Although the accuracy of the Executive Opinion Survey is easy to question and criticize, I think the specific categories – what the WEF calls “the 12 pillars of global competitiveness” – are particularly useful for business managers. These pillars measure everything from mobile phone and internet subscriptions to the prevalence of HIV. See the 12 Pillars below.
The pillars contain the following measurable/hard data:
Pillar 1:
Institutions – strength of investor protection[ii]
Pillar 2:
Infrastructure – hard data includes the number of mobile phone subscriptions
and fixed telephone lines
Pillar 3:
Macroeconomic environment – hard data includes government budget, gross
national savings, inflation, government debt, country credit ratings
Pillar 4: Health
and primary education – hard data includes malaria and tuberculosis
incidences, HIV prevalence, infant mortality, primary education enrollment
rate
Pillar 5: Higher
education and training – secondary education enrollment
Pillar 6: Goods
market efficiency – total tax rate, number of procedures and the time
required to start a business, trade tariffs, and imports as a percentage of
GDP
Pillar 7: Labor
market efficiency – redundancy costs, female participation
Pillar 8: Financial
market development – legal rights index
Pillar 9:
Technological readiness – internet users, fixed broadband and internet
subscriptions, internet bandwidth, and mobile broadband subscriptions
Pillar 10: Market
size – domestic market size, foreign market size, GDP, exports as a percent
of GDP
Pillar 12: Business
sophistication – Patent Cooperation Treaty patent
applications
This measurable data (or hard data) may possibly one of the most useful features of the GCI for firms and their international strategy. Consider, for instance, that a growing technology firm is participating in FDI for the first time. While all the pillars tie into business somehow or another, pillars 9 and 12 may prove to be a significant aide in their decision, Pillar 2 for a construction/engineering firm or automobile manufacturer, Pillar 10 for a textile firm, and perhaps Pillar 6 if the firm is seeking a locations specific benefit (i.e. the current ‘inversion’ deal debate[iii]).
