Tables of national competitiveness give an easily comparable ranking of the winners and losers of global economic competition. But they don't explain why the "e;poor"e; countries are four times less productive than the "e;rich"e; ones or why some rich countries are twice as productive as others. Using empirical data from over 50 countries, this book shows how even small differences in a number of factors combine to boost or block productivity. Governments need such information to set priorities. Investors need it too, and two new rankings are proposed as alternatives to a simple comparison of industrial productivity. The first, called the "e;investor ranking"e;, is based on infrastructure, human capital and total factor productivity. The second, "e;exporter ranking"e;, is for investors whose prime concern is for a production platform well-integrated into world trade. Combining the new rankings with a more traditional one produces three groups of countries, termed balanced, high potential, and vulnerable. Group membership reserves some surprises: you may be rich, but that doesn't mean you're not vulnerable.
