Sustainable Competitiveness: How Does Global Competitiveness Index Relate to Economic Performance Accompanied by the Sustainable Development?

The research under discussion remains whether higher competitiveness of a country brings higher economic performance and sustainable growth, e.g., in the V4 region. The objective of the paper is to provide the results of extensive research based on verified Eurostat data to explore this research challenge in the V4 countries during the period of 2007-2019. Simultaneously, the objective is to link the country’s economic performance (GDP) to urgent challenges of the contemporary world in the form of sustainability and life quality. In the paper, linear regression, multiple linear regression, and ANOVA were used. A significant impact of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) on the level of GDP, and the subsequent positive effect of GDP level on sustainability and life quality indicators has been demonstrated. Our research findings propose an unconventional sustainable competitiveness mechanism. The conclusion outlines the direction from improved competitiveness through higher economic performance reinforcing R&D expenditure and high-tech employment to better sustainability and well-being. Moreover, the research results bring initial empirical evidence of the functionality of the proposed mechanism in the V4 countries. Based on this, we can offer policymakers the key research findings pointing at the sustained economic growth accompanied by higher ecology, including life quality. At the same time, the drivers of this development are presented in more detail in our paper.