THEORETICAL EVOLUTION OF COMPETITIVENESS AND ISSUES OF THE TERRITORIAL COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL BUSINESSES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21246776Keywords:
Competitiveness, theoretical evolution, small business, territorial competitiveness, comparative advantage, innovation, resource-based view, institutional environment, Porter’s diamond model.Abstract
This article systematically analyzes the theoretical evolution of the concept of “competitiveness”
and the definitions provided by various economic schools and scholars. Competitiveness is one of the central
categories of modern economics, serving as a crucial criterion for assessing the level of economic development
at the enterprise, industry, regional, and national levels. The article provides a comparative analysis of the
theoretical views of scholars ranging from A. Smith and D. Ricardo to M. Porter, J. Schumpeter, E. Penrose,
J. Barney, G. Hamel, and C.K. Prahalad. Furthermore, the approaches to competitiveness developed by
influential international organizations such as the OECD, the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the IMD
World Competitiveness Center are examined. The analysis reveals that the concept of competitiveness has
gradually evolved from a narrow notion based on economic efficiency into a multidimensional, dynamic category
encompassing innovation, resources, the institutional environment, human capital, and digital technologies.
Special attention is paid to the territorial competitiveness of small business and entrepreneurship entities. This
article serves to deepen the scientific and theoretical aspects of the concept of competitiveness and to facilitate
its application in empirical research.
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