Government competitiveness is a state capacity concept created by Tobin Im, a scholar of public administration and a professor at the Graduate School of Public Administration at Seoul National University. Since 2011, the Center for Government Competitiveness (CGC) at Seoul National University has developed the Government Competitiveness (GC) index, which evaluates government achievements in the various fields and provides policy recommendations to increase the competitiveness of government in the future.

Description Government competitiveness (GC) is often confounded with similar concepts. One of the prominent examples is national competitiveness. A variety of institutions have developed indices measuring the level of national competitiveness. Two indices, the World Competitiveness Scoreboard (WCS) developed by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) built by the World Economic Forum (WEF) have come to dominate the field of competitiveness studies.

The International Institute for Management Development WCS and the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index view national competitiveness akin to how business-friendly a nation is and focus upon economic and market indicators. As such, if a nation is a favorable place for foreign firms to do business and make money, it will, as a result, be viewed as competitive. Following this logic, the role played by a government, then, is mainly restricted to constructing an environment that is attractive to businesses.For the general assessment on the two indices, see Ochel, W & Rohn, O. (2006). Ranking of countries – the WEF, IMD, Fraser and Heritage Indices. CESifo DICE Report Vol. 4 no. 2. pp. 48-60.

Stressing the broader fields of government activities, several institutions have started to develop indicators emphasizing the role of government in driving development and national competitiveness. Prominent examples include The World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) and the Quality of Government Institute’s (QGI) (the University of Gothenburg) Quality of Government indicators (QoG).

While these two indices constitute important steps toward improving our understanding of how government contributes toward competitiveness, they have also revealed numerous theoretical and methodological shortcomings related to the study of governments’ role in fostering national competitiveness.(2007) For the critics on the WGI and its responses, see Kaufmann, D, Kraay, A, & Mastruzzi, M.

Since 2011, the Center for Government Competitiveness (director: Tobin Im) has developed the GC index, mainly focusing on government capacities and roles in national development. After investigating the limited capabilities of existing competitiveness indicators to define and measure the level of GC, the CGC has tried to develop a novel approach to conceptualizing and measuring GC.Im, T. (2014). Government Competitiveness 2013. Seoul: CM Press (in Korean); Im, T., Kim, S., Ko, G., & Jo, W. (2014). Government Competitiveness: Theory and Evaluation Index. Seoul: Bakyoungsa (In Korean). According to Ho and Im (2012), the concept of GC can be defined as “the power of government to, in light of various constraints, take resources from in and outside of the country and improve social, economic and cultural conditions of the nation in order to sustainably enhance citizens’ quality of life." Moreover, the concepts of ‘constraints’ and ‘quality of life’Ho, A., & Im, T. (2012). Defining a new concept of government competitiveness. The Korean Journal of Public Administration, 50 (3), p. 13 (In Korean). can be interpreted in various ways, depending on a nation's unique environments.

By considering different experiences and policy practices between developed countries and developing countries, the CGC measures the level of government competitiveness by applying different criteria to OECD and non-OECD countries. Both OECD and non-OECD countries share the following seven fields of government activities: economy, education, health and welfare, agriculture and food, ICT, energy and environment, and governance. For OECD countries, three more fields are added: research and development, culture and tourism, and disaster management. Meanwhile, non-OECD countries have nine fields of government activities in total, including infrastructure and safety.

The CGC builds the GC index based on David Easton's system theory as a theoretical framework.Easton, D. (1953). The Political System: An Inquiry into the State of Political Science. New York: Wiley. Therefore, the GC Index first analyzes competitiveness through each of the four levels—input, throughput (public management capacity), output, and outcome. The index then aggregates results from each level to produce an overall competitiveness score. This approach generates a variety of policy implications at each systemic level. The following are some sub-categories for each stage

Input: resources, infrastructure, government expenditure, environment Throughput: human, fiscal, organizational capacity, policy, system, process Output: production, growth rate, improvement level, immediate goal achievement Outcome: quality of life, satisfaction, social capital, ultimate goal achievement

OECD rankings in 2013-2021

Rank Countries GC score 2020-21 GC 2020-21 GC 2019-20 GC 2018-19 GC 2017-18 GC 2016-17 GC 2015-16 GC 2014-15 GC 2013-142 0.530 21318221 0.537 1222511768 0.491 8331223714 0.43114644415521 0.416 211551214481011 0.459 11136513513 139 0.486910779964 13 0.431131289831326 0.3932624915317 1119 0.4211919101316141211 16 0.428 16811666416 0.496 65128111598 4 0.506491310101918165 0.5055414117101093 0.507371514121217 17 280.379282616162013141222 0.404222017171520212015 0.429151718181717191810 0.46810141920191815 14170.42717182019182223 23120.43912162122221620227 0.4927112225272116 1920 0.421202123232524242523 0.40423232421232729 2625 0.3932527252421232221 180.42218222626242625 2424 0.39924252727262526 2727 0.390272828282930313032 0.33032332932........29 0.360292930293129282930 0.34530303130302832 32 33 0.3283331323128313031 34 0.3163434333332322728 35 0.286353634353434333337 0.26837353534333334 34

Non-OECD rankings in 2013-2021

Rank Countries GC score 2021-20 GC 2021-20 GC 2020-19 GC 2018-19 GC 2017-18 GC 2016-17 GC 2015-16 GC 2014-15 GC 2013-1410.711111111120.67923222222....33686330.6183245434590.5499754565440.6024469847850.600557711771160.592668891524.120.5461213971917159340.48334271063536150.5411581113131016.100.5491010121616191013190.5211921131012168.140.542149141525202521110.547111615141824313070.5797111619221823.290.4972925171234251310180.52218231817101317.220.51922331918393644.380.482382820201412323380.551812212620111414350.4833548222115141212...14232923231915200.5202019242526324227130.5441315252317212223170.5241732262245543819490.4504949272424272816430.4714334283027374525420.47142372928284929.620.41562523031384826.240.515 2420313231223420360.483 3631323737263737210.519 2130333535384628250.508 2518343833281835320.485 3235353432352111390.482 39503643474649.470.454 4762373936434746160.541 1624383621292017230.518 2317394843304331480.454 4845403340335138370.482 3736414044473029280.49928224249414439.330.485 33434327303136.270.499 2726444129343322260.500 26404545425052.570.429 57614644523955.530.443 53544747505548.310.490 3142484251524132710.376 71634946596069.300.496 3039505061565026510.445 5138515349423524500.445 5041525653596236450.456 4546535246455440550.439 5544545557586134440.467 4453555156534018640.407 64585658605153.400.480 40295757484027.460.455 4647586065685842450.456 45465961554156.410.475 4155605962615850540.440 5451616363665939560.430 5657625458646041610.415 6156636254625753520.443 5260646566636343630.408 6373656464576551670.399 6759666868677047590.417 5967676667717144650.406 6566686969657355660.403 6668696773737448700.384 7065707178798157710.417 58647174757466.800.336 8074727072697858600.416 60697377707067.770.345 7782747371727245690.386 6975757279838256680.395 6871767976777754730.367 73807781828276.830.297 83837875818064.750.354 7572797683818059760.346 76818080868589.720.374 7276818280757952740.365 74788278787549.820.308 82778385747683.790.342 79798483878786.860.273 86858584848684.840.287 84878686888887.870.315 81868787858488.880.280 8584888889898860

Korea is exceptionally included in the non-OECD cases for a reference point GC scores are rounded off to four decimal places. Therefore, the countries that seem to have the same scores have, in fact, different scores.

See also Competition the Global Competitiveness Index World Competitiveness Yearbook The World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators

References

External links Center for Government Competitiveness