This paper analyses the impact of international competitiveness on economic development, based on the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and GDP/capita of 125 countries during the period 2007-2010. The results reveal two phases of the evolution of competitiveness. When GCI < 4.5 (on 1-7 scale), any improvement of a country’s competitiveness affects current development more than future development. When a country’s GCI rises above 4.5, further improvements of competitiveness will affect future development more than current development. The 4.5 competitiveness threshold is remarkably stable throughout analyzed period.
The seriousness of problems stemming from macroeconomic imbalances in the EU and particularly in the euro area contributed to introduction of the Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure which also includes a scoreboard of 11 indicators. The results of the scoreboard serve as an alert mechanism and are interpreted from an economic perspective with a view to identifying developments in the member states that may point to a risk of imbalances. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the risk of imbalances in the Visegrad countries using selected indicators from the scoreboard. Furthermore, the author extends the existing scoreboard methodology of absolute indicators by implementation of relative indices that are more valuable for effectiveness of the policy making process. The results suggest that the only Visegrad country with a significant risk of imbalances is Hungary. However, the relative indicators revealed a sign of possible imbalances also in the Czech Republic and Poland.
The global economic slowdown, brought about by the financial crisis in the U.S. economy (2007–2009), resulted in a significant drop in the world trade and had an impact on the Polish economy. While the world exports fell by 22,9% in 2009, the decrease noted in the Polish one was lesser (20,5%), which can be interpreted as an evidence that companies in Poland made effective use of their comparative advantages. The aim of this paper is to analyse structural changes in Polish export: its main commodities, markets, and technological intensity in the period 2008–2012 along with an identification of sections characterized by the most dynamic growth. For the purpose of this research trade data disaggregated by goods according to the Harmonised System (HS) were used and the evolution of revealed comparative advantages (RCA) was covered. Polish export facing the consequences of the global slowdown did not, however, bring about any significant improvement of structural competitiveness of the economy in terms of its technological intensity. This means that there is a great deal of challenges related to a scenario in which the existing developmental gap would be preserved
The relationship between innovation and international competitiveness is widely discussed in the literature. The focus of this paper is on analysing the relationship between the introduction of product, process, marketing and organizational innovation, and export of firms in Czech Republic (N=1824), Hungary (N=964), and Poland (N=2795). Reverse causality – the effect of export on firm’s innovation performance – is also investigated. The survey is based on data from Community Innovation Survey (CIS) questionnaire. Chi-squared test with column proportions and the Bonferroni correction was applied to verify statistically significant differences between firms from surveyed countries. The logistic regression models were construed to identify the relationship between each type of innovation and firm’s international sale’s orientation. A positive relation between innovation and export on all foreign target markets for firms in the three surveyed countries has been revealed. The influence of firm’s export on innovativeness is weaker.
Research background: Food industry is of key importance to each economy due to its role in ensuring food security, balancing the labour market, as well as contributing to the economic growth and international trade. With a limited increase in demand for food in many highly developed countries, further growth in this sector of the economy will largely depend on the ability to successfully distribute manufactured goods in international markets and cope with competitive pressure from other entities. Purpose of the article: Therefore, the study attempts to assess the determinants of international competitiveness of the food industry worldwide measured by the trade balance. Methods: The research was based on data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Data Center (UNCTADStat) and the World Input-Output Database (WIOD). The time frame for the analyses was determined by the availability of internationally comparable data and thus covered the period of 2000?2014. The empirical analysis was performed with the use of panel models, while international competitiveness was measured by trade balance (net export). Findings & value added: It was proved that increasing trade openness and relative demand, as well as decreasing relative unit labour costs have a positive impact on international competitiveness of the food industry worldwide. However, the nature of the relationship between relative labour productivity and trade balance appears to be ambiguous. A stronger impact of the examined factors on net exports in the long-run rather than the short-run was also evidenced. The novelty of our analysis is that we consider trade balance determinants of the food industry worldwide using panel models, whereas most of the existing studies focus either on one or a narrow group of countries.
The author of the article aims to answer a question if and to what extent the financial and economic crisis of 2008 – 2010 has influenced the lineup of political forces in the world. The research method consists in determining the relations between the dynamics and the direction of changes in the global lineup of economic forces and the global political system. The results of the conducted research confirm the rightness of the thesis that there is a varied level of influence of economic factors on the political position of states and groups of states. The latest crisis only slightly weakened the leading position of the United States in the world. It is true that a noticeable growth of countries formerly included in the co called South appeared in the global politics, but the United States still plays the role of an unquestioned leader in the world. The crisis had the biggest influence on the European countries and weakened their political position in the international politics. During the crisis, the role of China in the world politics increased considerably but it was also due to other factors that are not important any longer (the Olympic Games in Beijing, the World Expo in Shanghai). The crisis has not changed the lineup of forces in the world. Only a modification of a multi-polar system has taken place but, as before the crisis, it is led by the United States.
