Inovacije, produktivnost i rast - reformski i ekonomsko-politički izazovi Srbije

Abstract

The economic annihilation caused by the wars, sanctions and hyperinflation has elevated the issue of restoring previous income and welfare levels to the very top of political and social agenda. Consequently, all efforts during the past two decades were focused on reviving economic growth. Initially the main source of growth was consumer demand financed by external grants and privatization proceeds, followed by industrial revival and new jobs financed by external borrowing and strong FDI flows. In recent years it is becoming increasingly clear that higher sustainable rates of growth needed for income convergence with Europe and improved standards of living can only be achieved with production, organizational and process innovations. This paper reviews the elaborate structure of the present national innovation system in Serbia and concludes that more than 120 academic and almost 80 R&D institutions are competing for very limited resources of around 0.9% of GDP, produce declining innovation output and do not collaborate with the enterprise sector to increase productivity and growth. To have a better impact on productivity, long-run growth and well-being of all citizens, innovation funding must be doubled, innovation priorities must be identified based on empirical evidence and R&D and innovation performance must be evaluated based on results.