Competitiveness can be summarized as the area of trade and industrial policy. Industrial policy operates on a continuum of definitions, largely determined by the
scope and range of the country’s plan for industrial development. Industrial policy may
be focused on the development of ‘key’ sectors to a level at which firms in those
sectors are able to successfully compete in both the domestic economy and globally. More
broadly, industrial policy may outline general priorities in order to raise a
country’s overall competitiveness and, therefore, its industrial output. In achieving the desired levels of competitiveness, an array of instruments are used by governments to assist firms, including subsidies, tariff protection,
financial and non-financial incentives and
government regulations.
