World Competitiveness Yearbook Research Articles

Correlation macroeconomic, government efficiency, infrastructure, and climate change vulnerability: a cross-country analysis

The government is required to take proactive steps to participate in interventions that strengthen resilience in response to climate change as SDG 13: Climate Action. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the correlation of government performance, in the form of macroeconomic performance, efficiency, and infrastructure availability with vulnerability to climate change. Data were analyzed from 2021 to 2022 for 57 countries and the variables used were macroeconomic performance, government efficiency, infrastructure, and vulnerability. Furthermore, vulnerability variable has three dimensions, namely susceptibility, lack of coping capacities, and lack of adaptive capacities. The data used in this study were sourced from reputable references, such as World Competitiveness Yearbook and World Risk Report. For data analysis, correlation and comparison tests were judiciously applied. The results showed that macroeconomic performance, government efficiency, and infrastructure were negatively correlated with vulnerability. Macroeconomic performance and government efficiency variables had the strongest moderate correlation with climate change vulnerability, while infrastructure had a moderate to strong correlation. The results recommended a policy of providing infrastructure in vulnerable areas since economic performance could not guarantee resilience to climate change.

Analisis Faktor Kunci Keberhasilan Implementasi Last Planner System untuk Peningkatan Kinerja Waktu pada Proyek Bendungan

Infrastructure development is crucial to the development of a nation’s economy. Based on data from the 2021 World Competitiveness Yearbook, Indonesia's infrastructure is ranked 57th out of 64 countries and one of the assessment criteria is related to water resources. Water resource management in Indonesia is still faced with fundamental challenges, including the limited water storage capacity in Indonesia so alternative water resources development is needed, among which is through the construction of dams. In practice, dam projects are very vulnerable to time delays. One of the solutions to this problem is the application of the last planner system method. The implementation of the last planner system can help create major improvements in project planning, increase workflow and productivity, and reduce project time and site accidents. This research has an update regarding the implementation of the last planner system method on a dam project and analyzing the key success factors using SEM-PLS. According to the study's findings, the key success factors of the implementation of the last planner system method on dam projects are budget plan, work schedule, clarity of scope of work, work plan, planning process, and weekly plan

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY AND ITS SUBJECTS: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECT

In the context of ensuring the competitiveness and development of the national economy and its subjects, as a single economic system in the modern conditions of its functioning, the global competitiveness of Ukraine was investigated according to the rating of the "Global Competitiveness Index" for 2015-2021. It was proven that the methodology for assessing the global competitiveness of countries is constantly changes, which is objective, the evaluation according to the methodology of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which characterizes the competitiveness of the countries of the world and which are at different levels of their economic development, as well as research under the influence of the financial and economic crisis and the global process - the impact of the COVID crisis - was analyzed -19, and the 2020 global competitiveness rating developed by the Institute for Management Development (The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY).
 The article examines the competitiveness rating of Ukraine in 2021-2022. in the World Competitiveness Rankings (World Competitiveness Rankings) and leading countries, as well as analyzed factors influencing the change in the rating. A study of the types of economic transformations of national economies, as complex, multilevel and multifaceted processes, was conducted. The experience of individual countries whose economies underwent evolutionary or radical transformations was analyzed. It has been proven that economic transformation, depending on the level of its occurrence and the goals of its implementation (macro-, meso-, mini-, nano-levels), can be structured into state and private, and the development of an effective economic state transformation and its implementation should have a significant impact on directions of positive and effective development or corresponding changes in the activity of both the national economy as a whole and its subjects.
 It is substantiated that the private economic transformation of the activities of the subjects of the national economy, which takes into account the aspirations and ability of the economic system, not only to maintain an equilibrium state, but also to have the ability to develop and change in activity in the aggressive under the influence of environmental factors - persistent transformation of activity. On the basis of a well-founded methodological approach to the formation of the concept of ensuring the competitiveness of an important branch of the economy of Ukraine - the food industry, which is based on taking into account various forms of the influence of globalization processes and the hypothesis of the need for its persistent transformation to ensure competitiveness and efficiency of functioning, the following are given: object and method of evaluation; level of object research; the complexity of the assessment approach; the obtained evaluation result based on the criterion evaluation of such a transformation by its types.

