Determinant and priority factors of innovation for the development of nations

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to identify the countries’ innovation factors that are determinant for them to achieve higher levels of development. In addition, the research identified which of these factors should be prioritized so the countries can move up in the rank of the most competitive. Design/methodology/approach The study used the indicators of innovation and the stage of development of 137 countries proposed by the Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum and techniques of multivariate data analysis. Findings The results indicated that all the factors tested are determinant to lead the countries throughout their stages of development. The research highlights that the factors “Quality of scientific research institutions” and “Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent applications” should be equally prioritized for the countries’ development. Practical implications The results suggested that the factors Capacity for Innovation, Quality of Scientific Research Institutions, Company Spending on Research and Development (R&D), University–Industry Collaboration in R&D, Government Procurement of Advanced Technology Products, Availability of Scientists and Engineers and PCT Patent Applications are decisive for positioning countries in terms of their stage of development and should be part of their public policy and enterprises’ strategic planning. Originality/value The findings show that countries should prioritize the factors Quality of Scientific Research Institutions and PCT Patent Applications, as these factors, when acting together, predict the evolution to higher stages of development.

Access to Finance as a Driver Innovation

“…According to the hypotheses raised and to the results of descriptive and comparative analyzes for Ukraine, the study has analyzed the relevant factors of innovation for the Ukrainian industrial companies. The independent changes that were selected for the regression analysis have already been tested for other jurisdictions and are based on the results of previously published prior empirical studies [9][10][11], [13], [15][16], [26][27][28][29][30]. This study has employed six variables: total innovation expenditures of industrial enterprises (TIE), sales of industrial enterprises (approximates the size of the company), bank loans to non-financial corporations (BL), foreign direct investment (FDI), share of innovatively active enterprises in the total number of industrial enterprises (SIE) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).…”

“…In their studies domestic scientists use mainly descriptive and comparative methods of analysis, while the vast majority of scientists base their research on the use of other analytical methods, in particular methods of econometric analysis. A significant number of publications [8][9][10][11] are devoted to assessing the relationship between innovation and economic growth. Scientists have found that innovation activity is equally influenced by economic growth and other macroeconomic factors.…”

“…This means that in practice both innovation activity and economic growth can condition each other and, therefore, there is a possibility of feedback between them. Also for different jurisdictions the factors of influence on innovation are investigated [11], [12][13]. Thus, K. Širec and D.Močnik [14] evaluated the relationship between firms' innovation activities and the education of their owner-managers, firms' international orientation and their growth aspirations.…”

“…Studies [9,[11][12][13] show that there is a direct link between firm size, firm growth and innovation activity. It is proved that large companies have much more opportunities and resources (financial, human, technical, technological, etc.)…”

“…It is almost axiomatic that innovation has a positive effect on economic growth and welfare both at the level of individual economies and individual business entities. Since J. Schumpeter, numerous scientific publications [8][9][10][11], [17], [30][31][32] have expressed the opinion and received empirical evidence that innovation acts as a driver of economic development for both developed and emerging economies. Innovation, R&D expenditure and investment in technology are prerequisites for competitiveness and progress, and through them sustainable economic growth [9].…”