A MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH TO THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

Innovation is crucial for the competitiveness of countries in the global market. Countries oriented to progress must invest in innovative activities. Using the example of the Western Balkan countries, this study investigated their innovative competitiveness. The indicators of the Global Innovation Index (GII) were used for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021. A multi-criteria approach was based on the innovative SMART approach. The weights of the criteria were determined using the CRITIC (criteria importance through intercriteria correlation) method, while the CRADIS (compromise ranking of alternatives from distance to ideal solution) method ranked the Western Balkan countries according to their innovative characteristics. The results showed that Montenegro had the best innovation indicators, followed by Serbia, while Albania had the worst indicators. This research showed an innovative approach of using four normalizations, and the advantages of these normalizations were used to contribute to stabilization in multi-criteria decision-making.