Leading economists analyze the multiple factors that drive competitiveness among nations in world markets. Competitiveness among nations is often approached as if it were a sports competition: some countries win medals, others lose out. This view of countries fighting it out in the economic arena is especially popular in business circles and among politicians. Economists, however, take a very different approach to international economic relations, arguing that international trade leads not to winners and losers but to win-win situations in which all countries profit. In this volume, leading economists take on the sometimes-derided concept of competitiveness, demonstrating the value of systematic analysis in an area too often dominated by special interest groups who use (and abuse) the concept to advance hidden agendas. The chapters range from broad theoretical views to case studies, examining the multiple factors that drive competitiveness. Contributors consider the conceptual framework underlying the World Economic Forum's approach to competitiveness; differences in per capita GDP between the United States and the European Union; an integrated approach to measuring competitiveness and comparative advantage; divergent trends in price and cost competitiveness in the euro area; methodological issues in constructing competitiveness indicators; taxation and international competitiveness; and a case study of Mexico's competitiveness in world markets in comparison to China's. Contributors Harry P. Bowen, Michele Ca' Zorzi, Jean-Philippe Cotis, Romain Duval, Christoph Fischer, Michael S. Knoll, Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso, Wim Moesen, Felicitas Nowak-Lehmann, Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Bernd Schnatz, Alain de Serres, Eckhard Siggel, Sebastian Vollmer

Harvard professor, Michael Porter has been one of the most influential figures in strategic management research over the last three decades. He infused a rigorous theoretical framework of industrial organization economics with the then still embryonic field of strategic management and elevated it to its current status as an academic discipline. Porter's outstanding career is also characterized by its cross-disciplinary nature. Following his most important work on strategic management, he then made a leap to the policy side and dealt with a completely different set of analytical units. More recently he has made a foray into inner city development, environmental regulations, and health care services. Throughout these explorations Porter has maintained his integrative approach, seeking a road that links management case studies and the general model building of mainstream economics. With expert contributors from a range of disciplines including strategic management, economic development, economic geography, and planning, this book assesses the contribution Michael Porter has made to these respective disciplines. It clarifies the sources of tension and controversy relating to all the major strands of Porter's work, and provides academics, students, and practitioners with a critical guide for the application of Porter's models. The book highlights that while many of the criticisms of Porter's ideas are valid, they are almost an inevitable outcome for a scholar who has sought to build bridges across wide disciplinary valleys. His work has provided others with a set of frameworks to explore in more depth the nature of competition, competitive advantage, and clusters from a range of vantage points.

Now beyond its eleventh printing and translated into twelve languages, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations has changed completely our conception of how prosperity is created and sustained in the modern global economy. Porter’s groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America. Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter’s “diamond,” a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of “clusters,” or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy. Even before publication of the book, Porter’s theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured.

In this pathbreaking book, Michael E. Porter unravels the rules that govern competition and turns them into powerful analytical tools to help management interpret market signals and forecast the direction of industry development.

The Handbook of Research on Competitive Strategy presents a comprehensive state-of-the-art picture of current strategic management issues and demarcates the major investigation strands that are likely to shape the field into the future. The Handbook is the outcome of a far-reaching endeavour including new contributions from highly-reputed experts around the world, outlining the conceptual and empirical advancements and assessing the promises and practical relevance of the competitive strategy field. Looking at key areas such as alliances and innovation, ownership and networks, coopetition and entrepreneurship, multinational and trust management, and firm's financial structures and business models, the book sets a research agenda for the future of competitive strategy research. Gathering various solid branches of investigation that revolve around specific theories and applications (such as the socio-cognitive perspective, the strategy-as-practice view, and the most recent developments in competitive dynamics and the resource-based perspective of the firm), this inspiring and thought-provoking Handbook will provide executives, entrepreneurs, students and scholars in management with many insights into the nature and process of competitive strategy emergence, configuration and development.

While national governments assemble vast arrays of statistical data to demonstrate a closing or widening of international competitiveness, business scholars and practitioners and economists from many countries here argue that too little attention is being paid to the often subtle but highly significant organizational and cultural characteristics that underpin production and trade in a globalized economy. They consider organizational, cross-cultural, financial, productive, and distributive issues. The 19 papers are from an international conference at the University of Cambridge at an undisclosed date. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR