Innovativeness Of Belarusian Economy Through The Prism Of Its Competitive Position In International Trade

The main purpose of this study is to answer the question of how innovative Belarusian economy is. Its innovativeness has been assessed through an in-depth analysis of Belarus’ position in international trade, especially in high- and medium-high-technology goods, on the back of the assumption that any competitive advantages possessed in them testify to the economy’s high innovativeness. The analysis of the dynamics of long-term revealed comparative advantages in Belarusian foreign trade by using Balassa’s RCA methodology and covering the years 2000-2014, has shown that the country was generally characterized by low innovativeness, as evidenced by the possession of such advantages only in trade in goods of relatively low technological intensity (medium-low technology). Meanwhile, in hi-tech goods (high and medium-high technology), Belarus did not have any (or only had relatively small) long-term revealed comparative advantages. Moreover, Belarus’ competitiveness in international trade deteriorated over that period, not only regarding high and medium-high technology goods but also in foreign trade overall. This seems to be, amongst others, the consequence of low efficiency of the country’s current innovation policy.