FINANCIAL AND DIGITAL FACTORS OF INNOVATIVE OUTPUT IN UZBEKISTAN’S SOCIAL SECTOR: ECONOMETRIC EVIDENCE FOR 2007–2025

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between financial, investment, and digital factors and innovative output in Uzbekistan’s social sector during 2007–2025. The empirical framework considers the volume of innovative products and services as the dependent variable and innovation financing, government social expenditure, non-budgetary investment, management digitalization, and digital-platform implementation as explanatory variables. A log-linear multiple regression model is specified and estimated using annual observations. The dissertation-based econometric results report a coefficient of determination of R² = 0.9223, indicating that the included variables jointly account for a substantial share of variation in innovative output. Innovation financing demonstrates the largest reported elasticity, while digital-platform implementation also exhibits a strong positive association. The overall model is statistically significant according to the reported F-test. For journal-level reproducibility, the study additionally emphasizes diagnostic procedures including multicollinearity testing, residual autocorrelation, heteroskedasticity, model specification, stationarity, and forecast-error measurement. A replication check indicates that some statistics obtained directly from the tabulated annual series require reconciliation with the reported EViews output before final submission. The findings underline a broader strategic implication: sustainable innovation in the social sector depends not only on higher public expenditure but on the interaction between dedicated innovation financing, digital infrastructure, management capacity, institutional quality, and effective deployment of digital platforms. The study provides a reproducible methodological framework for future regional and sector-level analyses.