The Economic Cycle and the Innovation Activity of the Polish Industry System

Industrial structures in the “catching up” type of countries usually are not too competitive in nature, and mainly they differ in the low share of high-technology products in the international trade. The aim of the conducted studies was an attempt to search for directions, as well as the power of impact of different phases of the business cycle on the innovation activity of the Polish industrial system. Consequently, this was to allow to determine the boundary conditions for the national network of innovations and its model structure, which would take into account the specificity of Poland. The methodical part of the paper was based on the theory of probability (probit modelling). Based on the analysis performed based on 5209 industrial companies (questionnaire survey) it was stated that in the prosperity phase the implementation of the innovation activity is significantly higher than in other phases of the business cycle. On the other hand, during recession and stagnation, the innovation activity is a less common phenomenon, but is not completely abandoned. Research results did not confirm the occurrence of the counter-cyclical approach to the conducted innovation activity in the national industrial system. The economic situation is thus an important factor, which influences the decision whether to undertake, activate or, in some cases, limit the innovation activity in companies. Therefore, there is a need to take into account the existing market conditions in the programming of the innovation policy within the impact on the phenomenon of the innovation processes in Poland.