ABOUT WCC

Pioneers in Competitiveness Since 1989

History of the World Competitiveness Center

The IMD World Competitiveness Center was created in 1989 by Prof. Stephane Garelli and has been publishing the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook for 23 years. Our research field is the competitiveness of nations. But do nations really compete?

Countries manage their environment according to what we call the four fundamental forces: these four dimensions shape the country’s competitiveness environment. We have integrated them into an overall theory which is systemic, describing the relationship among them; we aim to highlight a country’s competitiveness profile, which characterizes an economy and anticipates how it may behave. Here these four dimensions:

Attractiveness vs. Aggressiveness
Proximity vs. Globality
Assets vs. Processes
Individual Risk Taking vs. Social Cohesiveness

Download the Competitiveness Fundamentals and History (PDF, 440 kB)
Learn more about our Research Methodology

The four fundamental forces

Who uses our research on the competitiveness of nations?

Business: An invaluable tool in determining investment plans and location assessment
Government: Provides essential information for government leaders to benchmark policies.
Academics: An exceptional wealth of data to analyze the complex mechanism of world competitiveness.

World Competitiveness Center activities