<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The importance of a smart, inclusive and sustainable development as well as their main determinants had benefit in the last decades of an emergent attention both in the current evolution of the mix set of socio and economic policies as well as in the theoretical and empirical research development. The paper focuses on the role of investments in human capital and innovation, two closely interrelated variables, for a smart, inclusive and sustainable development, within the European Union countries. Our main research results show that, at the EU level, there are significant differences between less inclusive and sustainable developed countries and, correspondingly, between more inclusive and sustainable developed countries in terms of investments in human capital (expressed by the Global Human Capital Index and tertiary educational attainment), on one hand, and the national innovation systems performances (as illustrated by the Summary Innovation Index and R&amp;D intensity), on the other hand. Moreover, the correlation and regression analysis results suggest that existing gaps between inclusive and sustainable development, manifested at the EU level, can be explained by the level of human capital optimization and innovation performances. Therefore, more attention have to be paid to take some specific actions, especially in the less inclusive and sustainable developed countries (such as Romania, Greece, Spain, and Portugal, called also emergent countries) in order to improve innovation performance and the leverage of the human capital for the benefit of both individuals’ themselves and of the whole economy for increasing the inclusiveness and sustainability of development.</p></abstract>

The importance of a smart, inclusive and sustainable development as well as their main determinants had benefit in the last decades of an emergent attention both in the current evolution of the mix set of socio and economic policies as well as in the theoretical and empirical research development. The paper focuses on the role of investments in human capital and innovation, two closely interrelated variables, for a smart, inclusive and sustainable development, within the European Union countries. Our main research results show that, at the EU level, there are significant differences between less inclusive and sustainable developed countries and, correspondingly, between more inclusive and sustainable developed countries in terms of investments in human capital (expressed by the Global Human Capital Index and tertiary educational attainment), on one hand, and the national innovation systems performances (as illustrated by the Summary Innovation Index and R&D intensity), on the other hand. Moreover, the correlation and regression analysis results suggest that existing gaps between inclusive and sustainable development, manifested at the EU level, can be explained by the level of human capital optimization and innovation performances. Therefore, more attention have to be paid to take some specific actions, especially in the less inclusive and sustainable developed countries (such as Romania, Greece, Spain, and Portugal, called also emergent countries) in order to improve innovation performance and the leverage of the human capital for the benefit of both individuals’ themselves and of the whole economy for increasing the inclusiveness and sustainability of development.

Towards a smart, inclusive and sustainable development. Investment in human capital and innovation. An empirical analysis

Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology of Tirgu-Mures

The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Faculty of Theoretical and Applied Economics, Department of Economics & Economic Policies

Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The importance of a smart, inclusive and sustainable development as well as their main determinants had benefit in the last decades of an emergent attention...

Towards a smart, inclusive and sustainable development. Investment in human capital and innovation. An empirical analysis

Published Online: Nov 29, 2019

Page range: 792 - 803

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2019-0070

Keywords
investments in human capital, innovation, inclusive and sustainable development, EU

© 2019 Emilia Herman et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Towards a smart, inclusive and sustainable development. Investment in human capital and innovation. An empirical analysis

Published Online: Nov 29, 2019

Page range: 792 - 803

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2019-0070

Keywordsinvestments in human capital, innovation, inclusive and sustainable development, EU

© 2019 Emilia Herman et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
investments in human capital, innovation, inclusive and sustainable development, EU