The relationship between competition, competitiveness and development is receiving increased attention in the light of globalization and its implications for sustained economic growth and welfare. Policy makers in both developed and developing countries worry about national competitiveness and how to achieve it. In this context, the issues note highlights the changing nature of competition and its implications for achieving and sustaining competitiveness, and discusses some of the issues and policy implications facing Governments as they wrestle with competitiveness concerns in a globalizing world economy. Among the main policy issues identified by the note is that the competitiveness of developing country firms (and by extension of developing countries) to integrate into the world economy depends to a large extent on their acquiring the necessary capabilities to apply available technologies and innovate, and on the domestic availability of competitive supporting infrastructure (including human and financial resources and services). This implies policy measures beyond trade liberalization to address (i) supply capacities at the systemic level; (ii) concentration of market power, which is both an outcome of global competition and a threat to global competition; and (iii) the consequent need for the strengthened application of competition principles
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International Institute for Trade and Developement : UNCTAD Collection
