Knowledge-intensive industrial complexes in modern conditions ensure sustainable growth and competitive advantages of the world’s leading national economies. The article develops an economic and mathematical model of competition for knowledge-intensive production complexes. It allows you to take into account a wide range of factors and costs that influence the efficiency and demand for created innovative products and technologies at all stages of the innovation process. Using the proposed model tools, it is possible to calculate a number of indicators of the profitability of innovative developments and the growth of social welfare. The use of model tools is aimed at analyzing the effectiveness of innovations carried out as a result of the activities of knowledge-intensive production complexes.