Dimensions of Competitiveness

Individual businesses, sectors, entire national economies, and regional integration groupings have experienced deep technological and economic changes. This has led to the emergence of a new economic order, driven by globalization, the capacity to create and absorb technological progress, and fast transfer of knowledge. Transformations in the economic landscape necessitate a search for new ways of creating value, and consequently economic prosperity. Creating value and – in a broader sense – the developmental capacity of the company, sector, region, economy or regional integration grouping are intrinsically related to increasing their competitiveness. The notion from which competitiveness derives is competition. Competition has been defined, perceived, and interpreted in many ways by various schools of economic thought. For classical economists competition was identical to rivalry, while for the neo-classicists it is more of a market situation. In evolutionary economics competition is seen as a selection mechanism. This diverse nature and interpretation of competition is reflected in the multidimensional concept of competitiveness.