WHY DO SOME NATIONS SUCCEED AND OTHERS FAIL IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION? FACTOR ANALYSIS AND CLUSTER ANALYSIS AT EUROPEAN LEVEL

Popa Ion () and Stefan Simona Catalina ()
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Popa Ion: The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, Faculty of Management, Management Department
Stefan Simona Catalina: The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, Faculty of Management, Management Department
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Simona Cătălina Ștefan

Annals of Faculty of Economics, 2015, vol. 1, issue 1, 1149-1157

Abstract: As stated by Michael Porter (1998: 57), 'this is perhaps the most frequently asked economic question of our times.' However, a widely accepted answer is still missing. The aim of this paper is not to provide the BIG answer for such a BIG question, but rather to provide a different perspective on the competitiveness at the national level. In this respect, we followed a two step procedure, called “tandem analysis”. (OECD, 2008). First we employed a Factor Analysis in order to reveal the underlying factors of the initial dataset followed by a Cluster Analysis which aims classifying the 35 countries according to the main characteristics of competitiveness resulting from Factor Analysis. The findings revealed that clustering the 35 states after the first two factors: Smart Growth and Market Development, which recovers almost 76% of common variability of the twelve original variables, are highlighted four clusters as well as a series of useful information in order to analyze the characteristics of the four clusters and discussions on them.

Keywords: Cluster Analysis; competitiveness; Factor Analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C38 O11 O47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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