The aim of the paper is to present and analyze the changes of competitive position of Finland, in the light of a few main rankings of international competitiveness and innovation of national economies. The paper uses the terms of competitive position and competitive ability, to discuss both the state of Finnish competitiveness, and the perspectives of its improvement. The chosen rankings are The Global Competitiveness Report published annually by World Economic Forum (WEF), The World Competitiveness Yearbook made by analytics from International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, and Innovation Union Scorecard, made under the auspices of the European Commission (EC). The three rankings are complementary, because they treat the issue of competitiveness from a diffent point of view. In the artice there was used OECD report Economic Surveys: Finland 2014, to compare the assessments and recommendations for Finland with the previously desribed issue of competitiveness (following the WEF methodology) and the changes of competitive position of Finnish economy in the years 2009-2014. The WEF ranking metho-lodogy, based on 12 pillars of competitiveness, is compared to economic recommendations of OECD for Finland, to indicate recommendations that are the most important for the improvements of the Finnish competitive ability. The article ends with the following conlusions: in the years 2009-2014 Finland sustained a high competitive position, the main engine of Finnish competitiveness is innovation, Poland should learn from the Finnish example how to improve international competitveness by developing economy based on knowledge and innovation.
The purpose of this study is: (i) to determine the competitiveness of Kazakhstan in contemporary international trade, with particular regard to the mineral resources possessed by the country; (ii) to show the consequences of Kazakhstan’s resources-dependent competitive profile for the economic development of the country; (iii) to look at measures taken by Kazakh authorities to facilitate future development. To this end, the methodology of analysing revealed comparative advantages was applied. The analysis has shown that the competitive profile of Kazakhstan in international trade is low. The country does not possess any comparative advantages in trade in the categories of high-technology and medium-hightechnology goods while its strongest advantages are in exports of mineral resources and their derivatives, which determines the resources-based character of the entire economy and makes its future development heavily dependent on developments in international resources markets.
This article looks at the problem of measuring economic competitiveness of countries. It begins with describing various definitions of this phenomenon which are sometimes quite vague and close to tautology. The indicators of competitiveness which are most commonly used lack theoretical background, while the results depend on arbitrary choice of variables used for their construction. The author makes a proposal of an alternative way of measuring the competitiveness which is simple and well rooted in the theory. However, given the complexity of the problem, the proposed measurement does not solve all the problems. Its results allow for making the assessment of the development model of Poland and, in particular, formulating a hypothesis that Poland is underperforming in the field of the competitiveness given its level of economic and institutional development.
Celem artykułu jest prezentacja wyników metanalizy prac naukowych z zakresu międzynarodowej konkurencyjności na podstawie danych bibliometrycznych literatury opublikowanej w ciągu ostatnich 70 lat i zarejestrowanej w bazach Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar oraz Econlit, przy użyciu programów HistCite, Vosviewer i Pajek. Autorka wykorzystała trzy metody bibliometryczne, tj. analizę sieci cytowań, metodę kluczowych ścieżek oraz metodę współwystępowania słów, dla zbadania ewolucji koncepcji międzynarodowej konkurencyjności w literaturze ekonomicznej. Podjęta została próba zidentyfikowania kluczowych publikacji, najważniejszych autorów oraz głównych tematów badawczych w zakresie koncepcji międzynarodowej konkurencyjności. Przeprowadzone analizy pozwoliły stwierdzić, iż koncepcja międzynarodowej konkurencyjności wywodzi się z modeli konkurencji niedoskonałej, a prace Krugmana miały kluczowe znaczenie dla rozwoju i rozpowszechniania tego pojęcia. Dyfuzja wiedzy wokół analizowanej koncepcji odbywała się ona na styku teorii handlu międzynarodowego, teorii endogenicznego wzrostu gospodarczego, dorobku nowej geografii ekonomicznej oraz teorii lokalizacji. Główne obszary badawcze w literaturze odnoszącej się do międzynarodowej konkurencyjności to: wpływ regulacji z zakresu polityki ochrony środowiska, relacji cenowo-kosztowych, lokalizacji, kapitału ludzkiego oraz jakości instytucji na wzrost międzynarodowej konkurencyjności. W ostatniej dekadzie znacznie wzrosło znaczenie analiz dotyczących wpływu kapitału ludzkiego, innowacji i otoczenia instytucjonalnego na podniesienie międzynarodowej konkurencyjności.