Renewal capital matters: Comparison between Lithuania and Taiwan

In a hyper-competition era with the shadows by COVID-19 pandemic, nations as well as companies are competing for talents, high-technologies and innovations to sustain the economic performance and competitiveness. This study compares the NIC of two small economies, Lithuania and Taiwan, that both perform better than most countries during the pandemic, aiming to understand their next steps to sustain the successfulness after the pandemic. The study utilized the ELSS (Edvinsson, Lin, Stahle and Stahle) model (Stahle et al., 2015) with 48 indicators collected from the World Competitiveness Yearbook to measure the degree of NIC. Based on 20 years (2001-2020) national intellectual capital (NIC) panel data, the descriptive analysis reveals that Lithuania lags behind Taiwan renewal capital. However, Lithuania’s market capital and process capital have great improvement over the past 20 years and are catching up with those of Taiwan. The renewal capital mainly consists of R&D spending/GDP, business R&D spending, cooperation between corporations and universities, venture capital, entrepreneurship, development and application of technology and 6 other renewal relevant indicators. From the perspective of NIC, the gap of GDP per capita between Lithuania and Taiwan corresponds to the difference of renewal capital between these two countries. The results show the significance of renewal capital. Those who are unable to attract, retain talents and slow in technology renewal will not be competitive and sustainable. We suggest that Lithuania utilize its short-term NIC to boost up economic development, then invest more in talent development and technology advancement to ensure its sustainability.

Quantile-based PLS-SEM with bag of little bootstraps

Recently, quantile-based structural equation model has enjoyed increasing popularity in various fields and applications. As we know, structural equation model consists of structural model and measurement model in total. In our quantile-based measurement model, the observed variables are considered to be manifestations of an underlying construct with changing relationships going from the latent variable to its observed variables at different quantiles. Based on our model, we propose a quantile-based partial least square algorithm with bag of little bootstraps. All of our model and algorithm are compared to our quantile-based partial least square algorithms with traditional bootstrap in simulations, and applied to part of IMD (International Institute for Management Development) World Competitiveness Yearbook datasets.

Pengaruh Kepemimpinan dan Disiplin terhadap Motivasi Kerja Serta Dampaknya pada Kinerja Pegawai Bidang Pelayanan Langsung Rumah Sakit Umum Nurdin Hamzah Kabupaten Tanjung Jabung Timur

Achievement or job performance is the qualitative and quantitative result of work done when tasks are completed in accordance with assigned responsibilities. Performance is a measure of the success of health services and reflects the responsibilities of service organizations within the framework of good governance. Hospital Performance refers to the realization of the goals set by medical and administrative personnel. The Institute of Management Development (IMD) stated in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2022 report that Indonesia's competitiveness has now risen from 38th in 2020 to 44th. According to the results of Nurdin Hamzah Hospital's 2022 staff performance review, it is still not the best in terms of average performance. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of leadership and discipline on job motivation and its impact on employee performance in the direct service area of Nurdin Hamzah General Hospital, East Tanjung Jabung Regency. The sample is drawn in the way of overall sampling, drawn from all direct service personnel, up to 108 people. According to the results of partial significance test (t statistical test), it is found that the leadership part has a significant impact on employee performance, the discipline part has no significant impact on employee performance, and the motivation part has a significant impact on employee performance. Based on the results of simultaneous analysis (F-test), the model in this study was proved to be correct/feasible. From this it can be concluded that leadership and discipline simultaneously affect performance through variable motivation.

