Spatial Analysis of Global Innovation Indicators in Selected Countries with Emphasis on Iran

Innovation is a central driver of competitiveness at both institutional and national levels and serves as one of the key stimuli for production. It plays a vital role for countries aiming to enhance their economic growth and prosperity. In this context, the assessment of innovation has become a prominent topic in scientometric studies in recent years. The need to consider existing international concepts and indicators, along with the necessity of adopting the most appropriate approach to understand a country's real position at the global level, are among the main reasons highlighting its importance. Accordingly, the present study aims to measure and analyze the spatial distribution patterns of global innovation indicators in selected countries, with a focus on Iran, during the period from 2015 to 2018. The research employs a combination of descriptive and analytical methods and is applied in nature. For data analysis, models such as Shannon Entropy, TOPSIS, Coefficient of Variation (C.V), Global Moran’s Spatial Autocorrelation, and ArcGIS software were used. The results of the study revealed that among the selected countries, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey ranked first to third with the highest TOPSIS scores of 0.861, 0.695, and 0.690, respectively. Iran, with a score of 0.630, was ranked fifth, while Yemen, with the lowest score of 0.028, was ranked last. Further findings using the Coefficient of Variation model indicated that among the studied components, the highest inequality was observed in the Business Sophistication component (0.6652), and the lowest was in the Institutions and Higher Education & Human Capital components (0.488). Finally, the spatial distribution pattern among the selected countries was found to be random and unplanned across all components, except for the infrastructure component.