Competitiveness, indicators of competitiveness, research and development, R&D expenditure, EU countries

The paper focuses on competitiveness, which can be perceived as a set of prerequisites for achieving long-term growth performance, and thus also for increasing the economic level in the conditions of internal and external balance. One of the key drivers increasing competitiveness, productivity and the resulting economic growth in EU countries is the area of science, technology and innovations. Close attention is paid to expenditure on research and development in relation to GDP in EU-28 countries and other R&D indicators, which provide a view on the assessment of competitiveness as well as innovation capacity of the individual countries. By use of cluster analysis, selected R&D indicators (R&D expenditure, publications per researcher (FTE) and patent applications to the EPO) in EU-28 in years 2004 and 2013 are compared and their impact on competitiveness and innovation capacity assessed.

The paper focuses on competitiveness, which can be perceived as a set of prerequisites for achieving long-term growth performance, and thus also for increasing the economic level in the conditions of internal and external balance. One of the key drivers increasing competitiveness, productivity and the resulting economic growth in EU countries is the area of science, technology and innovations. Close attention is paid to expenditure on research and development in relation to GDP in EU-28 countries and other R&D indicators, which provide a view on the assessment of competitiveness as well as innovation capacity of the individual countries. By use of cluster analysis, selected R&D indicators (R&D expenditure, publications per researcher (FTE) and patent applications to the EPO) in EU-28 in years 2004 and 2013 are compared and their impact on competitiveness and innovation capacity assessed.