A methodology to measure innovation in European Union through the national innovation system

Measuring the innovative performance of European Union (EU) is vital to assist in defining public policies that can contribute to stimulate innovation. This study aims to examine the socio-economic factors that contribute to the EU innovative performance. In order to validate the research, the empirical study uses two linear regressions, considering as dependent variables, respectively, the patents required and the percentage of innovative sales, with the objective of identifying the factors that most influence innovation outputs. This study concludes that the most important variables for innovative performance (measured as number of patents) are private R&D, percentage of innovative firms and public R&D. Additionally, the results can provide important clues to support the definition of public policies that can stimulate innovation.