National Competitiveness Policy: Actions and Actors – a Concept for Implementation

Abstract

Abstract: National competitiveness and competiveness policy have been advocated by several nations and the European Union since decades. Though there are many critiques on the concept and its content they are well elaborated. The reasons for the mismatch between the requested and realized measurable and sustainable outcomes are much less discussed and covered by the competitiveness literature. The assumption of this paper is that one of the reasons for that is rooted in the policy nature of competitiveness. The paper is based on Balázs Szepesi‘s presentation on the First Working Conference on Competitiveness. This written version recommends a three-pillar concept for understanding the national competitiveness initiatives as a policy. Out of the sketched three-pillar concept it describes the characteristics of policy action, and that of the actors. The future research is needed and intended to enrich this concept by the policy framework, and then its application onto competitiveness policy.