Compendium on the diagnostic toolkit for competitiveness

Abstract

This Compendium describes the contribution of CompNet to the improvement of the analytical framework and indicators of competitiveness. It does this by presenting a comprehensive database of novel competitiveness indicators. These are more than 80 novel indicators designed by CompNet members that capture macro, micro and cross-country dimensions, thus providing a comprehensive view of the competitive position of EU countries and their peers. A short description of each innovative indicator – consisting of the motivation for use, an intuitive explanation of the methodology and a list of advantages and drawbacks – helps the reader to better understand the use of the novel variables. On the analytical side, issues related to the definition of competitiveness are discussed and the empirical evidence on the link between competitiveness indicators and policy objective variables such as real GDP per capita and external trade performance is presented.