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On the meaning of innovation performance: Is the synthetic indicator of the Innovation Union Scoreboard flawed?

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  • Charles Edquist
  • Jon Mikel Zabala-Iturriagagoitia
  • Javier Barbero
  • Jose Luis Zofío

Abstract

The European Union (EU) annually publishes an Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS) as a tool to measure the innovation performance of EU Member States by means of a composite index, called the Summary Innovation Index (SII). The SII is constituted by an average of 25 indicators. The SII is claimed to rank Member States according to their innovation performance. This means that the higher the average value of the 25 indicators, the better the innovation performance is said to be. The first purpose of this article is to assess whether the SII constitutes a meaningful measure of innovation performance. Our conclusion is that it does not. Our second purpose is to develop alternative, productivity or efficiency-based, measures of innovation system performance based on a simple index number, and complement it with advanced and robust nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis techniques. By doing so, the article offers a critical review of the SII, and proposes to put more emphasis on the identification of and relation between input and output innovation indicators. The data provided by the 2014 and 2015 editions of the IUS are here used to analyze the innovation performance of all 28 EU national innovation systems. A theoretical background and reasons for selecting the indicators used are presented, and our new ranking of the innovation performance using bias-corrected efficiency scores of all EU countries is calculated. We find that the results differ substantially between the SII and the ranking based on our method, with significant consequences for the design of innovation policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Edquist & Jon Mikel Zabala-Iturriagagoitia & Javier Barbero & Jose Luis Zofío, 2018. "On the meaning of innovation performance: Is the synthetic indicator of the Innovation Union Scoreboard flawed?," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 27(3), pages 196-211.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rseval:v:27:y:2018:i:3:p:196-211.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel & Aparicio, Juan & Ortiz, Lidia & Carayannis, Elias G. & Grigoroudis, Evangelos, 2021. "The productivity of national innovation systems in Europe: Catching up or falling behind?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    2. Rosalia Castellano & Gaetano Musella & Gennaro Punzo, 2023. "Does context matter? Exploring the effects of productive structures on the relationship between innovation and workforce skills’ complementarity," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1991-2011, June.
    3. Dorys Y. Rodríguez-Castro & Juan Aparicio, 2021. "Introducing a functional framework for integrating the empirical evidence about higher education institutions’ functions and capabilities: A literature review," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 17(1), pages 231-267.
    4. Attila Havas & Doris Schartinger & K. Matthias Weber, 2022. "Innovation Studies, Social Innovation, and Sustainability Transitions Research: From mutual ignorance towards an integrative perspective?," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2227, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    5. Jürgen Janger & Thomas König, 2020. "Forschungspolitik in Österreich. Zentrale Ansatzpunkte für eine Leistungssteigerung in der Grundlagenforschung," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 66625, April.
    6. Muriel Davies & Michel Moulinet & Stéphanie Buisine, 2023. "Innovation culture in French organisations," Post-Print hal-04085432, HAL.
    7. Onea Ioana Alexandra, 2020. "Innovation Indicators and the Innovation Process - Evidence from the European Innovation Scoreboard," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 15(4), pages 605-620, December.
    8. Khatab Alqararah, 2023. "Assessing the robustness of composite indicators: the case of the Global Innovation Index," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, December.
    9. Zofio, Jose Luis & Aparicio, Juan & Barbero, Javier & Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel, 2023. "The influence of bottlenecks on innovation systems performance: Put the slowest climber first," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    10. Ganau, Roberto & Grandinetti, Roberto, 2021. "Disentangling regional innovation capability: what really matters?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114921, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Vas, Zsófia & Gyurkovics, János, 2021. "Összefüggések a hálózatok jellemzői és a vállalkozások innovációs teljesítménye között. Szakirodalmi áttekintés [What kind of relationship can be identified between network characteristics and the ," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1171-1190.
    12. Robertson, Jeandri & Caruana, Albert & Ferreira, Caitlin, 2023. "Innovation performance: The effect of knowledge-based dynamic capabilities in cross-country innovation ecosystems," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(2).
    13. Giuseppe Calignano & Michaela Trippl, 2020. "Innovation-Driven or Challenge-Driven Participation in International Energy Innovation Networks? Empirical Evidence from the H2020 Programme," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, June.
    14. Fredrik Niclas Piro, 2019. "The R&D composition of European countries: concentrated versus dispersed profiles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 1095-1119, May.
    15. János Varga & Ágnes Csiszárik-Kocsir, 2018. "Understanding The Innovation Management System: The Cen/Ts Technical Specification For A Better Innovation Performance," Economy & Business Journal, International Scientific Publications, Bulgaria, vol. 12(1), pages 294-302.
    16. Andrei Coca & Manuela Rozalia Gabor & Irina Olimpia Susanu, 2023. "Do Innovation Metrics Reflect Sustainable Policy Making in Europe? A Comparative Study Case on the Carpathian and Alpine Mountain Regions," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-31, March.
    17. B. D. Matrizaev, 2022. "Study of Theoretical and Methodological Features of Macroeconomic Assessment of the Consequences of Technological Changes and Their Effectiveness," Studies on Russian Economic Development, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 226-235, April.
    18. Carayannis, Elias G. & Grigoroudis, Evangelos & Wurth, Bernd, 2022. "OR for entrepreneurial ecosystems: A problem-oriented review and agenda," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 300(3), pages 791-808.
    19. Irena Lacka & Lukasz Brzezicki, 2021. "The Efficiency and Productivity Evaluation of National Innovation Systems in Europe," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 3), pages 471-496.
    20. Porto-Gomez, Igone & Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2019. "Innovation systems in México: A matter of missing synergies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    21. Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel & Porto Gómez, Igone & Aguirre Larracoechea, Urko, 2020. "Technological diversification: a matter of related or unrelated varieties?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    22. Barbero, Javier & Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel & Zofío, José L., 2021. "Is more always better? On the relevance of decreasing returns to scale on innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).

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