ECUADOR, PERU AND COLOMBIA: SOUTH-AMERICAN COMPETITORS OR COMPLEMENTARIES? GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS ANALYSIS, ECUADOR, PERU Y COLOMBIA: ¿COMPETIDORES O COMPLEMENTARIOS SUDAMERICANOS? ANALISIS DE SU COMPETITIVIDAD GLOBAL

Resumen

This research assesses global competitiveness of Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. It is one of the first studies that use 64 indicators within the context of the three South-American countries. It accomplishes the academic objective by identifying factors that must be taken into consideration urgently to improve the global competitiveness level of countries. It analyzes the average of the last three years data of international sources such as: The International Monetary Fund, The World Bank, The Union Nations Organization, among others. The factors were selected after a literature review and calculating the national and international competitiveness indexes under the double diamond for competitiveness theoretical framework. From a national perspective, we found that Colombia is the most competitive country followed by Peru in second place and Ecuador in third. Internationally, we found that Peru is the most competitive economy, Colombia is in second place and Ecuador in third. When analyzing the global competitiveness of the economies they have small differences, not bigger than 6% from one country to another. Therefore we assume the three economies do compete among each other. This study found that to improve competitiveness level nationally, Ecuador has to improve 6 factors, Peru 5 and Colombia 4. To reach international competitiveness Ecuador should improve 9 factors, Peru 4 and Colombia 7