Assessment of innovative potential of "smart" technologies in AIC of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The aim – is to assess innovative potential based on data of the annual reports of the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum (GCI WEF) and identify directions of the “smart” strategy for the development of AIC of Kazakhstan. Methods – for comparative analysis, the official information of the bulletins of the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On innovative activities of enterprises in the Republic of Kazakhstan", "Key indicators of research and development works in the RK for 2011-2020", reports of the SEC WEF were used. Results – it is noted that important criterion affecting the competitiveness of the country's agricultural sector is its innovative activity, high-tech production. To achieve these goals, the following is necessary: sufficient investment in R & D; the presence of effective research institutions that generate knowledge for the creation of new technologies; diversified business cooperation; integration of education, science and practice; intellectual property protection. The article considers the results of the GCI WEF rating by the factor "innovative potential", comparative analysis of the initial indicators and domestic statistics. The main guidelines and key characteristics of the model of the "smart" concept of the effective functioning of the industry are indicated: digitalization, continuous monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of results according to pre-developed methodology, quantitative and qualitative parameters, decisions on investing funds in projects do not depend on the source of investment. Conclusions – it is advisable to use alternative results of world rankings, in particular, Global Innovation Index and the world competitiveness ranking of the International Institute of Management (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook - IMDWCY), International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook – IMD WCY).

Competitiveness of the European Union Member States according to the Institute of Management Development index (IMD)

The competitiveness index of the Swiss Institute for Management Development (IMD International for Management Development), based in Lausanne, is calculated and published in the World Competitiveness Yearbook - the leading annual report published annually since 1989. Until 1995, the report was developed jointly by the IMD and the Index of Economic Freedom (IEF). IMD publishes the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, which measures the ability of 64 economies to adapt to digital technologies and the readiness to search for new applications of digital technologies as a key factor of economic transformation in industry, the public sector and broadly understood social relations. The IMD index provides a general overview of the factors that determine the level of competitiveness. Currently, these factors are analyzed in four categories defining the competitiveness of the economy, i.e.: economic situation, government efficiency, efficiency of the public and economic sector, infrastructure.
 To assess the competitiveness of EU Member States, taking into account the IMD index, rankings for 2010 and 2020 published by the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking were used. Research results indicate that the countries that achieved the best results in the IMD ranking are also leaders in the competitiveness ranking based on GDP per capita published by the European Commission.

The Strength of Audits, Reporting Standards and Corruption, on Tax Evasion: A Cross-Country Study

Purpose: The study aims to examine the influence of audits, reporting standards and corruption on tax evasion on selected countries. Design/Methodology/Approach: Tax evasion is measured using the shadow economy estimation and a tax evasion survey from the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook by using a sample of 132 countries in th eperiod 2008-2015. Data were analyzed using Ordinary Least Square regression (OLS) and multilevel mediation analysis. Findings: The results showed that improving audit quality and reporting standards reducing the level of corruption can significantly reduce tax evasion. We also find that corruption mediates the effect of the strength of audit and reporting standards on tax evasion. Practical Implications: Result implies that in order to reduce tax evasion, the government must reduce the level of corruption first through strengthening audits and reporting standards. At the end, it is hoped that no more corrupted officials will facilitate the company to manipulate financial statements. Originality/Value: This research provides a clearer view by building a conceptual framework on how corruption mediates the effect of audit power and reporting standards on tax evasion.

Socio-cultural factors explaining technology-based entrepreneurial activity: Direct and indirect role of social security

Nurturing technology-based ventures requires consideration of societal factors besides economic factors. This study aims to analyze the direct effect as well as moderation effect of social security on technology-based entrepreneurial activity. Research hypotheses are tested through panel data analysis. National level data on 45 countries for 8 years (2006–2013) are obtained from multiple sources, including Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, World Competitiveness Yearbook, Hofstede's national culture dimensions, and so forth. The results imply that social security, as it is known, has a negative relationship with the overall rate of entrepreneurial activity. However, social security has a positive effect on the share of technology-based entrepreneurial activity. In addition, the positive impact of social security shows a gradual decline as individualism increases. Our findings provide solid empirical evidence on the relationship between social security and entrepreneurial activity, which was ambiguous in the previous studies. The research examines the interaction effects between social security and national culture for the first time. These are expected to provide a practical insight for policy makers seeking to promote entrepreneurial activity at the national level.

