The Issues of Competitiveness. Romania's Competitive Positioning in Global Context

The concept of competitiveness has always been of interest in economic literature, presented under various definitions and aspects, from determinants of competitiveness at microeconomic level to the issues regarding countries' competitive performance in global environment. Competitiveness is approached from different perspectives, such as productivity, technological innovation, capital investment, structural policies, education and training, technological progress, macroeconomic stability, good governance, the rule of law, transparent institutions, optimal market size, the ability to produce better and cheaper, etc., none of them excluding the other. Based on such indexes, rankings measuring countries' competitiveness have been developed, in order to provide the less competitive useful information in shaping future policies. According to such a ranking (The Global Competitiveness Score, by World Economic forum), Romania's competitive position has slightly improved in the last years, but there are a large number of indexes showing regress (e.g. budget deficit, infrastructure, flexibility of wage determination) or and some problematic issues for companies (e.g. tax regulations, instability of public policies, access to finance). In order to further solidify the country's competitive position, despite major short-term challenges, it has to put economy on a more sustainable footing, focusing on institutional environment, strengthening the financial sector and invest in infrastructure, education and innovation.