Innovation performance of EU countries in context of R&D: R&D trap risk in Slovakia?

Abstract Expenditures in research and development (R&D) and their transformation in innovations are unanimously considered in the academic literature to be one of the key drivers of sustainable economic growth, total factor productivity, as well as the competitiveness of companies and national e...

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Main Authors: Katarína Belanová, Pavol Ochotnický, Rudolf Sivák
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-06-01
Series:Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-025-00533-5
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author Katarína Belanová
Pavol Ochotnický
Rudolf Sivák
author_facet Katarína Belanová
Pavol Ochotnický
Rudolf Sivák
author_sort Katarína Belanová
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Expenditures in research and development (R&D) and their transformation in innovations are unanimously considered in the academic literature to be one of the key drivers of sustainable economic growth, total factor productivity, as well as the competitiveness of companies and national economies. The paper examines the dependence of the level of innovation performance of European countries on the countries’ expenditures on R&D. Although this dependence appears to be significant and long-term stable, there are significant differences in the evaluation of individual partial components of the innovation performance of countries according to the index used within the European Innovation Scoreboard. The mentioned findings indicate that the process of transformation of R&D into innovative performance is just as important as the amount of R&D expenditure itself. Using the example of the economy of the Slovak Republic, its comparison with EU countries and the Quintuple Helix model, the contribution further demonstrates how the low level of R&D spending in connection with insufficiently developed country subsystems (helices) can lead to economic paradoxes and, without systemic changes, to the unsustainable development path or to the risk of R&D spending trap.
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spelling doaj-art-5bb26ee4a2b34fe78bd6a9117dacbd4e2025-08-20T02:05:42ZengSpringerOpenJournal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship2192-53722025-06-0114112210.1186/s13731-025-00533-5Innovation performance of EU countries in context of R&D: R&D trap risk in Slovakia?Katarína Belanová0Pavol Ochotnický1Rudolf Sivák2Department of Finance, Faculty of Economics and Finance, Bratislava University of Economics and FinanceDepartment of Finance, Faculty of Economics and Finance, Bratislava University of Economics and FinanceDepartment of Finance, Faculty of Economics and Finance, Bratislava University of Economics and FinanceAbstract Expenditures in research and development (R&D) and their transformation in innovations are unanimously considered in the academic literature to be one of the key drivers of sustainable economic growth, total factor productivity, as well as the competitiveness of companies and national economies. The paper examines the dependence of the level of innovation performance of European countries on the countries’ expenditures on R&D. Although this dependence appears to be significant and long-term stable, there are significant differences in the evaluation of individual partial components of the innovation performance of countries according to the index used within the European Innovation Scoreboard. The mentioned findings indicate that the process of transformation of R&D into innovative performance is just as important as the amount of R&D expenditure itself. Using the example of the economy of the Slovak Republic, its comparison with EU countries and the Quintuple Helix model, the contribution further demonstrates how the low level of R&D spending in connection with insufficiently developed country subsystems (helices) can lead to economic paradoxes and, without systemic changes, to the unsustainable development path or to the risk of R&D spending trap.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-025-00533-5InnovationsResearch and developmentThe European Innovations ScoreboardThe Summary Innovations IndexGERCHThe Quintuple Helix model
spellingShingle Katarína Belanová
Pavol Ochotnický
Rudolf Sivák
Innovation performance of EU countries in context of R&D: R&D trap risk in Slovakia?
Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Innovations
Research and development
The European Innovations Scoreboard
The Summary Innovations Index
GERCH
The Quintuple Helix model
title Innovation performance of EU countries in context of R&D: R&D trap risk in Slovakia?
title_full Innovation performance of EU countries in context of R&D: R&D trap risk in Slovakia?
title_fullStr Innovation performance of EU countries in context of R&D: R&D trap risk in Slovakia?
title_full_unstemmed Innovation performance of EU countries in context of R&D: R&D trap risk in Slovakia?
title_short Innovation performance of EU countries in context of R&D: R&D trap risk in Slovakia?
title_sort innovation performance of eu countries in context of r d r d trap risk in slovakia
topic Innovations
Research and development
The European Innovations Scoreboard
The Summary Innovations Index
GERCH
The Quintuple Helix model
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-025-00533-5
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AT pavolochotnicky innovationperformanceofeucountriesincontextofrdrdtrapriskinslovakia
AT rudolfsivak innovationperformanceofeucountriesincontextofrdrdtrapriskinslovakia