摘要：Over past decades competitiveness has become a matter of growing interest for academics, businessmen and policy makers who are concerned about the success of firms, industries and nations in a globalised world. Yet, the concept is oft en criticised for its different meanings and the lack of a comprehensive theoretical framework. Similarly, there is no commonly accepted measure of the concept but a variety of indicators is being used. Existing literature often refers to individual dimensions of this concept thus failing to take into account its multifaceted and multidimensional nature. The objective of this paper is to explore different meanings of competitiveness in search for a common line connecting different dimensions of this concept. It also discusses theoretical foundations of competitiveness suggesting that its underlying principles can be traced to theories of competition, international trade and economic growth. Finally, three main approaches to the analysis of competitiveness (macroeconomic, trade and microeconomic) are critically examined and their interrelatedness is discussed. The general message of this paper is that competitiveness is in its essence a firm-level concept and that the competitiveness of nations depends on the competitiveness of their firms which in turn is determined by a combination of their activities, characteristics and features of their environment.
关键词：competitiveness; competition; international trade; economic growth; firm behaviour
