Innovativeness of Polish Economy in the Transitional Stage of Development

Abstract

A research question that has not been satisfactorily answered in the relevant literature is what are the reasons for low efficiency of EU-funded public support programs dedicated to increasing innovativeness of Polish enterprises. The aim of the study undertaken by the team of researchers at the Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences is to establish interrelationships between the current stage of development of the Polish economy and determinants of its innovative capacity in the context of absorption of EU structural funds. The first part of study sets the conceptual background in the area of stages of economic development. The conceptual study is complemented by the quantitative analysis of the current stage of development of the Polish economy. The second and the third chapters presents major exogenous barriers to the growth of innovativeness of the Polish economy, and endogenous obstacles to effective transition of the Polish economy. Another parts concerns the demand-side determinants of innovation processes during the transition between the investment-driven and innovation-driven stage of economic development. Next part presents the evolution of theories of innovation, scrutinizes the adaptation of analyzed firms to the conditions of the transitory stage of economic development. The final part of the book is devoted to the role of the science sector in the process of transition of the Polish economy to the innovation-driven stage of development. The study presents a number of recommendations for economic policy directed at increasing the pace of the innovation process.