy documents governing state asset management and corporate governance. In addition, secondary sources such as analytical reports of international organizations (including the World Bank and OECD), as well as publicly available company-level data, are used to assess reform outcomes. The paper also applies institutional and trend analysis to identify key patterns and trajectories in the ongoing transformation process. The paper argues that corporate governance reforms have played a significant role in advancing the transformation of SOEs in Uzbekistan by introducing modern governance mechanisms, strengthening accountability, and promoting performance-oriented management. The findings demonstrate that notable progress has been achieved, particularly in enhancing the role of supervisory boards, improving transparency and disclosure practices, and initiating privatization processes. However, several institutional and operational challenges persist, including limited board independence, gaps in the practical implementation of international governance standards, and inconsistencies across sectors. Furthermore, the study identifies emerging development trends, such as the growing integration of ESG principles, digitalization of state asset management systems, and a gradual shift toward market-based governance models. The relevance of this study lies in its contribution to the broader literature on corporate governance and SOE reform in transition economies. By providing empirical and institutional insights from Uzbekistan, the paper enhances understanding of how governance reforms can support enterprise transformation in emerging markets. The findings also offer policy-relevant recommendations for strengthening governance frameworks and ensuring the sustainable and competitive development of SOEs in line with international best practices.

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Abstract

Traditionally, entrepreneurship has often been looked through the lens of masculine ideals,

but recent works have highlighted the role of social context, cultural and gendered norms in

shaping entrepreneurship (Essers et al, 2025; McKeever et al., 2014). Entrepreneurship has

often been believed to be the pathway for women’s empowerment and emancipation. This

framing rests on the western notions of agency and visibility, that assumes empowerment to

be the natural outcome of entrepreneurship (Ojediran et al., 2022). Feminist scholars have

challenged this view, arguing that empowerment is a contested process influenced by power,

visibility and exclusion (Ahl, 2006; Calás et al., 2009). Gill (2007) and Banet-Wiser et al. (2020) have also shown empowerment portrayed as having self-love, self-discipline, selfies, and being market-friendly instead of collective struggle or systemic change. Research in culture and media studies has already critiqued this view of empowerment, but

The entrepreneurship studies have yet to examine how empowerment is practiced, monetized,

and negotiated as an entrepreneurial activity in digital spaces. This paper investigates how feminist concepts of empowerment transform as they go through entrepreneurial practices? To answer this question, that chapter looks into the entrepreneurial practices in the Body positive movement—an originally activist space aimed at reclaiming diverse bodies, now widely commercialized across digital platforms (Cwynar-Horta, 2016). The chapter draws on the post feminism and entrepreneurship as practice (EaP) to examine how beauty practitioners and the influencers in movement engage in aesthetic, affective and moral labour to create entrepreneurial value. Postfeminism serves as a sensibility for understanding empowerment with emphasis on self-surveillance, discipline, choice, and individualism (Adamson & Kelan, 2019; Lewis, 2014). The EaP focuses on the “situated, embodied and relational” (Dey & Steyaert, 2022) actions of the entrepreneurs (the influencers and beauty practitioners) to create value and gain legitimacy (Thompson & Whiteside et al., 2021).

The study draws on the semi- structured interviews and discursive analysis of social

media accounts of three body positive influencers. The findings reveal how empowerment is

practiced through three entrepreneurial practices: 1) Appropriating activism 2) Aestheticizing

Empowerment 3) Branding Inclusion. This paper extends the practice perspective to show how value is produced through affective, embodied, and moral labor in digital spaces. The study demonstrates that practices such as self-branding, confidence building, and authenticity are essential for entrepreneurial actors create legitimacy and value on social media.