A Growth Theory and Competitiveness Gains Measure Linkage

This work provides a macroeconomic approach and a sound conceptual foundation for the notion of "competitiveness gains", so prone to multiple interpretations, and to make it fit for empirical analyses. Instead of "competitiveness" is "competitiveness gains" the relevant concept, defined as a situation where the economy experiences a higher growth rate of TFP than its competitors. We present a theoretical model of competitiveness that provides a rationale for the variations of competitiveness,associated to the behavior of related variables; then we carry out an empirical exercise which shows that our formalization supports a measurable approximation to competitiveness gains.