ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INNOVATIONS AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES IN POLAND

Long-term economic growth is based on innovations, and these depend, among others, on investments in research and development (R&D). The aim of the paper is to measure and assess the impact of innovations on the competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises. Depending on the model version, sold production or gross value added were adopted as a measure of competitiveness. The study is based on the analysis of the Cobb–Douglas production function extended by a variable describing innovations (expenditure on innovative activity). The research process was implemented for the period 2009–2016 and is a contribution to determining the role of innovations in shaping the economic performance of enterprises. The set of input variables is based on statistical data published by the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS). A positive and statistically significant estimation of the autoregressive coefficient in both the sold production model and the gross value added model shows the dependence of the analysed categories on the results achieved in previous periods. The legitimacy of using dynamic panel data models has been confirmed empirically.