World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report

It's that time of year again. The World Economic Forum (WEF), the international nonprofit known for its Davos meeting, has published its annual global competitiveness study, and the top four countries in overall competitiveness are identical to last year's top four: the United States leads, followed by Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden.

In regards to the United States' No. 1 spot, the report concluded:

Notwithstanding the present financial crisis, the United States continues to be the most competitive economy in the world, a position it has held for several years...despite rising concerns about the soundness of the banking sector and macroeconomic weaknesses, the country's many other strengths continue to make it a very productive environment.

The WEF defines competitiveness as "the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country." The 2008-2009 report expanded to include 134 countries, which were compared using the Forum's Global Competitiveness Index (GCI).

The GCI is based on 12 factors believed to give a comprehensive view of the competitiveness landscape in each country. Here's a look at how the United States ranked in each area, along with the No. 1 country in those cases where it wasn't the U.S.:

  • Institutions: U.S. ranks 29th; top spot goes to Singapore
  • Infrastructure: U.S. ranks 7th; top spot goes to Germany
  • Macroeconomic Stability: U.S. sinks to 66th; top spot goes to Kuwait
  • Health and Primary Education: U.S. ranks 34th; top spot goes to Finland
  • Higher Education and Training: U.S. ranks 5th; top spot goes to Finland
  • Goods Market Efficiency: U.S. ranks 8th; top spot goes to Singapore
  • Labor Market Efficiency: U.S. rank 1st
  • Financial Market Sophistication: U.S. ranks 9th; top spot goes to Hong Kong
  • Technological Readiness: U.S. ranks 11th; top spot goes to The Netherlands
  • Market Size: U.S. ranks 1st
  • Business Sophistication: U.S. ranks 4th; top spot goes to Germany
  • Innovation: U.S. ranks 1st

Below's a look at the 2008-2009 rankings of the top 10 countries in the Technological Readiness and Innovation categories, and how they compare to last year. 

Technological Readiness: 

2008-2009                                                 2007-2008

  1. Netherlands                                        1.  Sweden                        
  2. Sweden                                               2.  Iceland
  3. Denmark                                             3.  Switzerland
  4. Norway                                                4.  Netherlands
  5. Switzerland                                         5.  Denmark
  6. Iceland                                                 6.  Hong Kong
  7. Singapore                                           7.  Korea
  8. United Kingdom                                 8.  Norway
  9. Canada                                               9.  United States
  10. Hong Kong                                        10. Luxembourg

Innovation:     

2008-2009                                               2007-2008

  1. United States                                    1.  United States
  2. Finland                                               2.  Switzerland
  3. Switzerland                                        3.  Finland
  4. Japan                                                 4.  Japan
  5. Sweden                                              5.  Israel
  6. Israel                                                   6.  Sweden
  7. Taiwan                                                7.  Germany
  8. Germany                                             8.  Korea
  9. Korea                                                  9.  Taiwan
  10. Denmark                                           10.  Denmark

For more details, including methodology and video commentary on the results, visit the World Economic Forum's site. Published October 8, 2008.

0 TrackBacks

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.techpolicycentral.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3944

Leave a comment