IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ora/journl/v1y2011i1p72-79.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Innovation Versus Income Convergence In Central And Eastern Europe. Is There A Correlation?

Author

Listed:
  • Jude Cristina

    (Universitatea Babes Bolyai, Stiinte Economice si Gestiunea Afacerilor)

  • Pop Silaghi Monica

    (Universitatea Babes Bolyai, Stiinte Economice si Gestiunea Afacerilor)

Abstract

The heterogeneity of response of the different economies facing the world economic crisis has brought into attention once again the issue of convergence inside the European Union. The high growth rates experienced by CEEC during the last decade created an optimistic view of rapid convergence towards Western Europe. But the crisis showed that the sources of economic growth in the region were not appropriate for a long run growth. Innovation is a key source of competitiveness and a contributor to a sustainable growth path. Even though CEEC lag behind other European countries in terms of R&D investment, a certain progress can be observed. The objective of the present paper is to establish if there is a correlation between the convergence in terms of GDP and the convergence in terms of innovation for the CEEC. Based on yearly Eurostat data for the period 1998-2008, we quantify the progress of each of the 10 CEEC both in closing the income gap and the innovation gap. We then rank the countries according to their speed of convergence and perform a Spearman rank correlation analysis. The results show that, on average, convergence in R&D is not correlated with convergence in GDP. The Czech Republic is the only country with a positive correlation between R&D intensity and GDP growth. Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia show a negative relationship between investment in R&D and economic growth. This implies that for most of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe, economic growth during the period 1998-2008 was mostly driven by non-innovation factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Jude Cristina & Pop Silaghi Monica, 2011. "Innovation Versus Income Convergence In Central And Eastern Europe. Is There A Correlation?," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 72-79, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:ora:journl:v:1:y:2011:i:1:p:72-79
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2011/n1/073.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & John Van Reenen, 2004. "Mapping the Two Faces of R&D: Productivity Growth in a Panel of OECD Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(4), pages 883-895, November.
    2. repec:dgr:rugggd:200469 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Pradeep Mitra, 2008. "Innovation, Inclusion, and Integration : From Transition to Convergence in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6475.
    4. Verspagen, B., 2000. "Economic growth and technological change: an evolutionary interpretation," Working Papers 00.12, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    5. Bart van Ark & Marcin Piatkowski, 2004. "Productivity, innovation and ICT in Old and New Europe," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 215-246, January.
    6. Aghion, Philippe & Howitt, Peter, 2005. "Growth with Quality-Improving Innovations: An Integrated Framework," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 67-110, Elsevier.
    7. Bruno Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, 2008. "Europe's R&D: Missing the Wrong Targets?," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 43(4), pages 220-225, July.
    8. Narula, Rajneesh, 2009. "Attracting and embedding R&D by multinational firms: policy recommendations for EU new member states," MERIT Working Papers 2009-033, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    9. Oleh Havrylyshyn, 2001. "Recovery and Growth in Transition: A Decade of Evidence," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 48(4), pages 1-4.
    10. Slavo Radosevic, 2004. "A Two‐Tier or Multi‐Tier Europe? Assessing the Innovation Capacities of Central and East European Countries in the Enlarged EU," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 641-666, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Popovici (Barbulescu) Adina, 2012. "Considerations Regarding Romanian Higher Education Graduates," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 377-383, July.
    2. Adina Popovici (Bărbulescu), 2011. "Human Capital and Higher Education in Romania in the Last Years," Annals of the University of Petrosani, Economics, University of Petrosani, Romania, vol. 11(1), pages 207-214.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pop Silaghi, Monica Ioana & Alexa, Diana & Jude, Cristina & Litan, Cristian, 2014. "Do business and public sector research and development expenditures contribute to economic growth in Central and Eastern European Countries? A dynamic panel estimation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 108-119.
    2. Kravtsova, Victoria & Radosevic, Slavo, 2012. "Are systems of innovation in Eastern Europe efficient?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 109-126.
    3. Ballot, Gerard & Taymaz, Erol, 2001. "Training policies and economic growth in an evolutionary world," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 311-329, September.
    4. Bos, Jaap W.B. & Economidou, Claire & Sanders, Mark W.J.L., 2013. "Innovation over the industry life-cycle: Evidence from EU manufacturing," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 78-91.
    5. Lars Calmfors & Giancarlo Corsetti & Seppo Honkapohja & John Kay & Gilles Saint-Paul & Hans-Werner Sinn & Jan-Egbert Sturm & Xavier Vives, 2006. "Chapter 3: Economic Growth in the European Union," EEAG Report on the European Economy, CESifo, vol. 0, pages 68-88, March.
    6. Francesco Daveri & Maria Laura Parisi, 2010. "Experience, Innovation and Productivity - Empirical Evidence from Italy's Slowdown," CESifo Working Paper Series 3123, CESifo.
    7. Fu, Xiaolan & Pietrobelli, Carlo & Soete, Luc, 2011. "The Role of Foreign Technology and Indigenous Innovation in the Emerging Economies: Technological Change and Catching-up," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1204-1212, July.
    8. Herrerias, M.J. & Orts, Vicente, 2011. "Imports and growth in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 2811-2819.
    9. Letizia Montinari & Michael Rochlitz, 2012. "Absorptive Capacity and Efficiency: A Comparative Stochastic Frontier Approach Using Sectoral Data," Working Papers 4/2012, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, revised Jun 2012.
    10. Hübler, Michael, 2009. "Avoiding the trap: the dynamic interaction of North-South capital mobility and technology diffusion," Kiel Working Papers 1477, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    11. Azomahou, Theophile & Diene, Bity & Diene, Mbaye, 2012. "Nonlinearities in productivity growth: A semi-parametric panel analysis," MERIT Working Papers 2012-046, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    12. repec:ial:wpaper:4 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. David Sondermann, 2014. "Productivity in the euro area: any evidence of convergence?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 999-1027, November.
    14. Uros Delevic & Irina Heim, 2017. "Institutions In Transition: Is The Eu Integration Process Relevant For Inward Fdi In Transition European Economies?," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 5(1), pages 16-32.
    15. Werner Hölzl & Susanne Bärenthaler-Sieber & Julia Bock-Schappelwein & Klaus Friesenbichler & Agnes Kügler & Andreas Reinstaller & Peter Reschenhofer & Bernhard Dachs & Martin Risak, 2019. "Digitalisation in Austria. State of Play and Reform Needs," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61892, April.
    16. Krammer, Sorin M.S., 2009. "Drivers of national innovation in transition: Evidence from a panel of Eastern European countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 845-860, June.
    17. Azomahou, Théophile T. & Diene, Bity & Diene, Mbaye, 2013. "Nonlinearities in productivity growth: A semi-parametric panel analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 45-75.
    18. Radosevic, Slavo, 2022. "Techno-economic transformation in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union – A neo-Schumpeterian perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    19. Schulte, Patrick, 2015. "Does skill-biased technical change diffuse internationally?," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-088, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    20. Marina Rybalka, 2015. "The innovative input mix. Assessing the importance of R&D and ICT investments for firm performance in manufacturing and services," Discussion Papers 801, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    21. Grunfeld, Leo A., 2003. "Meet me halfway but don't rush: absorptive capacity and strategic R&D investment revisited," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(8), pages 1091-1109, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    convergence; growth; innovation; R&D;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ora:journl:v:1:y:2011:i:1:p:72-79. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catalin ZMOLE (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feoraro.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.