Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(6):19-34 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.456

The U.S. Competitiveness: Definition, Factors, New Opportunities (Case of Shale Gas)

Pavel Neumann
Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, Fakulta mezinárodních vztahů, katedra světové ekonomiky (e-mail: neumann@vse.cz).

Using the example of the USA, the article deals with the issue of competitiveness. It defines various approaches to this phenomenon and analyses its individual factors. Additionally, it focuses on the differences in the USA evaluation with regards to their competitiveness in "external" and "internal" dimension. Furthermore, the paper tries to asses the growing influence of the U.S. new production factor: shale gas utilization. The cheap gas could play an important role by cost reduction. Based on the Global Competitiveness Index the country competitiveness has decreased, e.g. measured by the export performance of knowledge-intensive branches. However, the new economic sources, such as shale gas, promise progress in the restoration and changes of production. Nevertheless, in author's opinion the general cost reduction of manufacturing production itself with utilizing shale gas is not sufficient. To achieve the real efficiency and competitiveness growth in the USA the positive cost effects need to be projected into the development of the knowledge-intensive branches as well as into their product export.

Keywords: USA, competitiveness, shale gas
JEL classification: O14

Published: October 1, 2014  Show citation

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Neumann, P. (2014). The U.S. Competitiveness: Definition, Factors, New Opportunities (Case of Shale Gas). Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, 22(6), 19-34. doi: 10.18267/j.aop.456
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