C49 - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics: OtherReturn

Until now there is no scientific consensus about the concept of national competitiveness. Despite the ambiguity of its definition, it has become a goal of numerous political documents. Economic policies in many countries are devoted to raise their overall competitiveness. But an unclear definition of relations between different components of national competitiveness represents an obstacle to formulate effective political measures. The aim of this paper is to clarify the relation between the competitiveness of the Czech Republic and its export performance which is considered as one of ways to improve overall competitiveness. The contribution of external competitiveness to the export performance of the Czech Republic in European Union is quantified using an econometric version of Constant Market Shares analysis. The results suggest that the external competitiveness of the Czech Republic has significantly positive effects on its export performance. Moreover we conclude that the positive spillover effect from external to aggregate competitiveness could be reach via increasing productivity.

This paper focuses on the identification of the main criterion for the classification of basic indicators and their corresponding scales (nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio). The criterion is the number of meaningful categories of the formulation or measurement of all mutual differences of all potential values of the indicator. The paper insists on the necessity of distinguishing at least four types of the given indicator. The classification (and differences) of the indicators is included in the enclosed table. The purpose of the table is to: give information about the data arranged in an ordering scheme; further evaluate whether their differences are determined or they are meaningless; and investigate whether differences between values can be found and if ratios are meaningful or not. The meaning of the classification of indicators for a correct interpretation of the mutual differences between their values is emphasized.