Export Performance as a Measurement of Competitiveness

Abstract

The competitiveness of a particular national economy and its business environment is critical for the country's economic, political and societal development. Competitiveness can be analyzed using a diapason of single-and multi-factor competitiveness indicators that contribute to quantification as well as and the analysis of internal and external competitiveness determinants. Suitable levels of competitiveness measurements and analyses, be they in terms of a company or a nation, are a matter of continuous debates. The authors of this paper have used econometric equations (models) in order to quantify and qualify the impact of the institutional environment, a factor represented both by the quality of governmental and regulatory measures as well as the corruption perception index. Institutional environment impact was measured in terms of export performance, as this metric represents one of the most important single-factor indicators of competitiveness. For the purposes of our research, the precise quantification of exogenous variables was not a necessity; rather we evaluated the assessment of strength and direction of relations between endogenous and exogenous variables. Our assumption was grounded in the notion that a higher quality of institutional environment is characterized by a higher level of competitiveness and lower transaction costs based on the belief that export performance is a reliable measure of competitiveness. Our research demonstrated, however, that the export performance is not a universal indicator of competitiveness, a finding that signals the need to apply other indicators, most notably, multi-factor ones.

Impact of Institutional Support on Export Performance

“…Export performance may be perceived as one of the fundamental competitiveness indicators for small economies whose economic growth is primarily determined by exports (Ruzekova et al 2020). The institutional impact on export performance was identified as one of the important factors of competitiveness (Ruzekova et al 2020).…”

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“…Prediction of foreign trade using econometric time series models of Gretl software was conducted by several authors. V. Ružeková, Z. Kittová and D. Steinhauser [2020] used this model to quantify and qualify the impact of the institutional environment on the export performance of a country. On the basis of this model, P. Baláž, M. Královičová and D. Steinhauser [2020] assessed the growth potential of trade in services between the EU and China.…”

The Current State of, and Perspectives on, Foreign Trade Between the EU and Central Asia in a Period of Geoeconomic Change

“…Прогнозирование внешней торговли с использованием эконометрических моделей временных рядов программного обеспечения Gretl уже проводилось многими авторами. В частности, Ружекова, Киттова и Штайнхаузер [Ružeková, Kittová, Steinhauser, 2020] использовали эту модель для количественной оценки и определения воздействия институциональной среды на экспортные показатели страны. В дальнейшем на основе этой модели Балаж, Краловичова и Штайнхаузер оценили потенциал роста торговли услугами между ЕС и Китаем.…”