Bridging the Prosperity Gap: A Quadruple Helix Pathway for Enhancing Prosperity Performance in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Güneş İ., Garan Ö.

57th EBES CONFERENCE - PRAGUE, Praha, Çek Cumhuriyeti, 15 - 17 Ekim 2026, ss.200-201, (Özet Bildiri)

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Praha
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Çek Cumhuriyeti
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.200-201
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The Quadruple Helix (QH) innovation model, which conceptualizes the collaborative interaction among university, industry, government, and civil society as a fundamental driver of knowledge production, technological innovation, and sustainable development, has become one of the leading analytical frameworks in regional innovation policy and sustainability governance. A striking context in which the explanatory power of this framework can be tested is the paradoxical performance of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region in the Prosperity dimension of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (SDG 7-11): Although the region ranks second only to the OECD on the overall SDG Index, it continues to lag behind OECD countries on the Prosperity goals, most notably on energy, economic growth, and industry and innovation. This study investigates whether the QH model offers viable pathways for closing this performance gap. To uncover these pathways, a keyword co-occurrence analysis was conducted in VOSviewer on 577 publications (2004-2026) retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using the keyword “quadruple helix” and refined to SDGs 7-11. The thematic network clusters derived from this analysis were evaluated to explain the Prosperity dimension. Three significant groups were identified, and each was interpreted as a QH pathway: Pathway 1 – Innovation-driven economic dynamism: A pathway oriented toward economic growth and industrialization goals, operating through mechanisms of technology transfer, entrepreneurship, and the entrepreneurial university. Pathway 2 – Inclusive and sustainable transformation: A pathway oriented toward reducing inequalities and sustainable urbanization goals, operating through mechanisms of social innovation, co-creation, and stakeholder engagement. Pathway 3 – Sustainable energy and resource transition: A pathway oriented toward the energy transition goal, operating through mechanisms of circular economy and smart specialization. The network analysis reveals that Pathway 1 and Pathway 2 are structurally distinct in the literature, but that the open innovation and social innovation nodes serve as structural hinges that strongly connect the two pathways. This finding indicates that while the three pathways are theoretically distinct, they can be integrated in practice through QH mechanisms. Building on this finding, the study suggests that the prosperity gap between EECA and OECD countries can be attributed to the underdeveloped diffusion of QH-based collaboration (particularly weak university-industry-government linkages and limited civil society participation in this interaction). The study proposes a policy roadmap that positions open innovation and social innovation as priority leverage points and integrates the three pathways into a single framework. The findings offer implications for regional innovation policy and economic development strategy in transition economies.