Global Competitiveness of the Economy and Intellectual Capital Index: Case of EU Countries and Ukraine

Abstract

This research aims to analyze indicators of competitiveness of Ukraine economy in contrast to consistent indicators of the EU counties’ economies in context of forward-looking perspective on integration Ukraine into the EU, as well as examine the national index of intellectual capital considering each of its dimensions (human capital, market capital, process capital and renewal capital) within three pillars: Education, R&D, New Business, and explore the potential for growth of Ukraine’s economic competitiveness global given its innovation aspects. The study uses a mixed approach, including factorial analysis and descriptive statistics, using a sample of 27 the EU economies and Ukraine’s economy. The study shows Ukraine has significant innovative potential, high level of higher education and training. It is a crucial competitive advantage, providing successful economic development and accelerating integration Ukraine into the EU. Only through developing of advanced technologies and implementing them in all sphere, stable pace of economic growth and welfare of the nation can be achieved in the conditions of globalization. The restraining factors are corruption, political instability, inflation, and ineffective state policy. In order to be more innovative and, hence, competitive, Ukraine needs to focus more on the structural and comprehensive reforms of institutional environment, concerning the ethical behavior of companies, the protection of property and intellectual property rights, transparency in the adoption of state decisions, the independence of the judiciary, the efficiency of the use of the state budget, public trust in politicians etc. Future studies may explore the opportunities for enhancing innovation performance based on the management of intellectual capital in more detail, using larger sample sizes.