Introduction: approaches to competitiveness In the last decade, the issue of competitiveness has captured an important position on the agenda of politicians and policymakers. The growing strength of Asian firms on the world market has been debated at some length in both the USA and in Europe. In the USA the focus of the debate was on the trade deficit and the weak performance of American firms compared to their Japanese competitors. In the European countries competitiveness became a buzzword in the discussions about rising unemployment. An increase in competitiveness was not only seen as a remedy against the lay-offs in mature industries but was believed to spur growth rates in new hightech sectors as well.

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Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht etc.
hdl.handle.net/1765/31711
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Erasmus Research Institute of Management

de Man, A.-P., van den Bosch, F., & Elfring, T. (1997). Porter on national and regional competitive advantage. In ERIM (Electronic) Books and Chapters. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/31711