Researching National Innovation Infrastructure in the Western Balkan Region
Researching National Innovation Infrastructure in the Western Balkan Region

Summary/Abstract: The existing economic model among the Western Balkan (WB) countries with strong reliance on external financing cause macroeconomic instability within these countries, where stagnant growth rate and high rate of unemployment appear parallel with external imbalance i.e. growing external debt. The current financial crisis which characterizes denial of financing to private and public sectors in developing countries and regions like WB causes new challenges to the national innovation systems. That is requirement for increase of efficiency of use of available resources within the national innovation system. Therefore development of the innovation infrastructure in the national economies presents an important medium where innovative and inventive activities appear as indispensible elements. Acceptance of new moment (i.e. the financial crisis) on the national level requires competitive human resources within the government and the business sectors, where regional cooperation has potential to build an adequate human capacity, primarily in the government sector which may positively affect development of the national economies. Therefore the main focus of the paper to answer on two interrelated questions, first examine relation between macroeconomic performance and national innovation infrastructure among the WB countries and second explore on which way regional cooperation related to innovation economies influence innovation capacity on the national level? This is exploratory paper with the aim to contribute to the discussions on potential of regional cooperation among the WB countries in the field of innovation economics by explaining the interrelationship between institutional conditions related to innovations and macroeconomic performance that affect capacity of the regional cooperation.

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