Podobnik, BorisHorvatic, DavorKenett, Dror Y.Stanley, H. Eugene2020-04-032020-04-032012-09-20Boris Podobnik, Davor Horvatic, Dror Y Kenett, H Eugene Stanley. 2012. "The competitiveness versus the wealth of a country." SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, Volume 2. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep006782045-2322https://hdl.handle.net/2144/39960Politicians world-wide frequently promise a better life for their citizens. We find that the probability that a country will increase its per capita GDP (gdp) rank within a decade follows an exponential distribution with decay constant λ = 0.12. We use the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and find that the distribution of change in CPI (GCI) rank follows exponential functions with approximately the same exponent as λ, suggesting that the dynamics of gdp, CPI and GCI may share the same origin. Using the GCI, we develop a new measure, which we call relative competitiveness, to evaluate an economy's competitiveness relative to its gdp. For all European and EU countries during the 2008–2011 economic downturn we find that the drop in gdp in more competitve countries relative to gdp was substantially smaller than in relatively less competitive countries, which is valuable information for policymakers.7 pagesen-USThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareALike 3.0 Unported License.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/Science & technologyMultidisciplinary sciencesInterdependent networksConvergence hypothesisSize distributionEconomic growthTestsCorruptionProductOriginsIncomesModelBiochemistry and cell biologyPhysical sciencesThe competitiveness versus the wealth of a countryArticle10.1038/srep0067832271