COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE REGARDING THE MEASUREMENT OF COMPETITIVENESS.

There is a large literature regarding the measurement of competitiveness, the more recent ones focusing on the external sustainable competitiveness. This is done in the context of major changes registered in the human society due to climate changes, the limits of resources, the globalization of the economy and the economic-financial crisis. The measurement of the external competitiveness is a process intrinsically connected with the concept of competitiveness, a concept which proves to be difficult to formulate in a unitary perspective due to its complexity and the large array of factors which influence it. In this context, the paper focuses on the methodology of the European Union and of the World Economic Forum regarding the sustainable competitiveness underlying the advantages and limits of using a composed index versus a price measurement using the real exchange rate. The composed indexes offer a picture of the past competitiveness and the price measurement facilitate the long term projection of competitiveness. In this context, the paper suggests an answer regarding the possibility of using both of the techniques to connect the information regarding the past competitiveness with the future competitiveness reflected by the price evolution. The connection is reflected by the coherency between the two measurements but also by the structure of the indicators constructed. The paper suggests a hypothesis that this structure offers valuable information on how the connection between the two measurements can be done in a coherent way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]