The Impact of Innovation on the National and Regional Competitiveness within the European Union
The Impact of Innovation on the National and Regional Competitiveness within the European Union

Summary/Abstract: Many studies have revealed the positive relationship between economic growth, and implicitly competitiveness, and innovation. The aim of the current paper is to test the impact of several indicators of innovation on the most relevant competitiveness indexes. These indexes are developed by the World Economic Forum, the Institute for Management Development or under the coordination of the European Union and their purpose is to quantify competitiveness. The current research is looking to the national and regional level within the European Union. In order to test the connection between competitiveness and innovation econometrical analyzes were carried out. Overall, the results indicated that indicators of innovation related to ‘human resources’, ‘intellectual assets’, and ‘finance and support’ have a positive impact on competitiveness. The differences and similarities between the impact of innovation on the national and regional competitiveness are pointed out. Knowing these particularities, the policy makers may formulate adequate national and regional policies to stimulate innovation. Several policy recommendations focused on the validated variables of innovation were formulated. The current paper brings an added value to the literature by revealing the positive connections developed between the most relevant indexes of competitiveness and indicators of innovation.

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