The Global Competitiveness Index: A valid instrument to measure international competitiveness?

International competitiveness is very hard to define, mostly because of its complex and multidimensional character. Researchers have often criticized the existing measurements of competitiveness, because it is really hard to aggregate the right influencing factors to one indicator. This paper questions the purpose and the reliability of the depiction of national competitiveness in the composite index of the World Economic Forum. A Principal Component Analysis will examine if there is a correlation between the various determinants or not, if factors with a similar structure can be summarized in one indicator and if some factors can be left out because they are not necessary for the outcome.