Abstract
Here, the structure and dynamics of national innovation systems are explored to produce a comprehensive picture of the current, as well as the past, performance of the countries of East Central Europe, the Baltic countries and Russia vis-à-vis their competiveness and innovative capabilities. The results highlight the importance of political and economic freedom, science and education for promoting innovation. According to the principal component analyses, the best performing countries of the East Central Europe and the Baltic countries, in terms of their national innovation systems, have developed rapidly after the disintegration of the Soviet bloc and compare well in global rankings of innovative capabilities and competitiveness with standings above the countries of Latin America and South-East Asia. The countries under closer examination here that are members of the EU seem to be in a better position compared to the non-EU member countries. Thus, most of the countries in East Central Europe and the Baltic countries have been able to catch up with the global leaders during the analysed time period (1992–2008). However, this kind of development is yet to manifest in Russia.