Systemic competitiveness: A new challenge for firms and for government

Abstract

Preface In this study we present case studies of policies for building industrial competitiveness in Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, Korea, and Thailand. They are based on both desk and field research conducted over the last years by the authors, all of them senior research fellows with the Industry Division at the German Development In-stitute, Berlin. The case studies are analyzed within the conceptual framework of "systemic competitiveness". This concept, summarized in Chapter 1 of this paper, has been developed by the authors and two other colleagues (Klaus Esser, Dirk Messner) over the last years. 1 It provides a heuristic framework to analyze the factors that stimu-late or hinder dynamic industrial development. It can be applied to both industrialized and developing coun-tries. The key assumption is that competitive advantages emerge only in part due to the invisible hand of the market, i.e. the activities of atomized economic agents, and are to a significant extent created by deliberate collective action. There are two elements which distinguish the concept of "systemic competitiveness" from other analytical frameworks concerning the factors that determine industrial competitiveness: − It entails four different levels of analysis (the meta-, macro-, meso-and microlevels). In addition to the mi-crolevel of firm activities and the macrolevel of national economic policy, the metalevel addresses such factors as the capacity of a society for social integration and its ability to formulate and implement strate-gies. The mesolevel concerns the supporting structures, including sector-specific policies which encourage, supplement, and increase the efforts at the company level. − It brings together elements of industrial and innovation economics and industrial sociology with the