ASSESSING TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF INNOVATIONS IN CANADA: THE GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

This paper presents the results of a comparison of the technical efficiency of innovation approach in Canada to approaches in 41 other countries. Data Envelopment Analysis was used to investigate this subject. Results of simulation experiments were used to anticipate possible general suggestions regarding policy measures that may be considered when exploring means to improve Canadian performance. Data from the World Competitiveness Yearbook and European Innovation Scoreboard were used. Oslo Manual definition of innovations was used. Enablers (context) — difficult to change country characteristics that may impact upon technical efficiency — were entered into the examination. A qualitative overview of the Canadian perspective to innovations supplements the quantitative portion of the presentation. It is observed that return to scale and congestion issues dominate considerations on technical efficiency of innovations. Wealthier countries seem to be less technically efficient in innovations than not so rich ones. Canada operates under Decreasing Returns to Scale. Congestions seem to be the main contributor to inefficiencies. Suggestions regarding the betterment of technical efficiency of innovations in Canada are presented here. Attention was drawn to several questions for further studies on the subject and their importance clarified.

Entrepreneurial capability (EC) environment in ASEAN-05 emerging economies

PurposeThe entrepreneurial capability (EC) environment refers to the general social and economic settings of a given local/regional entrepreneurship environment. The primary purpose of this study is to uncover key indicators of the EC milieu and test these components empirically within the context of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)-5 economies to elucidate the current state of their EC environments, at the regional and national levels. To this end, the aim of this study is twofold. First, this work endeavors to explicate the determinants of EC, with aims of elucidating its association to commercial opportunities in (ASEAN)-5 economies, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Next, this study applies the developed theory, including the identified determinants of EC to empirically test the efficiency and imperative coefficients of variables that have an impact on perceived entrepreneurial capabilities within a given environment.Design/methodology/approachThis research applies two frontier models, namely, the consistent estimation of fixed-effects and linear transformation stochastic frontier models, to assess the coefficients of significant EC variables for the panel sample. Data corresponding to the assessed variables were retrieved from the databases of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) – 2016 and the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) – 2016, for the period, 2010-2016.FindingsThe attained results suggest that factors corresponding to the variables “Entrepreneurship as a good career choice” and “perceived opportunities” have played a significantly positive role on the EC environment of ASEAN 05, although findings suggest both factors may still be improved upon. Conversely, the “fear of failure rate” factor was shown to have exerted a negative impact on the efficiency of the EC environment of ASEAN 05. Other important variables – such as intellectual property rights, university education and knowledge transfer rate – were shown to generate a positive impact on the EC environment of these economies.Originality/valueThis study makes an important contribution to the entrepreneurship literature and can stimulate policymakers to rethink the EC settings of ASEAN-05 in their pursuit of an innovation-driven region.

Determinants of entrepreneurial capability (EC) environment in ASEAN-05 economies - a log-linear stochastic frontier analysis