EN
The aim of this paper is to present the results of meta-analysis carried out on the basis of bibliometric data of literature on international competitiveness published over the last 70 years and registered in the Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar and Econlit databases, using HistCite, Vosviewer and Pajek. The author tries to identify key publications, key authors and main research topics within the international competitiveness concept. Network citation, key-route path method and term co-occurrence method are used in analyzing the evolution of the international competitiveness concept used in the economic literature. The results show that the international competitiveness concept has its roots in imperfect competition models and Krugman’s works were crucial for the development and dissemination of the analyzed concept. The diffusion of knowledge on international competitiveness took place over the theory of international trade, the theory of endogenous economic growth, the achievements of new economic geography and localization theories. Major research topics in literature related to international competitiveness include the impact of environmental regulations, the cost-price relationships, the localization, the human capital and the quality of institutions on the international competitiveness growth. Over the last decade, the importance of the research on the impact of human capital, innovation and institutional environment on improving international competitiveness has grown considerably.
RU
Целью статьи является представление результатов метаанализа научных работ в области международной конкурентоспособности, произведенного на основе библиометрических данных литературы, опубликованной в течение последних 70 лет и зарегистрированной в базах Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar и Econlit, с применением программ HistCite, Vosviewer и Pajek. Для изучения эволюции концепции международной конкурентоспособности в экономической литературе автор использовал три библиометрических метода, а именно: анализ сетей цитирования, метод ключевых маршрутов и метод лексического анализа. Была предпринята попытка идентификации ключевых публикации, самых важных авторов, а также главных исследовательских тем в области концепции международной конкурентоспособности. Проведенный анализ позволил отметить, что концепция международной конкурентоспособности исходит из модели несовершенной конкуренции, а труды Кругмана имели ключевое значение для развития и распространения этого понятия. Диффузия знаний вокруг анализируемой концепции соприкасалась с теорией международной торговли, те орией эндогенного экономического роста, достижениями новой экономической географии, а также теорией локализации. Главные сферы исследования, касающиеся международной конкурентоспособности, это: влияние регуляции в области политики защиты окружающей среды, соотношение между ценами и издержками, влияние локализации, человеческого капитала и качества институтов на рост международной конкурентоспособности. В последней декаде значительно повысилось значение анализов, касающихся влияния человеческого капитала, инноваций и институционального окружения на повышение международной конкурентоспособности.
Most previous analyses of Poland’s planned accession to the euro zone focused on the macroeconomic aspects of the move, while overlooking its microeconomic significance. The authors of this paper are concerned with the impact of euro adoption on the competitiveness and internationalization of enterprises. The basic question that they attempt to answer is how euro-zone entry will change the conditions in which Polish businesses operate, and how it will change the range of instruments companies use in the process of building a competitive advantage and in shaping their competitive strategies. Gorynia, Jankowska, Pietrzykowski and Tarka conducted empirical research among 50 enterprises in the western Polish region of Wielkopolska. They divided the companies into four groups by employment. Most of the companies supported Polish euro-zone entry, but the level of acceptance depended on the strategic potential of an enterprise. According to respondents, lower currency risk would be the most important benefit of the move, while the main threat is that soaring prices could harm domestic demand. The results of the research contribute to a nationwide debate on the implications of Polish entry into the common currency area. According to the paper’s authors, research in this area should be continued to cover not just individual regions but the whole country.
Research background: A strong industrial base is essential for achieving long-term sustainable economic growth and export competitiveness. In that sense, manufacturing remains a significant contributor to exports in the CEE countries. How-ever, its role and its influence vary between CEE economies and change over time. Purpose of the article: The main objective of this paper is to compare the determinants of the international competitiveness, measured by the net exports of the manufacturing sectors in the Czech and Polish economies, by using the database of 13 manufacturing sub-sectors in 1995-2011. The authors research the question of how much foreign and domestic demand, the level of labour costs, the level of sector innovation intensity, the level of sector openness to foreign markets as well as sectoral labour productivity influence the changes in trade balance. Methods: Our approach is based on employing an error correction model and SUR model to disaggregated sectoral manufacturing data. Findings & Value added: The results of the analysis conducted show substantial differences in the roles particular variables play in explaining the net exports in individual sectors. For the majority of Polish and Czech manufacturing sub-sectors, generation of positive trade balance is determined by relative demand growth. An increasing labour productivity influences heavily a positive trade balance of Polish goods in majority of sub-sectors, however, a key factor in Czech sub-sectors is decreasing unit labour costs. The results of the analysis indicate mostly a greater impact of the researched factors on net exports in long rather than short term and the better capacity of the Czech economy to correct deviations from the equilibrium.
