The Effect of Competitiveness on Economic Performance in Selected Developing and Developed Countries

In recent years, given the intensification of economic competition between societies, and the increasing change in productivity for a larger share in international markets, the concept of competitiveness is one of the key indicators of the success of economies. Competitiveness, in addition to highlighting the constraints and challenges encountered in competing in global markets, assesses the government's financial constraints in budgeting and the challenges faced by the private sector in competing in domestic and international markets. Hence, the aim study to investigate the effect of competitiveness on the economic performance of selected countries. According to that a comprehensive indicator of the country's competitiveness status is reported by the World Economic Forum since 2006, there is no possibility of better modeling for a country-specific time series. Therefore, data from two groups of developing and developed countries to examine the relationship Competitiveness and economic performance have been used. The time period of 2006-2014 is considered and GMM method is used to analyze the models. The results of the study demonstrate that the competitiveness index significantly increases the economic growth and expansion of exports in both developed and developed countries. Therefore, the policy of strengthening economic competitiveness should be one of the main priorities of country planners and policy makers. Also, according to the results of study, the ratio of the net capital to GDP, the ratio of high school enrollment rate, exchange rate, consumption expenditures and inflation are from other variables affecting the growth and exports of selected and developed countries.