{"id":5969,"date":"2012-02-27T00:01:16","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T00:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitedexplanations.org\/english\/?p=5969"},"modified":"2012-02-26T12:09:43","modified_gmt":"2012-02-26T12:09:43","slug":"worlds-top-20-countries-of-2011-2012-by-competitiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedexplanations.org\/english\/2012\/02\/27\/worlds-top-20-countries-of-2011-2012-by-competitiveness\/","title":{"rendered":"World’s top 20 countries by competitiveness in 2011-2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

Switzerland is (again) the most competitive country in the world<\/h3>\n

In the new release of the\u00a0Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012<\/a>\u00a0countries that constitute the top 10 of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) remain the\u00a0same as last year, with some changes in rank among\u00a0them.<\/p>\n

Switzerland<\/span><\/strong> remains first:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Switzerland<\/span> retains its 1st place position, characterized\u00a0by an excellent capacity for innovation and a\u00a0very sophisticated business culture, ranked 4th for its\u00a0business sophistication and 2nd for its innovation capacity.\u00a0Switzerland\u2019s scientific research institutions are\u00a0among the world\u2019s best, and the strong collaboration\u00a0between the academic and business sectors, combined\u00a0with high company spending on R&D, ensures that\u00a0much of this research is translated into marketable products\u00a0and processes, reinforced by strong intellectual\u00a0property protection and government support of innovation\u00a0through its procurement processes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Singapore<\/span><\/strong> best institutions:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>moves up by one place to 2nd position,\u00a0maintaining the lead among Asian economies.\u00a0The country\u2019s institutions continue to be assessed as\u00a0the best in the world, ranked 1st for both their lack\u00a0of corruption and government efficiency. Singapore\u00a0places 1st and 2nd, respectively, for the efficiency of its\u00a0goods and labor markets and leads the world in terms\u00a0of financial market development, ensuring the proper\u00a0allocation of these factors to their best use.<\/span><\/p>\n

United States<\/span><\/strong> in decline:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>continues the decline that\u00a0began three years ago, falling one more position to\u00a05th place. While many structural features continue to\u00a0make its economy extremely productive, a number of\u00a0escalating weaknesses have lowered the US ranking in\u00a0recent years. US companies are highly sophisticated\u00a0and innovative, supported by an excellent university\u00a0system that collaborates admirably with the business\u00a0sector in R&D. On the other hand the business community continues to\u00a0be critical toward public and private institutions (39th).\u00a0A lack of macroeconomic stability continues to\u00a0be the United States\u2019 greatest area of weakness (90th).<\/span><\/p>\n

Improving China:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Up one positions to 26th place, China has reinforced\u00a0its position within the top 30.\u00a0The\u00a0world\u2019s most populous countrycontinues to lead the\u00a0BRICS economies by a significant margin<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Good macroeconomic situation, low debt, high savings<\/a> and high standards in health and education are some of the strengths of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Qatar is<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0here to stay:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Qatar<\/span>, ranked 14th, remains in the top 20 for second consecutive year and\u00a0reaffirms its position as the most competitive country\u00a0in the region. Its good score is mainly due to\u00a0sustained by improvements in its\u00a0macroeconomic environment, business sophistication,\u00a0and innovation. Its strong performance in terms of\u00a0competitiveness rests on solid foundations made up of\u00a0a high-quality institutional framework where it ranks\u00a014th overall, a stable macroeconomic environment\u00a0(5th), and an efficient goods market (17th).<\/span><\/p>\n

Brazil<\/span><\/strong>, better but not best:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0improves five places to rank 53rd overall.\u00a0The country benefits from several competitive strengths,\u00a0including one of the world\u2019s largest internal markets\u00a0(10th) and a sophisticated business environment (31st),\u00a0thus allowing for important economies of scale and\u00a0scope. But\u00a0Brazil\u00a0still suffers from weaknesses that hinder its capacity to\u00a0fulfill its tremendous competitive potential. The lagging\u00a0quality of its overall infrastructure (104th) despite its\u00a0Growth Acceleration Programme (PAC), its macroeconomic\u00a0imbalances (115th), the poor overall quality\u00a0of its educational system (115th), the rigidities in its\u00a0labor market (121st), and insufficient progress to boost\u00a0competition (132nd) are areas of increasing concern.<\/span><\/p>\n

Really bad Greece:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Greece falls another seven places in\u00a0the rankings to 90th, remaining the lowest-ranked\u00a0country of the European Union. In the context of the\u00a0ongoing sovereign debt crisis, Greece continues to\u00a0fall precipitously in the macroeconomic environment\u00a0pillar, dropping to 140th position this year. Similarly,\u00a0Greece\u2019s financial markets are assessed more poorly than\u00a0in the past, at 110th this year, showing particularly low\u00a0confidence on the part of investors. The evaluation of\u00a0public institutions (e.g., government efficiency, corruption,\u00a0undue influence) continues to suffer and is ranked\u00a0a low 89th overall. Another major area of concern is\u00a0the country\u2019s inefficient labor market (126th).<\/span><\/p>\n

