Measuring Sustainable Competitiveness in Contemporary Economies—Insights from European Economy

Gheorghe H. Popescu, Violeta Sima, Elvira Nica and Ileana Georgiana Gheorghe
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Gheorghe H. Popescu: Department of Finance and Banking, Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, Bucharest 030134, Romania
Violeta Sima: Business Administration, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, Ploiesti 100680, Romania
Elvira Nica: Business Administration, Bucharest University of Economic Study, Bucharest 010374, Romania
Ileana Georgiana Gheorghe: Business Administration, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, Ploiesti 100680, Romania

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 7, 1-26

Abstract: The recent transformation of the national economies has raised numerous theoretical and practical aspects in measuring economic growth, welfare, environmental performance, and competitiveness, representing a challenging research topic within the context of economic paradigm transformation. Despite its importance, a fully operational model to be used in any context has not yet been designed. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate and analyze the macroeconomic dimension of the three determinants of sustainable competitiveness: the economic environment, the social environment, and the natural environment, at both the European and Romanian levels. This paper used the Hierarchical Clustering methodology, aiming at evaluating the global competitiveness in terms of a sustainable development model, using four indices: Human Development Index, Environmental Performance Index, Global Competitiveness Index, and GDP per capita. The clusters were designed on the basis of the role of the indices in assessment of the sustainable performances of the countries and also of the possible convergences between them. The results could sustain the conclusion that these indices are not able to offer an exhaustive image of the sustainable performances assessment. A new complex indicator could be considered in order to design a convergence model for the EU member states.

Keywords: sustainable development; sustainable competitiveness; environmental performance; economic growth; global competitiveness; human welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:7:p:1230-:d:104550

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