While competitiveness is an essential objective of economic policy, there is still no established consensus about its definition in the sphere of economics. This work provides a clear description of the major debates on the concept of national competitiveness and offers a precise definition based on the assessment of the advantages of countries opening up internationally.
Flora Bellone is a professor of economics at Nice Sophia Antipolis University (UNS), a researcher at GREDEG, a UNS and CNRS multidisciplinary research facility, and an affiliated researcher at OFCE (French economic observatory) Sciences Po (Institute of social and political science). Her research concentrates on growth and innovation economics, geographical economics and company dynamics. Raphaël Chiappini is a senior lecturer at Nice Sophia Antipolis University (UNS) and a researcher at GREDEG, a UNS and CNRS multidisciplinary research facility. His research centres on international trade, competition between countries and the internationalisation of production.