KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION – CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS

Abstract

The knowledge-based economy is an economy where knowledge is created, acquired, transmitted and used effectively by businesses, organizations, individuals and communities. It is not narrowly focused on the industries of advanced technology or ICT, but provides a framework for analysing the range of policy options in education, information infrastructure and systems of innovation, which could help contribute to the knowledge economy. The aim of the paper is to analyse spatial differences in the level of development of the knowledge-based economy in the European Union countries. The study uses a soft modelling method, which enables the estimation of a synthetic measure of KBE as well as the arrangement and classification of the UE-27 countries into typological groups. The research covers the years 2000 and 2013.