The primary driver of this study is to find out key indicators of Entrepreneurial Capability milieu and test these components empirically in the Association with South East Asian Nations-05 economies. The purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, it attempts to understand the determinants of Entrepreneurial Capability which identifies and endeavor commercial opportunities in the Association of South East Asian Nations 05 economies, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Secondly, using the theory and determinants of entrepreneurial capability in general, this study empirically tests the efficiency imperative coefficients of variables that have an impact on entrepreneurial perceived capabilities. This research applies recent consistent estimation of log linear transformation stochastic frontier model to find out time-variant changes of variables in the panel sample. Data and variables have collected from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor - 2016 and World Competitiveness Yearbook - 2016 during the years 2010–2016. The results suggest that Entrepreneurship as a Good Career Choice and Perceived Opportunities are two significant variables which can improve and have a positive influence on entrepreneurial capability while Fear of failure rate has a negative impact on the efficiency of entrepreneurial capability in the Association of South East Asian Nations-05 countries. Other important variables such as Intellectual Property Rights, University Education and Knowledge Transfer rate have a positive stimulus to the entrepreneurial capability environment in these economies. The findings of this study are important contributions to the entrepreneurship literature and help policymakers to rethink entrepreneurial capability settings of the Association of South East Asian Nations-05 countries to pursue an innovation-driven region in future.

Ocena stanu instytucji w Polsce w latach 2012–2016 we wskaźnikach konkurencyjności

The aim of the paper is the diagnosis of institutions in Poland within the usage of competitiveness criteria in 2012–2016. The problem with the institutions, in the theory of economics, is joint with the variety of definitions in the field of institutional schools of thought. Institutional background is based on different sciences: psychology, sociology, law, economics, political science etc. They represent different and incomparable definitions of institution as well as adequate to the every science measurement methods. Very similar problem raised with the phenomenon of competitiveness. A wide variety of competitiveness definitions depends on the variety of theoretical background. There is no scientific definition of competitiveness, which could fulfill the requirements of differentia specifica. Therefore it is easy to take into a doubt the results of competitiveness research presented by the World Competitiveness Yearbook, especially in the case of institutional appraisal in Poland in 2012–2016.

AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF FACTORS AFFECTING ENTREPRENEURIAL CAPABILITY (EC) ENVIRONMENT IN ASEAN-5 ECONOMIES

The entrepreneurial capability (EC) environment of a given local or regional system refers to a set of social and economic factors that exert influence on entrepreneurial processes occurring within said system. To this end, the goal of the currently presented work is to determine and empirically validate the said EC factors in relation to the entrepreneurial environments of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)-5, namely Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, both at the regional and national levels. For this purpose, the presented research adapted the entrepreneurial perceived capabilities framework to first investigate the key determinants of EC that affect key entrepreneurial processes, such as the seeking of new opportunities and the decision to venture into new commercial opportunities, within the context of ASEAN-5 economies. Next, the identified variables were empirically tested via an examination of their coefficients in relation to their impact on entrepreneurial perceived capabilities. Succinctly, the current work applied recent consistent estimation of panel bootstrap random-effects model to determine time variant changes with respect to the studied variables in the panel sample. The data used in the current work was obtained from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) databases for the years 2010–2016. The results of the current work suggest that factors such as beliefs regarding entrepreneurship as a good career choice (EnGC) and perceived opportunities (PO) yield significant positive impact on the efficiency of EC in ASEAN-5, and can be nurtured to further improve EC environments both at the regional and national levels. Conversely, the fear of failure (FefRa) variable was shown to exert considerable negative impact on the efficiency of ASEAN-5 EC environments. Variables such as intellectual property rights (IPR), university education (UE), and knowledge transfer rate (KT) were also shown to have a positive impact on both national and regional ASEAN-5 EC environments. The current work thus makes a valuable contribution to the associated literature by presenting a robust empirical analysis of EC factors of ASEAN-5 economies, the results of which can be used to inform policies aimed at strengthening the EC settings of ASEAN-5 with respect to their pursuit of an innovation-driven region.

