A Framework for the Analysis & Assessment of the Functioning of National Innovation Systems: Application on EU data

Περίληψη

This paper proposes a framework for the analysis and assessment of the functioning of national innovation systems. Taking into account relevant literature, a framework of functions is selected for the representation of a national innovation system and certain indicators are suggested for the measurement of each function. Moreover, the proposed framework is applied for the measurement, comparison and comparative assessment of the innovation systems of all EU (European Union) countries. For this purpose, factor analysis is applied on the values of the indicators. The innovation systems of the countries are scored on the basis of the calculated factors. The results indicate that there are significant differences among European countries regarding the functioning of their innovation systems as measured by the proposed framework. Policy makers should give more emphasis on the promotion of knowledge development and diffusion, entrepreneurial R&D activity, human capital allocated to research and R&D financing.