Innovation's dependence on human capital in the world's most innovative countries

This paper deals with the issue of competitiveness and entrepreneurship based on innovation, which is considered to be a driving force of any economy and brings expected profits to a society not only on the basis of economic indicators but also in social aspects. The aim of this paper is to find real connections between achieved innovative results in patent forms and applications to patent offices in countries around the world and human potential, which is the main holder of innovation. The analysis of the innovative results and human potential has been undertaken using method of regression analysis. The innovative results are presented by number of patent applications filed in particular countries defined as a dependent variable. The independent variable is population as a key factor of creativity and new ideas that lead to innovation and patent activities. The study presents and discusses how much innovation performance, measured by the number of patent applications, depends on human factors and population numbers in selected countries which are geographically, historically and culturally different, and whether it is possible to compare them somehow in a deeper context and relationship. The main results of this study state that the number of patent applications mostly depends on the population of the selected country