DO MORE UNIVERSITIES MEAN MORE INNOVATION? EXAMINING THE LINK BETWEEN UNIVERSITY AVAILABILITY AND R&D INTENSITY

toward a diversified knowledge-based economy. Existing literature highlights that higher education institutions play a significant role in shaping national innovation capacity by supplying skilled human capital and supporting research activity. This study employs pooled data from the World Bank DataBank for CIS countries over the period 2005–2025, examining the relationship between university availability and research and development intensity. Empirical results indicate that the number of universities has a positive and statistically significant effect on the density of researchers in research and development per million people. These findings underscore the strategic value of expanding higher education infrastructure as a policy instrument to strengthen innovation performance in Uzbekistan and comparable economies.