INFLUENCE OF RESEARCH COMPONENTS AND KNOWLEDGE ON GDP GROWTH IN THE EUROPEAN UNION REGIONS

It is often much more complex to explore economic growth at a regional level than at a national level due to regional differences, specialization and concentration of certain activities. Therefore, specific economic policy measures and instruments applied in one region will not produce the same effects in another region or at a national level. Consequently, research components and knowledge have become widely accepted indicators of efforts invested in technological advancement that enables higher economic growth rate and creates overall social well-being. In view of that, this paper aims to look into the interdependence between research components and knowledge on the one hand and economic growth rates at the regional level in the European Union on the other. Because of statistical determination, the research has been carried out in the second-level EU regions. Since the data were not coordinated with other research components in terms of time and geography, it was not possible to break down financial support by regional, national and supra-national affiliation.