Criterion of the Month archive

Gender parity: Key trends in women's empowerment

To celebrate the many accomplishments by women and acknowledge the on-going efforts for gender parity, this issue of the Criterion of the Month explores the evolution of three key areas of women participation and decision-making in the last decade.

Gender inequality and R&D
Do competitive economies employ the highest share of women researchers?

Two years ago, the United Nations set a thought-provoking and aspiring agenda for sustainable development to be accomplished by 2030.

 The German election & sentiments on migration

Mrs. Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, has led her country in successful economic performance since she took office in 2005. Indeed, Germany exhibits increasing values in the traditional economic indicators. 

Is the flow of skilled labor related to the agility of an economy?

eflecting on the popular topics for 2017, two themes stand out among those which captured the interest of researchers and commentators. First, the extent to which economies successfully address the future loss of employment due to the introduction of new technologies; and second, the benefits associated with the general concept of globalization.

Has the world become more globalized?

How open an economy is affects its size and the level of competitivenessof the country. The free flow of goods and services, talent, and ideas benefits economies in many ways from making them more efficient to transferring know-how, to facilitating the adoption of new technologies. 

Government transparency: Are we better off than a decade ago?

Transparency on the government level has been a key issue for more than a decade. Theoretical and empirical work along with the advocacy of NGOs have strengthened the idea, have suggested ways to measure it, and have kept the issue on the forefront of any discussion about the necessary conditions that a high-quality government must follow.

Education dilemmas in the digital era

September marks the beginning of the academic year for most of the northern hemisphere. It is the time to make decisions over what courses to take and which disciplines to study. 

Business efficiency and productivity (part II)

In this Criterion of the Month, we continue to explore the relationship between business efficiency and productivity, and the institutional framework.

Brexit: A Year After

It is a little more than a year since Britain surprised pundits and analysts by voting to exit the European Union. In the last few months, economic and financial publications have been comparing the evolution of different dimensions of the economy. The general picture is not encouraging with consumer prices rising above the Bank of England’s target, real weekly earnings decreasing, and the pound declining in comparison to the dollar and other currencies.

Do more adaptive economies exhibit higher productivity?

The new ranking recently released by the IMD World Competitiveness Center prompts to a host of different inquiries, particularly with respect to the new criteria utilized.

The IMD World Digital Ranking provides a measure of a country’s ability to adopt and explore digital technologies that ultimately lead to transformation in government, business and societal practices. An important factor in assessing this ability of a country is the Future Readiness which reflects the preparedness of an economy to recognize and confront the implied disruptions of the digital technologies.

A new publication at the IMD World Competitiveness Center: The World Digital Competitiveness Ranking

Technology changes at great speed and affects not only how businesses function but also how countries perform today and evolve in the future. From 3D-printing, robotics, and neuro-technology to digital-currencies and e-participation the landscape of current capabilities and future prospects changes swiftly. In order for the decision makers in both public and private sectors of an economy to address this rapid transformation, it needs to be quantified and accounted for.

April 23 is the first round of the French Presidential election. As with many recent elections, there is an intense interest in the outcome, especially with Le Pen as a contender and with Trump and Brexit still making daily headlines.

Competitiveness and gender parity: A long way to go

March 8 marks International Women’s Day: a celebration of the many accomplishments by women as well as the acknowledgement of on-going efforts for gender parity in the social, political and economic spheres. In this issue of the Criterion of the Month, the IMD World Competitive Center recognizes the International Women’s Day by exploring the relationship between competitiveness and different criteria related to women’s activities.

Business efficiency and productivity (Part I) 

The actions and policies of government and their outcomes (e.g., infrastructure indicators) affect the efficiency and productivity of the private sector. In this Criterion of the Month, we assess some of the key indicators driving business efficiency and productivity.

The continuous attractiveness of Switzerland: 
Talent availability and other sources of competitiveness

Why do MNCs such as Philip Morris and ABB choose Switzerland as a base for their operations? There are several significant factors that define the attractiveness of Switzerland.

The IMD World Talent Report 2016

The IMD World Competitiveness Center is delighted to present the IMD World Talent Report 2016. The report includes a talent ranking for all countries in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (61 countries as of this year).

Using the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook's data for 2016, we develop a measure of digital competitiveness; that is, the adequacy of the different components of an economy's structure for facilitating its digitalization.