THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY IN THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES AND TURKEY

Knowledge has become the major driving force of economic and social development all around the world and it impacts all countries and regions, public institutions, the corporate world, and the lives and prospects of individuals. The generation and conversion of knowledge into economic and social benefits requires good innovation systems, including highly qualified personnel and efficient technology transfer (TT) and venture capital. Higher levels of knowledge in a society tend to lead to higher levels of economic growth - and consequently to higher levels of economic development. This paper assesses the role of the knowledge economy, in the terms of achieving long-term economic growth in the selected countries. Based on an analysis of data on an array of indicators, each of which represents an aspect of the knowledge economy, the paper shows the stage in which each of the selected countries is concerning the knowledge economy. Western Balkan countries and Turkey should put themselves on the knowledge economy road and create a more competitive economy with highly skilled and educated workforce that with the use of ICT can create more innovative products that will decrease the transaction costs and create higher economic values and improvement of the economic productivity.