Every year, the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, the same group that holds the high-powered annual meeting in Davos, publishes a Global Competitiveness Report. The 2006-2007 edition covers 125 countries and encompasses 98% of world gross domestic product. “Our definition of competitiveness is we are looking at the factors and policies that are driving productivity," says Dr. Jennifer Blanke, senior economist at the World Economic Forum.
The Global Competitiveness Report ranks countries both on hard economic data--such as gross domestic product, inflation, government debt, country credit rating and infant mortality--and on survey opinions from over 11,000 chief executives and other high-ranking executives in 125 countries. The World Economic Forum divides its report into nine core sections, which it calls "pillars," representing measurements of different aspects of an economy's competitiveness.
The most fascinating pillar is what the organization politely, labels "institutions." The 29 survey items in this part of the report provide a window into the perceived level of bribery, political corruption, business costs of crime, violence, ethical behavior of companies and other measures of friction that can impede the flow of commerce.
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