Efficiency of R&D expenditure in Poland and the other member countries of the European Union: comparative analysis by the DEA method

Purpose – Measurement and evaluation of the effectiveness of R&D expenditure in Poland and comparison of this amount to selected European countries.Research method – The effectiveness of R&D expenditure was measured using the non-parametric DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) method, which is result-oriented, since the goal of the R&D sector is to maximize the effects. In this paper, a model was created to determine the effectiveness of R&D expenditure in relation to the effects in the form of: the number of scientific publications, the number of patent applications submitted to the EPO and the export of high-tech products per 1 million euros of R&D expenditure.Results – The overall efficiency index for Poland was 0.6925 and was slightly higher than the average for the countries in the study group (0.682). In the efficiency ranking Poland was ranked 12th. The only country that was fully efficient was Germany. Second place was taken by France (0.815), and third place by Italy (0.7825).Originality / value / implications / recommendations– The paper presents a comprehensive analysis, evaluation and comparison of the effectiveness of R&D expenditure in Poland in relation to European countries using the DEA method, taking into account three effects, i.e.: the number of publications, the number of patent applications and exports of high-tech products.