Diverse Approaches to the Multidimensional Assessment of Innovation in the European Union

The paper concentrates on the evaluation of the Global Innovation Index, the Summary Innovation Index and the Innovation Output Indicator. For the purpose of this article, the PROFIT (PROperty- FITting) method, an extension of the multidimensional scaling (MDS), was applied. The ultimate goal of MDS techniques is to produce a geometric map that illustrates the underlying structure of complex phenomena such as the innovation performance of the EU countries. Cluster analysis, conducted with the use of Ward’s method provided an objective view of the division of the EU countries based on their selected characteristics. The final result is a two-dimensional map illustrating the structure of innovation performance. The main conclusion drawn from the analysis is the explanation of distance between single indices in a spatial map and their role in distinguishing specific groups of the EU countries from the perspective of innovation performance.