The article presents the economic growth in selected Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies since they recovered from the transformational recession in the early 1990s. The growth prospects for the region, including the present and future opportunities and challenges, are discussed against the past achievements and more recent crisis experience. The presented analysis is limited to ten CEE countries that joined the European Union between 2004 and 2007 (EU 10). The article aims at answering three main questions: 1) What were the key drivers of rapid growth in the EU10 countries in the pre-crisis period? 2) What is the explanation of the very divergent economic performance of the EU10 countries during the recent crisis of 2008-2009? 3) Can the region return to a sustainable growth path and if so when and under what conditions? And specifically, what are the key policy recommendations that could be addressed to CEE governments if economic growth is to be sustained? The analysis shows that between 2000 and 2008 economic growth in all EU10 countries followed a specific pattern based on large inflows of foreign capital, and supported by trade, financial and institutional integration within the EU. These inflows have pushed up growth rates but also contributed to the emergence of various economic imbalances, making most of EU10 increasingly vulnerable to external shocks. Countries that have accumulated largest imbalances suffered most during the crisis. As far as the growth prospects in the post-crisis period are concerned, the policy recommendations focus on the need to eliminate these imbalances while preserving the growth-enhancing elements of the growth model followed before the crisis.
National competitiveness is a buzzword that awakens much interest and controversy. In its broadest perspective, it is seen as a modern way of describing the development efforts of nations in the times of globalization (Reinert 2001, p. 23-42). This means that forces driving the changes in the global economy: liberalization of international trade, booming investment by multinational enterprises and development of regional integration groupings, need to be included into the competitiveness model. Well-known and commonly used approach to national competitiveness: Porter’s diamond of competitive advantage does not however capture this international context. By concentrating solely on the elements of the domestic environment, the model does not show the complicated international linkages that have shaped the competitiveness of many countries. Especially in the case of small, open ‘catching-up’ economies, assessing national competitiveness solely on the basis of the potential of domestic companies, based on local conditions, does not fully reflect their developmental context, which is also driven by the complex networks of international interdependencies. Building upon the generalized double diamond model developed by Moon et al. (2000), this paper explores the extent to which economic relations with international partners and the activities oftransnational corporations affect the competitiveness of the Visegrad Group countries, and how this relationship has been changing in the post-accession period. To answer the research problem posed, Eurostat and Global Competitiveness Report data have been gathered to assess the competitiveness variables on both the domestic/national and international levels. It has been shown that integration within the global economy constitutes an essential element of competitiveness for each of the analysed countries.
Celem pracy jest rozstrzygnięcie problemu, w jaki sposób procesy globalizacji oddziałują na konkurencyjność krajów (konkurencyjność międzynarodową). Odpowiedzi na to pytanie udzielają cztery hipotezy. Pierwsza (H1) brzmi następująco: Globalizacja oddziałuje pozytywnie na konkurencyjność krajów z opóźnieniem trzech lat. Dla poszczególnych wymiarów konkurencyjności międzynarodowej sformułowano niniejsze hipotezy: H2: Globalizacja oddziałuje pozytywnie na warunki podstawowe (ang. Basic Requirements) z opóźnieniem trzech lat; H3: Globalizacja oddziałuje pozytywnie na czynniki zwiększające efektywność (ang. Efficiency Enhancers) z opóźnieniem jednego roku, ale negatywnie z opóźnieniem trzech lat; H4: Globalizacja oddziałuje negatywnie na innowacje (ang. Innovations) z opóźnieniem trzech lat. Sformułowane hipotezy weryfikowano na podstawie danych panelowych dla 137 krajów za okres 2006-2011. Oszacowano cztery modele panelowe typu fixed-effects ze zmiennymi zależnymi w postaci indeksów konkurencyjności Światowego Forum Ekonomicznego oraz ze zmiennymi niezależnymi w postaci ogólnego indeksu globalizacji KOF (Szwajcarski Instytut Ekonomiczny, niem. Konjunkturforschungsstelle) i jego wartościami opóźnionymi w czasie. jako podwymiary przyjęto indeksy KOF.
EN
The aim of this paper is to address the question of how globalisation processes affect the competitiveness of nations (international competitiveness). Four hypotheses are formed to provide answers to this question. H1: Globalisation positively affects international competitiveness with a three-year lag. For particular dimensions of international competitiveness, the following hypotheses are made: H2: Globalisation positively affects basic requirements with a three-year lag; H3: Globalisation positively affects efficiency enhancers with a one-year lag, but negatively with a threeyear lag; H4: Globalisation negatively affects innovation and sophistication factors with a three-year lag. Panel data from 137 countries for the years 2006-2011 are used for statistical verification of the said hypotheses. Fixed effects models are estimated, with World Economic Forum’s indices of competitiveness as dependent variables, and KOF overall globalisation index and its lagged values as independent variables.
