Good Governance and Innovation: a Renewed Global Framework for National and Supranational Policy Advancement

Abstract

There exists ample literature on the effect of democracy on innovation, with mix results. The present study includes the variable good governance, to study its potential effect on innovation. The research main goal consists in building upon and going beyond existing research dedicated to fostering innovation by identifying key good governance indicators at a country and supranational level, and their potential synergies and interactions with variables that complete the new model. The methodology used for the statistical analysis is based on Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), due to the exploratory nature of the study. The research analyzes interactions between good governance indicators, innovation, education, and democracy, along with gross domestic product per capita as a mediating variable. The findings reveal that good governance, education, and gross domestic product indicators have a positive effect on innovation within EU countries and supranational government-controlled institutions. Furthermore, the research identifies the mediation role of gross domestic product between good governance and innovation as well as between education and innovation and the critical role of management to promote good governance and innovation. Based on these findings and the study limitations, the research proposes specific policies to promote innovation.