Does Innovation Performance Depend on Economic Growth?: The Case of a Country in Transition

this paper is an attempt to analyze a possible influence of economic growth on innovation performance. econometric model based on principal component analysis is the research tool. poland, as a country in transition, is here a case-study. the analysis has confirmed an interesting pattern: in 1989-2007, corporate innovation performance was changing, in principle, in the same direction as macro-economic changes but with a one-to-two-year delay. this is some proof that the innovation activity followed the cyclical development of the national economy. innovation performance was demand-driven, i.e., pulled by demand resulting from the economy's recovery and high economic growth. so, technological innovation appeared to be highly sensitive to the general economic situation in poland as a transitional economy. economic growth seems to be a kind of tag-boat pulling innovation activities in the business sector.