Selected Characteristics of Business Environment in Visegrad Region

Business environment is considered to be an important factor that affects the competitiveness of the country or region. The assessment of business environment is subject to analysis realized by many national as well as internationally accepted institutions, whose outputs have usually form of composite indices reflecting the quality of the business environment. The aim of the article is to investigate the relationship between different indices of the quality of business environment on one side and selected macroeconomic indicators and country's credit rating on the other side. The analysis concentrates on the countries of Visegrad four region (V4) – Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The following indices are analyzed: Ease of Doing Business created by the World Bank Group , Global Competitiveness Index, Index of Economic Freedom, rating from The World Competitiveness Yearbook and Fragile State Index. We use the real gross domestic product, unemployment rate and inflation rate as the macroeconomic indicators and the results of the country's credit rating evaluated by Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings. The analysis is based on the country level data for the 2005 – 2014 period derived from the official statistical reports of World Bank, World Economic Forum, Institute for Management Development, The Heritage Foundation, Fund for Peace and Eurostat. The analysis is performed through correlation analysis using Pearson as well as Spearman correlation coefficients. The results of our analysis indicate that relationship between different indices of the quality of business environment and selected macroeconomic indicators or country's credit rating is country specific.

Índices de competitividad: Análisis de resultados para Colombia 2015-2016

En la actualidad, los países en desarrollo han aumentado su preocupación por la competitividad nacional y su posición en los índices de desempeño competitivo internacional. Este trabajo presenta un primer análisis de los resultados que Colombia ha obtenido en las mediciones de competitividad en el 2015-2016, desde una perspectiva de desarrollo territorial. Se consideran las mediciones de los índices más conocidos: The Global Competitiveness Report, Doing Business, y The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook Los resultados exponen un panorama estable a nivel macroeconómico y financiero, y de incertidumbre en ámbitos institucionales y territoriales.

On the Key Factors of Socio-Economic Policy and Institutional Development that Determine the Improvement of the Quality of Life

The present study is devoted to determining and assessing the relationship between the resulting (criterion) synthetic categories of the quality and way of life, on the one hand, and the direct or indirect characteristics of the current socio-economic policy and the quality of institutions, on the other hand, as well as to the analysis of the basic trends of the “Russian path” of development during the period of 1995–2004 within the “state space” of the indicators under consideration. The informational background of the study has included the data of the annual “The World Competitiveness Yearbook” during the years of 1997–2004. The study has been aimed at attempting to provide an answer to the following question: why, against the evident signs of an economic growth, Russia has not demonstrated the fundamental positive trends in the dynamics of the Quality of Life of Russian residents.

Evidential weights of multiple preferences for competitiveness

The alternative selections or feasible sets in multi-attribute utility theory usually face problems of inaccuracy or inconsistency in weighting. Evidential weight and weight of evidence still have not resolved these problems in an efficient manner. This research proposes evidential weights of multiple preferences by using evidence and inference based on the rough set theory. An evidential probability, is constructed to resolve this weight. Technically, the evidential probability is required to satisfy the following conditions: uniqueness, independence and consistency, to identify various evidence and noise, and to provide quantities of certain evidence to resolve weights. Empirically, the resolved weights are fused into competitiveness utility for verification. A practical case successfully classifies dominating nations of World Competitiveness Yearbook. Another case analyzes the competitiveness trends of China during 1997 to 2012, predicting China will continue rising in near future.

An analytical model for benchmarking the development of national infrastructure items against those in similar countries

Analysis of the critical infrastructure development experiences of similar countries can help identify the critical infrastructure items that are lacking in a country of interest, mitigate the risks pertaining to policy implementation failures and provide useful planning information to policymakers. To support such examinations, a double-L fuzzy similarity model that uses the infrastructure indicators included in the World Competitiveness Yearbook of 2011 is employed. A new analytic model is then developed that leverages the fuzzy model evaluations to analyze infrastructure data and understand the leading/lagging performance of infrastructure indicators in various countries. To illustrate the application of the analytic model, 10 countries that display the most similar infrastructure development conditions to those of Taiwan (country of interest) are selected. Comparing the infrastructure indicators of the 10 similar countries can enable Taiwanese policymakers to determine the significantly leading (relatively strong), significantly lagging (relatively weak) and non-significant indicators for the Taiwan environment and help identify infrastructure items that require further investment, select benchmarks for infrastructure development and set development goals.