Global Competitiveness Impacts Property Rights Index
Oct 12, 2017
Last month the World Economic Forum released the 2017-2018 Global Competitiveness Report. The Index is lauded by governments and non-profit institutions around the world for its ability to measure competitiveness defined as “the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country.”
The Competitiveness report warns that 10 years after the global financial crisis “economies remain at risk from further shock and are ill-prepared for the next wave of innovation and automation.”
However, it highlights that the United States has moved to 2nd place largely due to its strengths in innovation and efficiency factors. Only excessive tax rates and regulation keep the U.S.A from reaching the top spot. Fortunately, last month U.S. President Donald Trump announced a tax reform plan that promises to decrease its astronomical corporate tax rate to something more in keeping with the OECD; it may be enough for the U.S. to claim the most competitive title next year—it already has the “rest of the world terrified”.
Derived from economic indicators and more than 100 questions from the Executive Opinion Survey (also produced by WEF) the Competitiveness report divides scores into 12 pillars which include categories for health, labor, and education.
Forty percent of the International Property Rights Index is derived from GCI measures. A cursory overview of those scores, specifically; Judicial Independence, Property Rights, Intellectual Property Protection, and Ease of Access to Loans can allude to changes in the next edition.
Hold on to your Kiwis New Zealand
The GCI saw the U.S. move from 3rd to 2nd, improving in all relevant scores used in the IPRI. In value, the United States improved more than the currently highest rated country for property rights: New Zealand.
Hats off to Azerbaijan
Out of all the countries included in the IRPI Azerbaijan improved the most on the GCI in 3 out of the 4 scores, only bested by Egypt in its improvement for Ease of Access to Loans. Azerbaijan’s .68 and .75 improvement in Intellectual Property Protection and Judicial Independence allowed it to move its world ranking from 71st to 37th and from 85th to 50th in each category respectively. Such huge leaps certainly promise to disrupt the 2018 IPRI. Last year, Azerbaijan’s MP Asim Mollazade announced a 30 target strategy to improve its intellectual property regime.
Until the July 2018 release you can check out the 2017 IPRI country rankings here.
Check out the rest of the Global Competitiveness Index here.
Photo credits: Flikr user KamlPhuc