What does competitiveness stand for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>According to the authors\u00a0competitiveness is the “set of institutions,\u00a0policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of\u00a0a country. The level of productivity, in turn, sets the sustainable\u00a0level of prosperity that can be earned by an\u00a0economy. In other words, more competitive economies\u00a0tend to be able to produce higher levels of income for\u00a0their citizens. The productivity level also determines the\u00a0rates of return obtained by investments (physical,\u00a0human, and technological) in an economy.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Economic recovery, unequally distributed<\/h3>\n
In the preface of the report Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, stresses that:\u00a0“a recovery from the economic\u00a0crisis is tentatively emerging, although it has been very\u00a0unequally distributed: much of the developing world is\u00a0still seeing relatively strong growth, despite some risk of\u00a0overheating, while most advanced economies continue\u00a0to experience sluggish recovery, persistent unemployment,\u00a0and financial vulnerability, with no clear horizon\u00a0for improvement.”<\/div>\n

The 12 pillars of competitiveness<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The best way for Rwanda\u00a0to improve its competitiveness is not the same as the\u00a0best way for Germany to do so. This is because Rwanda\u00a0and Germany are in different stages of development: as\u00a0countries move along the development path, wages tend\u00a0to increase and, in order to sustain this higher income,\u00a0labor productivity must improve.<\/p>\n

The GCI assumes that, in the first\u00a0stage, the economy is factor-driven and countries compete\u00a0based on their factor endowments: primarily unskilled\u00a0labor and natural resources. Here is when the first 4 pillars (grouped under the category\u00a0Basic requirements<\/em>) play a role within what is been called factor-driven\u00a0<\/em>economies.<\/p>\n

\n
Factor-driven economies: basic requirements<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/strong>\u2022 Institutions<\/div>\n
\u2022 Health and primary education<\/div>\n
\u2022 Macroeconomic environment<\/div>\n
\u2022 Infrastructure<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to the authors’ approach, as a country becomes more competitive, productivity\u00a0will increase and wages will rise with advancing development.\u00a0Countries will then move into the\u00a0efficiency-driven<\/em>\u00a0stage of development, when they must begin to develop\u00a0more efficient production processes and increase product\u00a0quality because wages have risen and they cannot increase\u00a0prices. At this point, competitiveness is increasingly driven\u00a0by what’s been called\u00a0efficiency enhancers<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
Efficiency-driven economies: efficiency enhancers<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/strong>\u2022 Higher education and training<\/div>\n
\u2022 Goods market efficiency<\/div>\n
\u2022 Labor market efficiency<\/div>\n
\u2022 Financial market development<\/div>\n
\u2022 Technological readiness<\/div>\n
\u2022 Market size<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Finally, as countries move into the innovation-driven\u00a0stage, wages will have risen by so much that they are\u00a0able to sustain those higher wages and the associated\u00a0standard of living only if their businesses are able to\u00a0compete with new and unique products. At this stage,\u00a0companies must compete by producing new and different\u00a0goods using the most sophisticated production\u00a0processes and through innovation.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Innovation-driven economies: innovation\u00a0and sophistication factors<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u2022\u00a0Business sophistication<\/div>\n
\u2022 Innovation<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Where does the data come from?<\/h3>\n
The World Economic Forum draws\u00a0its data from two sources:\u00a0international organizations and\u00a0national sources<\/strong>, and the\u00a0Forum\u2019s Executive Opinion\u00a0Survey<\/strong>. The Survey is a one-of-a-kind tool\u00a0for capturing timely and vital information that is not\u00a0available on a global level. The data gathered, by sending the survey to a representative sample of business leaders in their respective countries,\u00a0provide\u00a0a source of insight and a qualitative portrait of\u00a0each nation\u2019s economic and business environment, as\u00a0well as how it compares with the situation in other\u00a0countries.<\/div>\n
\n
The 2011-2012 edition<\/strong><\/div>\n
This year\u2019s Report features a record number of 142\u00a0economies, and thus continues to be the most comprehensive\u00a0assessment of its kind. It contains a detailed\u00a0profile for each of the economies featured in the study\u00a0as well as an extensive section of data tables with global\u00a0rankings covering over 100 indicators.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
Every year, the set of questions is updated to reflect\u00a0changes to the structure of the Forum indexes and meet\u00a0the need for new data.\u00a0Most questions in the Survey ask respondents to\u00a0evaluate, on a scale of 1 to 7, one particular aspect of\u00a0their operating environment. At one end of the scale,\u00a01 represents the worst possible situation; at the other\u00a0end of the scale, 7 represents the best.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This is a non-profit explanation<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago the World Economic Forum released its latest Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012 which ranks a total of 142 countries according to its degree of competititiveness. What is competititiveness and why is it important? Here there are the main results.
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