How Countries Compete: Strategy, Structure, and Government in the Global Economy

In How Countries Compete: Strategy, Structure and Government in the Global Economy, Richard Vietor shows how governments set direction and create the climate for a nation’s economic development and profitable private enterprise. Drawing on history, economic analysis, and interviews with executives and officials around the globe, Vietor provides rich and insightful examinations of different government approaches to growth and development--leading to both success and failure.

Individual chapters focus on the unique social, economic, cultural, and historical forces that shape governments’ approach to economic growth. Countries discussed include: China, India, Japan, Singapore, the United States Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Vietor challenges the widespread notion that, in market-driven economies such as the United States, a strong government can only hinder business success.

A provocative account and a rich resource, How Countries Compete offers potent insights into how the business environment has evolved in crucial nations—and what its trajectory might look like in the future.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Offering strategy, 2007-06-02
This book is a great example of the need of undertanding the offering strategy of any entity. Ths includes from countries, retailers, to brands and local products. Just think that Coca-Cola offers just one product!
Francisco Zegers


10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Good information, little analysis (and many stylistic stumbles), 2007-05-01
I expected great things from this book. After all, when your very title takes issue with Paul Krugman ("countries don't compete, firms do"), one counts on intriguing new insights. Alas, not here. It is a collection of very nice, albeit somewhat opinionated capsule economic histories in ten countries, from South Africa to the US. As you move along, you finally realize that countries are not competing with each other. They are "competing to grow," shaped by "four elements of successful economic development: (1) national strategy, (2) economic structure, (3) resource development, and (4) efficient use of resources." The compilation of interesting facts about each particular case can come in handy, but it is very difficult to see how these facts add up to lead to the ten success factors presented at the end of the book: (1) basic property rights, at best temporary fiscal deficits, higher savings and investment rates, strong central banks, sound microeconomic policies, labor market flexibility, avoiding the resource curse (for resource-rich countries), low levels of corruption, an acceptable income distribution, and adequate current balances.

Anyway, it would be a nice little book for reference, but it is marred by what appears to be a dearth of editorial talent over at the folks of Harvard Business School Press. There is Japan going down to "unconditional defeat." (p. 25) In Malaysia, the "majority (5.98 [sic] percent was Malaysian." (p. 41) In China, "the majority of the investment came from expatriot Chinese ..." (presumably still flashing their Super Bowl rings, p. 65) There is reference to a "John" Hopkins University, and the Southern African Development Community is rendered as "South African," and there are incomplete sentences ("The World Bank estimated that SOE productivity was -1.2 percent annually." P. 65).

Finally, there is a certain element of what one might consider an often peculiar perspective. Putin does very well in the description of the Russian experience. Italy (and Europe in general) might as well throw in the towel, according to Vietor's views. There is an intriguing observation that "... [b]ound by their roots, most Italians are unwilling to relocate even when offered higher-paying jobs." (p. 207) That must have come as quite a surprise to the Italians who represented the first wave of Gastarbeiter in Germany in the 1950s, and their descendants. Right next to it is the gem that "[d]espite a high population density, Italy had the lowest birthrate in Europe." (also p. 207) Does that mean that countries with low population densities normally have low birthrates? And then there is President Bill Clinton "imposing a significant tax on energy (British thermal units, or BTUs, which release carbon dioxide when burned.)" Presumably American thermal units don't do that. And there is much more.

All in all, for those who expected to get a new perspective on the competitiveness debate--and I certainly agree that government actions can make, or often break, efforts by private enterprise to compete--will walk away disappointed.


3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Enlightening, 2007-03-20
I think it is a very well written book. It has a lot of very interesting and meaningful information on history, economics and countries' social lives.
The author tries to introduce you in a timely fashion on the situational scenario the countries he covers were at a particular point in time, describes the challenges and advantages and how and why they managed to get to where they are.
It is easy to read and highly advisable especially for the ones that haven't had the chance to look at some facts related to some Asian countries.
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