Facets of Competitiveness, Narratives from ASEAN

National competitiveness may be a controversial notion in academic circles, but it has captured the imagination of policy makers. This has been reinforced by the proliferation of rankings, not just of country competitiveness but also of possibly every conceivable determinant of competitiveness. Despite the controversy, the primary objective of improving competitiveness and the main driver are all too familiar. Countries would like to see a sustained increase in the standard of living of their citizens and sustained growth is driven by productivity improvements. What eludes both economists and policy makers is how to go about doing this. There is a long list of pieces of the puzzle: sound macroeconomic policies, investment in infrastructure, openness to trade and investment, sound institutions and regulation, good governance, investment in education, investment in science and technology, lower costs of doing business, innovation and entrepreneurship…and clusters - the list goes on. Putting together a coherent policy package is an even more daunting task.This edited volume written by scholars and practitioners seeks to illustrate the different aspects of competitiveness and the associated challenges, using essays from ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries. The ten member states of ASEAN account for almost 9% of world population and a bit more than 4% of world gross domestic product. ASEAN is a dynamic region and perhaps one of the most diverse in the world, in terms of the standard of living, politics, history, geography and culture. This diversity helps illustrate the various dimensions of competitiveness and holds valuable insights for all sorts of countries: developed, developing, emerging or transitional; resource-rich or resource-poor; land-locked, archipelagos or city-states; authoritarian or democratic