중동부유럽

Catching up with a low R&D intensity is the norm; turning into a mature economy without stepping up R&D activities is the rare exception. Poland’s remarkable economic performance in the past 25 years strongly relied on competitive labour costs in low and low-to-medium-tech industries. Like many catching up economies before, Poland has now reached a stage of economic development where efficiency gains and sustained economic growth are more difficult to achieve. In a previous Brief on Poland*, we identified the transformation towards medium-high and high-tech sectors as the most important challenge for the Polish economy over the medium to long term.  Since innovation is one of the key drivers of long-term economic growth, strengthening the innovative capacity of the Polish economy is crucial, even more so as employment growth is likely to be constrained by a bleak demographic outlook. Against this background, this Economic Brief looks at a couple of framework conditions important for innovation to understand why the Polish innovation performance has so far been modest and where bottlenecks are. At present, Poland lags significantly behind in many areas that characterise successful R&D and innovation systems. R&D spending in per cent of GDP is well below the EU average; it is also lower than in regional peers in Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC). The number of university graduates with a PhD in science is low. Cooperation between the research community and private enterprises is weak. Public support for R&D and innovation is limited and effectiveness of existing instruments seems limited. To overcome the bottlenecks, several challenges need to be addressed to prepare the ground for the next 'catching-up' phase towards a mature economy. The EU funding from ERDF, ESF and EFSI is helpful in addressing these deficiencies. In addition, a dedicated strategy and a vision of a knowledgebased and innovation-driven economy have been developed. Now it is of crucial importance to ensure a swift and vigorous implementation of those policy initiatives. In order to release the innovative potential of Polish firms, it is important inter alia to continue focusing on better targeting the financial support for innovative companies, strengthening the links between private companies and the science/research sector, as well as on developing R&D-relevant skills. In addition, ensuring a competitive and open business environment could provide additional incentives for firms to innovate to remain successful in the marketplace.