Technological competitiveness of the Polish economy

Abstract

An important contemporary problem of international economics – in the context of reducing the distance between emerging or developing and developed economies – is to identify pillars or areas determining the international competitiveness of the economy. This can be a significant premise for introducing changes to the national policy and instruments used within it. The aim of the article is to attempt to identify technological factors of competitiveness that stimulate and hinder the development of the Polish economy in the second decade of the 21st century and to assess the distance between Poland and the European Union economies in terms of technological potential. The study will use methods of a statistical multidimensional analysis – taxonomic methods, such as: a synthetic index, similarity of objects to the development pattern and a distance between objects (states). The taxonomic procedure, which will allow to construct rankings of the technological competitiveness of European Union countries, refers to the values of diagnostic features characterizing a given object, i.e. the state economy in the context of technological changes. The empirical study is based on an original model, i.e. an integrated model of technological competitiveness, whose explanatory value relates to, among others, the opportunity to learn about the sources and ways to increase the technological potential, as well as its use in creating the competitiveness of the international economy, economic growth and socio-economic development. Based on the analyses carried out, recommendations for a state policy and conclusions regarding the strategy of building technological capacity will be formulated, with an emphasis on threats and challenges that the Polish economy will face in the future.