Opracowanie jest przykładem zastosowania wielowymiarowej analizy porównawczej do kwantyfikacji konkurencyjności międzynarodowej gospodarki rolno-żywnościowej. Międzynarodową pozycję konkurencyjną przyrównano do specyficznej formy miary syntetycznej. Tendencje mierników syntetycznych wykorzystano do oszacowania perspektyw zrównywania się poziomów konkurencyjności między badanymi krajami. Badanie empiryczne ukazało sześć wzorców w tym zakresie. Konwergencji wskaźników syntetycznych nie należy oczekiwać w całości zbioru, lecz w podgrupach obiektów.
EN
The study exemplifies an application of the multidimensional comparative analysis aiming at quantification of international competitiveness of the agri-food economy. The international competitive position was equated to a form of a synthetic measure. The coefficients trends allowed quantifying perspectives of equalization of international competitiveness levels between countries. The empirical investigation identified six patterns of the observed interdependences. Convergence should not be expected in the whole set, but in subgroups of objects.
Podmiotem studiów nad konkurencyjnością najczęściej jest przedsiębiorstwo bądź gospodarka narodowa – rzadziej problematyka ta podejmowana jest w odniesieniu do branży. Niniejsze opracowanie koncentruje się na problematyce związanej z konkurencyjnością międzynarodową sektora gospodarki. Badania takie są pomocne w identyfikacji i ocenie znaczenia czynników, które determinują relacje konkurencyjne w branży. Celem badań jest oszacowanie pozycji konkurencyjnej produktów polskiego sektora mięsnego na rynku międzynarodowym. Do kwantyfikacji wykorzystano koncepcję macierzy atrakcyjności i pozycji rynkowej.
XX
Most often a subject of competitiveness studies is either an enterprise or a national economy – uniquely this subject matter is raised with regard to a branch. Present study focuses on issues concerning international competitiveness of a branch of economy. Such investigation is helpful for reason of identification and importance assessment of factors driving competitive relationship within the industry. Te study is aiming at the assessment of competitive position of Polish meat sector products on international market place. For purposes of quantification a concept of market attractiveness and position matrix was used.
The aim of the researches presented in this paper is developing the concept of international competitiveness (IC) of countries that bases on the macro-environment of enterprises. The researches have been motivated by serious shortcomings of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) methodology of the measurement of IC of economies. WEF recommends the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) as the global measure of countries’ productivity. WEF maintains that this is supported by a positive correlation between GCI and GDP per capita, as a measure of country’s productivity. However, such a support is misleading since GCI already includes GDP per capita – directly or indirectly – in the pillars of GCI. In other words, GCI explains productivity by productivity. Moreover, the components of GCI are of an inconsistent nature; some components express inputs other components express outputs. In this paper, a consistent approach to the measurement of IC is developed. This approach treats input-components separately from output components when measuring IC.
PL
Celem badań przedstawionych w niniejszym artykule jest opracowanie koncepcji konkurencyjności międzynarodowej (IC) krajów, której podstawą jest makroekonomiczne otoczenie przedsiębiorstw. Motywem podjęcia tych badań były poważne wady metodologii pomiaru IC gospodarek stosowanej przez Światowe Forum Ekonomiczne (WEF). WEF rekomenduje Globalny Indeks Konkurencyjności (GCI) jako globalną miarę produktywności kraju. WEF utrzymuje, że jest to poparte dodatnią korelację między GCI a GDP per capita. Jednakże tego rodzaju poparcie jest mylące, ponieważ w filarach GCI już jest uwzględniony GDP per capita bezpośrednio bądź pośrednio. Innymi słowy, GCI wyjaśnia produktywność za pomocą produktywności. Ponadto składowe GCI mają niezgodną naturę; niektóre z nich odzwierciedlają czynniki inne odzwierciedlają wyniki. W artykule opracowano zgodne podejście do pomiaru IC. Przy pomiarze IC czynniki i wyniki gospodarki są traktowane oddzielnie.
Since a radical change in economic policy and business practice is necessary, the approach and research methodology in ES should also change, which means the need to change the paradigm of these sciences. It is worth remembering that the task of ES is to model economic and business processes, because ES have both a cognitive-explanatory (positive) and directive-suggestive (normative) component. The latter component are patterns and recommendations related to the economic and business reality, and they should be different from those known from the past and to a large extent still practiced in the present.
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