INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM FINANCE AND AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE BUCHAREST NINE COUNTRIES

This article examines the relationship between innovation ecosystem finance, measured by research and development (R&D) expenditure per capita, and agricultural transformation in the Bucharest Nine (B9) countries: Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. The study addresses the need for comparative empirical evidence on whether increasing national R&D expenditure is associated with improvements in agricultural performance and changes in labour utilisation. Using harmonised Eurostat data for 2016–2024, four indicators are expressed as indices with 2015 as the base year: R&D expenditure per capita, real agricultural income per annual work unit, agricultural output at producer prices, and agricultural labour input. Country-specific Pearson correlation coefficients are calculated, and statistical significance is assessed using two-tailed tests and the Benjamini–Hochberg procedure. The findings reveal substantial differences across countries. Although R&D expenditure increased throughout the region, agricultural income and output followed uneven trajectories, while agricultural labour input declined in all nine countries. Strong positive correlations between R&D expenditure and agricultural income were identified in Poland (r = 0.822) and Slovakia (r = 0.720), but neither remained statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. No statistically significant correlations were found between R&D expenditure and agricultural output. Conversely, all nine countries exhibited negative correlations between R&D expenditure and agricultural labour input, which remained significant after the adjustment. These relationships should not be interpreted as causal effects, particularly given the short observation period, common time trends, and the use of economy-wide R&D expenditure. The study contributes a comparative framework for assessing agricultural transformation across multiple economic dimensions. Its findings support more targeted agricultural innovation financing, improved knowledge transfer, and rural workforce adaptation policies, while highlighting the need for further sector-specific and longitudinal research.