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Misleading Country Rankings Perpetuate Destructive Business Practices

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  • Harald Bergsteiner

    (Institute for Sustainable Leadership)

  • Gayle C. Avery

    (Institute for Sustainable Leadership
    Macquarie University)

Abstract

Countries are ranked on many criteria, the results of which can have far-reaching ethical and practical implications, particularly for emerging nations seeking role models. One highly influential ranking, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report (GCR), has been criticized for containing multiple methodological, conceptual, and logical flaws that bias competitiveness rankings toward countries that favor neoliberalism. Using datasets not afflicted by such flaws, we examine Bergsteiner and Avery’s (J Bus Ethics 109(4):391–410, 2012) prediction that competitiveness scores of the USA and the UK are substantially overstated. Results of re-ranking 104 countries using 29 economic, environmental, and social datasets from reputable sources support this assertion, with the USA showing the greatest discrepancy on a 100-point scale between its 2013–2014 GCR score (5) and our study’s 2013 score (57), and the UK falling from GCR score 9 to 40. We explore reasons for this discrepancy, including examining the relationship between a country’s neoliberal traditions and its rankings on the indicators.

Suggested Citation

  • Harald Bergsteiner & Gayle C. Avery, 2019. "Misleading Country Rankings Perpetuate Destructive Business Practices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 863-881, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:159:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-018-3805-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-3805-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Harald Bergsteiner & Gayle Avery, 2012. "When Ethics are Compromised by Ideology: The Global Competitiveness Report," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(4), pages 391-410, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Manuel Carlos Nogueira & Mara Madaleno, 2021. "Are International Indices Good Predictors of Economic Growth? Panel Data and Cluster Analysis for European Union Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-24, May.
    2. Adnan Ali & Suresh Ramakrishnan & Faisal Faisal & Zahir Ullah, 2023. "Bibliometric analysis of global research trends on microfinance institutions and microfinance: Suggesting new research agendas," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 3552-3573, October.

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