According to the author, the ideas and evidence present a perspective on the impact of the business environment on competitiveness and should allow the governments and firms acquire acumen in state and national performances.
Dr. Amit Kapoor states that the report has a two-fold perspective. It provides policymakers with a better view of the shortcomings of states. It is imperative to view a large economy as a series of smaller economies and concentrate over a range of industries in each of the states. Regional economic specialisation drives the productivity growth. The decision makers need to centre their efforts at the more pressing issues at the micro and macro-economic level. The second prerogative of the report is to aid the firms in gauging the states as potential investment avenues and provide an encompassing perspective on the expected returns.
Dr. Christian Ketels, Professor at Harvard Business School and TCI Director, points on the same direction as he declares that the importance of regions for competitiveness means that India's future competitiveness cannot rely on national policies only. Effective policy across many Indian states will have to be created.
According to Christian Ketels, Indian regions are already active in many areas that are critical for competitiveness. But while many positive efforts deserve credit, there are also a number of dangerous tendencies. Indian regions have a tendency to believe that there is one set of policies and one set of industries that they should focus on to support higher prosperity. The biotech and IT initiatives are examples of this approach. The result is too much zero-sum competition, duplication and failure of efforts that are not aligned with local capabilities. Some regions succeeded but many others failed, creating the misperception that globalisation leads to a few winners but many losers.
Download the State Competitiveness Report Results and Methodology
Download the article The Matrix of Competition by Amit Kapoor
Download the article The Regional Force by Crhistian Ketels
Contact:
Amit Kapoor
amit @ amitkapoor.com
Institute for Competitiveness, India
24 February 2009
