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Definition and distinctive characteristics of government competitiveness

What makes some governments more competitive than others? At minimum, addressing this question requires a basic understanding of what government competitiveness means. Yet, to date, a concise definition of GC does not exist. Due to this lack of understanding about GC, the term is often used interchangeably with a host of similar concepts, many of which have been employed by research institutes such as IMD and WEF. Studies of competitiveness focus primarily on the national level, but GC and national competitiveness are not the same. GC is also frequently confounded with other concepts, including government capacity, good governance, quality of government, national power, government effectiveness, organizational competitive advantage, and performance management.

The academic literature reveals several challenges in measuring GC. For example, some related concepts and their measurement reflect an ideological bias, such as the virtues of a free-market economy. As a result, some indices of national competitiveness – a concept similar to GC – focus primarily on economic and market indicators such as business-friendly conditions and economic growth. They are therefore less likely to include indicators of effective government, such as human development outcomes like education, healthcare, and social capital. In light of these weaknesses, the Center’s approach to understanding GC necessitates a multidimensional approach to measuring government support of citizens’ well-being.

Government competitiveness is defined as the power of government to, based on its given limits, take resources from in and outside of the country and improve social, economic and cultural conditions of the nation and to enhance the social quality and bring the future to more desirable ways.

Similar Concepts
  • Theoretical Weakness of definition
  • Ideological Bias : Market oriented
  • Time and Space Consideration about Stage of Development
  • Problem of Level of Analysis
  • Role of Governmnet
  • Causal Relationship
Problem Government Competitiveness
  • Level of Analysis : nation
  • Focus : Government
  • Future Oriented
  • Reflection of change by Government's Effort
  • Possibility of Compare between Each Nation