Abstract:

The enterprises undertaking innovation activities in the European Union countries operate in a diverse environment, not always friendly to innovation processes. They are influenced by a number of internal and external factors constituting barriers for the implementation of innovations. As a result of diverse conditions for the development of innovation in the EU countries, the individual barriers to innovation processes may be of different significance for enterprises. The first part of the study presents an overview of the subject literature output focused on the systematics of key factors hampering or preventing the activities aimed at the implementation of innovation (e.g. deterrent and disclosed barriers, internal and external and also economic, knowledge-related, market and institutional ones). The second part addresses the results of empirical research focused on identifying the key barriers to innovation activities in the individual EU countries, the classification of countries in terms of the revealed barriers to innovation processes of high importance to enterprises as well as the typology of developed classes, taking into account the dimensions of innovation according to the European Innovation Scoreboard. The conducted analyses were also based on the results of the research carried out among the innovative enterprises within the framework of the last edition of the Community Innovation Survey. The research used multi-dimensional statistical analysis methods, with particular emphasis on the classification methods.