The competitiveness of economies: Different views and arguments

This paper examines the different views, approaches and models of economic competitiveness and its key drivers. It also explores additional factors, especially the so-called intangible ones, influencing competitiveness, and argues for these being increasingly important in the longer run. The paper builds on the results of the most widely accepted competitiveness studies, among them the yearbook of the Institute for Management Development, and also various EU documents. Hungary is used as a case to illustrate the author’s conclusions and suggestions. The most important argument is that competitiveness cannot be measured purely on the basis of short-term economic factors. Reliable results can only be achieved if one thinks more comprehensively about competitiveness, which means using not only economic, but also societal factors, among them intangible ones to measure competitiveness.