INNOVATION IN EASTERN EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA: A MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION-MAKING APPROACH

Abstract

In today’s intense competition environment, innovation levels of countries determine their competitive advantages. This study compares the innovation levels of Eastern European and Central Asian (EECA) countries using multi-criteria decision-making methods. The firm-level data set of the World Bank on innovation (BEEPS data) is used to evaluate innovation levels and capabilities of the countries in the region. In our proposed TOPSIS based methodology, countries are compared in terms of four different innovation types (New Product, New Organization, New Marketing, and New Process Innovations). Also, we provide an extensive sensitivity analysis to show the changes in the innovation rankings of the countries wıth different criteria weights.