Supporting Innovative Business Development Through Innovative Governance in Poland

Abstract

Poland turned in an impressive performance since the fall of communism, and even during the global financial crisis beginning in 2008. Highly innovative public policies helped catalyze a vibrant private sector, which in turn enabled high economic growth, low unemployment, increased exports and labor productivity, leading to a much-improved standard of living for many citizens. However, comparatively low wages have led up to 12 percent of the population to live and work in other countries. One of the reasons for this is lower rates of innovation and R&D spending than in peer countries.In the context of these various innovative forces and disruptions, this paper focuses on a set of policy actions supported by the Government to promote innovation and competitiveness in Poland's private businesses. The paper seeks to answer two main questions: What is the nature of initial innovations in Poland's public sector that enabled private sector innovation? And, were more recent government programs supported by the World Bank successful in promoting increased business innovation and competitiveness? The paper draws on the author's recent mission to Poland as part of a World Bank evaluation of the policy operation series (IEG in press)