Zatrudnienie w działalnoœci badawczej i rozwojowej jako czynnik rozwoju gospodarki opartej na wiedzy

Development and rational use of human resources is a major foundation for the knowledge-based economy. Shaping a society based on knowledge depends on such factors as the outlayon research and development, the number of students, legal and economic instruments and soon. People are a crucial factor of this process, and its quality is related to the level of knowledge resources, skills, education and the quality of work organization. The present discussion analyzes the changes in the employment in research (B) and development (R) as a factor influencing the growth of the knowledge-based economy. The author assumes that employment in B+R activity is a measure of the potential which makes economy growth possible. The discussion is based on the examples of selected countries where the analysis of changes in B+R activity was conducted in the period 1995-–2003. The analysis shows that the tendencies in the changes ofthe economic potential and research and development potential – in the analyzed countries– point to an increasing polarity in global economy. They significantly affect the introduction of the knowledge-based economy in the specified countries. It seems reasonable to assume thatlong-term economic growth is connected primarily to the development of human resources.