Esra POLAT (espolat@hacettepe.edu.tr)
Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
ABSTRACT
In the dynamic landscape of global competition, characterized by the escalating significance of technology, innovation emerges as a pivotal determinant for nations seeking to enhance and sustain their competitiveness. In this research, the dataset encompassing seven subcategories within each primary indicator of both innovation input and output subscales, as delineated in the 2022 Global Innovation Index (GII) report, was employed for clustering 132 countries with a fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm. Cluster 1 encompasses a total of 97 countries, while Cluster 2 comprises 35 countries. Following the analysis, the countries with high-income levels in Cluster 2 ranked first. These countries are also positioned among the foremost countries in the GII rankings, which means the ones exhibiting high-income levels attain leading positions similarly across innovation indicators. However, all of the low-income countries and all low-middle-income countries except India clustered in Cluster 1. The cluster analysis results and index rankings are parallel for the countries with high and low GII values. The top countries in GII rankings clustered in Cluster 2. The countries at the bottom of GII rankings clustered in Cluster 1. The fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm revealed the power of the GII to reflect the data.
Keyword: Countries, Global innovation index, innovation, Fuzzy Clustering Analysis
JEL Classification: B41, C13, C22, R21, R29
