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Measuring External Competitiveness:An Overview

Author

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  • Jules Leichter
  • Cristina Mocci
  • Stefania Pozzuoli

Abstract

The analysis of a country's competitiveness is of great interest to policy makers. Measuring the competitiveness of a country generally requires an assessment of the overall dynamism of the economy, including productivity and GDP growth, as well as the performance of exporting firms in the global market place. The focus of this paper is to outline the methodology commonly used to determine the state of a country's external performance, both the level and trend, and the factors which have contributed to recent developments. The literature shows that while macroeconomic indicators are essential to provide a broad picture of trends, they should be supplemented with an analysis using microeconomic data. We report on recent work analyzing Italy's external competitiveness which highlights some negative trends, including a loss of export market share, but also shows that there are some positive developments in terms of quality upgrading and firm restructuring. Finally, some preliminary estimates of the potential impact of the recent crisis on external competitiveness are presented using methods of multivariate analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Jules Leichter & Cristina Mocci & Stefania Pozzuoli, "undated". "Measuring External Competitiveness:An Overview," Working Papers 2, Department of the Treasury, Ministry of the Economy and of Finance.
    • Handle: RePEc:itt:wpaper:wp2010-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Irina-Elena Gentimir, 2013. "The Role Of The International Economic Organizations And The Public Sector In Creating And Sustaining International Competitiveness," CES Working Papers, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 5(3), pages 378-387, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Competitiveness; Exports; FDI; International Trade;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

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