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is Denmark, which, thanks to the high innovation activity<br />

and networking level of its small enterprises, is better positioned<br />

in the ranking based on the European Commission’s<br />

method than in the innovation index based on the WEF’s<br />

method, which focuses more on the measurement of the<br />

preconditions for the technological innovation.<br />

4.5.2<br />

Innovation capacity in<br />

various country groups<br />

Below, we examine the development and implementation<br />

of the state’s innovation potential in Estonia and the reference<br />

states used in this report, adding to them Israel<br />

and Canada. We divided the countries under observation<br />

into four groups, which differ as to their economic development<br />

and geographical location. The need and opportunities<br />

for innovation arise from the level of existing<br />

economic development of the country; on the other hand,<br />

the success in realisation of innovation potential is one<br />

of the main factors that ensures that the state’s economic<br />

level will increase in the future.<br />

The first group of the comparison could be called<br />

the countries with developed economies. This group is<br />

comprised of Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland,<br />

Austria and Ireland, as well as New Zealand and<br />

Canada, of the states located outside of Europe. As a<br />

whole, this group could be called the group of old rich<br />

countries, in which Ireland, and sometimes also Finland,<br />

are considered to be the ones that started their rise most<br />

recently, with upward trajectories starting roughly in the<br />

1960s. Except for New Zealand, the GDP per capita of<br />

this group of countries is about twice as high as that of<br />

Estonia. The pace of GDP growth during the last 15 years<br />

Table 4.5.1<br />

Ranking of the innovation capability of states based on<br />

the WEF methodology<br />

Rank<br />

Country<br />

1. Switzerland<br />

2. Finland<br />

3. Israel<br />

4. Sweden<br />

5. Japan<br />

6. USA<br />

7. Germany<br />

8. Singapore<br />

9. Netherlands<br />

10. Great Britain<br />

12. Denmark<br />

13. Austria<br />

14. Taiwan<br />

16. South Korea<br />

21. Republic of Ireland<br />

22. Canada<br />

Rank<br />

Country<br />

24. New Zealand<br />

30. Estonia<br />

32. Slovenia<br />

33. China<br />

34. Czech Republic<br />

37. Hungary<br />

38. Costa Rica<br />

41. India<br />

43. Lithuania<br />

44. Chile<br />

51. Russia<br />

63. Poland<br />

64. Latvia<br />

69. Uruguay<br />

89. Slovakia<br />

Source: K. Schwab (ed.). The Global Competitiveness Report<br />

2012-2013, Geneva 2012<br />

has been significantly lower than in Estonia, or generally,<br />

in the best of the CEE countries, which is quite natural,<br />

when starting from a higher level. In this context, the<br />

pace of growth in Ireland and Finland must be considered<br />

as truly exceptional for developed economies.<br />

Despite strong competition from the countries of<br />

East Asia, based on the competitiveness ranking, the<br />

countries that belong to this group can still be regarded<br />

as the world’s “elite.” Only New Zealand is left out of the<br />

top 20, and just barely. Switzerland and Finland are the<br />

best in the world, when it comes to competitiveness.<br />

In this group of states with developed economies,<br />

their position in the innovation capacity ranking is nearly<br />

in all cases practically the same as in the competitiveness<br />

ranking. It is only slightly worse for Austria. It seems<br />

that innovation is so important for very highly developed<br />

economies that a position at the top of the competitiveness<br />

ranking cannot be maintained without it. It is also<br />

apparent that the so-called old wealthy states in our sample<br />

have made great investments into their innovation<br />

potential, and do not intend to concede their excellent<br />

positions among the developmental leaders. However,<br />

since the innovation capacity ranking is not significantly<br />

higher in these countries than the competitiveness ranking,<br />

we cannot presume that the conversion of the former<br />

into the latter would result in a great leap in their<br />

economic development in the upcoming period (which<br />

could be possible in some East Asian countries).<br />

In practically all the states in the given group, the<br />

innovation pattern is uniformly good, without any special<br />

weak elements. The engine is usually a combination of<br />

four factors: the level of the universities and research<br />

institutions, existence of scientists and engineers, collaboration<br />

between universities and companies, and the<br />

ability to create new technologies, not just adopt them.<br />

Somewhat less frequently, high R&D investments by companies<br />

and their patents are included among the stronger<br />

elements of the innovation pattern. The Netherlands and<br />

Switzerland stand out, primarily, for their strong universities,<br />

along with Denmark, Canada and New Zealand.<br />

Finland is somewhat concerned about the level of its universities.<br />

A strong element in the innovation pictures of<br />

Finland, Ireland and Canada is the existence of scientists<br />

and engineers, while at the same time, in the Netherlands,<br />

Austria, New Zealand and also Denmark, they are more<br />

concerned about the dearth of scientists and engineers<br />

than about any other elements of innovation potential.<br />

The collaboration between companies and universities<br />

is very good in Finland, Switzerland, Denmark,<br />

Ireland, Canada and New Zealand. This element is not<br />

among the weakest innovation potential elements in any<br />

of the states of this group. In the same group, patents are<br />

among the strongest elements of innovation potential only<br />

in Austria (however, this indicator is also very good in<br />

Switzerland); the R&D investments of companies are strongest<br />

in Austria and Switzerland; but these indicators are not<br />

markedly weak in any of the countries in this group. It can<br />

be said about the innovation pattern of the countries in the<br />

developed economies group that although, as rule, we are<br />

dealing with strong and often international companies; the<br />

innovation potential of these countries depends, to a great<br />

extent, on the collaboration between the private and pub-<br />

182<br />

Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013

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