Economy its effectiveness and competitiveness. Abstract: Competitiveness in the global economy

Alexander Idrisov
Managing partner
"Pro-Invest Consulting"

I. Competitiveness of the economy - the basis for development

Russia is part of the world economy, and this is a fait accompli.
The most important goal of the Government of Russia: the creation of a competitive economy that ensures the country's leadership in the international market.
The basis of a competitive economy is a competitive industry. All actions of the Government: developed programs and legislative acts, procedures state regulation and events state support should be subordinated to the main and priority goal for today - ensuring the competitiveness of Russian enterprises, and, consequently, the competitiveness of the economy and the country as a whole.
The competitiveness of the economy is primarily the activation of exports. The development of exports is the most important task of the Government.
The competitiveness of Russian industry is the flag that the Government should carry in its hands as the main symbol of transformations in the economy. This is the idea that can unite people, regardless of their political preferences and position in society.
There will be a competitive industry, there will be:

    export and foreign exchange earnings (independence from the state of international commodity markets);

    stable tax revenues to the budget;

    employment;

    social and political stability;

    deserved position of Russia in the international arena.

II. Competitiveness of enterprises

The main components that ensure the competitiveness of enterprises are:

    Quality of products and services

    Marketing and sales strategy

    Personnel qualification

    Technological level of production

    The tax environment in which the company operates

    Availability of funding sources

Unfortunately, the level of competitiveness of Russian enterprises is very low. Almost the only and most important reason for low competitiveness is unskilled management or the complete absence of what is called regular management. We have it all: highly educated people, natural resources, huge market potential, as well as the ability to acquire our own the latest equipment. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, business leaders have every real opportunity to raise the necessary capital. However, they must present a clear marketing strategy, a business development plan, and also convince investors that they are the qualified managers who are able to implement these plans.

III. Investments

As mentioned above, almost any Russian enterprise has a real opportunity to raise capital. The problem of investment is not technical, but psychological. The overwhelming majority of managers of Russian enterprises focus on only two sources of funding - the state or bank loans. Both of these methods of financing are the least realistic in terms of existing conditions. Most businesses are unable to provide banks with liquid collateral for loans, and government funding is unlikely to be available to many. At the same time, there are all the necessary conditions to attract private investment: the presence of high interest from private investors and the high potential of the Russian market. Despite the events last days, interest foreign investors operating in the field of direct investment, is not weakening. One of the obstacles to attracting investment is the fact that Russian enterprises are not able to provide a business plan developed in accordance with international standards, on the other hand, business leaders demonstrate the "dog in the manger" effect: "I will die, but I will not share." The Russian head of the enterprise, as a rule, owns a controlling or significant block of shares and is not ready to attract investments through the sale of shares. In world practice, even in developed countries it is impossible to find an industrial enterprise that would provide financing only through loans. All the most important industrial corporations leading the market are listed on the stock exchange and consider this the greatest boon. Another, no less important problem hindering the investment process is tax system, forcing the management of the enterprise to hide income in order to survive in today's conditions. Hiding income is contrary to the main requirement professional investors- "transparency", that is, full and correct disclosure of financial information.

The task of the Government is to take investment processes under control and take actions that will neutralize the reasons hindering its development.

1. A serious program of intensive training of business leaders in modern methods of corporate strategic planning is required. No plan - no clear and realistic funding strategy, and therefore no action.

2. Tax law should, on the one hand, be attractive to investors, on the other hand, should encourage directors of enterprises to disclose financial information.

3. Switch to international standards accounting already declared, it should be intensified.

4. It is urgent to take measures to restore and develop the stock market. This is not only a tool for attracting capital to the real sector, but also an opportunity for the population to save and increase (with the normal operation of the stock market and a stable political situation in the country) savings.

5. To develop efforts to create a favorable investment climate and, first of all, to take tough measures to combat crime. Order and reliability are the most important motivating factors for any investor.

IV. Governmental support

State financial support (direct state financing, loan guarantees, etc.) should be addressed only to those enterprises that are really unable to provide financing from commercial (non-state) sources (bank loans, private investors, stock market). Commercial enterprises representing potentially profitable commercial projects should under no circumstances be considered as objects of state support. This is the main principle that the Government must follow, without any exceptions.

To enterprises that do not have the opportunity to attract Money from extrabudgetary sources include:

1. Defense companies that have restrictions on disclosure of information, and, therefore, are not able to provide a full financial information for the investor. Provided that these enterprises still play an important role in the process of ensuring the country's defense capability. Otherwise, this enterprise must take actions to separate the non-defense part of production into a separate entity which will be able to ensure the disclosure of financial and economic information, and, consequently, to attract private investment.

2. Research organizations whose research results represent an outstanding scientific result and cannot be offered industrial enterprises. Otherwise, such projects should be financed either by enterprises interested in the results of research, or by venture funds, including state ones.

3. Socially significant government projects that cannot be commercially viable under the current conditions.

IV. Privatization

The results of privatization are deplorable. The main goal - the creation of an effective owner - was not achieved. Inefficient property management leads to a deterioration in the state of enterprises, and sometimes to their complete liquidation, which is a direct detriment to the interests of the state. The state is not only deprived of budget revenues, but also forced to cover social costs. Requires development and implementation special program creation of effective owners. To do this, it is necessary to demand from the owners plans for the development of enterprises, demonstrating the ability of the enterprise to overcome the crisis and increase competitiveness. A condition should be set that in case of non-fulfillment of the agreed plans, the shares of the owners will be sold at market value to new owners who have submitted the most effective development plans according to the conclusions of independent experts. This measure should ensure the dynamism of the processes of reforming enterprises.

V. Enterprise restructuring

A number of Russian enterprises have historically inherited excess infrastructure that makes it impossible for them to be profitable. Such enterprises cannot, under any circumstances, provide funding from commercial sources. They must either increase profits by several times, or reduce assets and costs. Such giant enterprises, as a rule, are of great social importance for the region and cannot simply be liquidated. However, all attempts public funding these enterprises will lead to the loss budget funds. The only way out is the development and implementation of restructuring projects. Due to the lack of qualifications and experience, the management of the enterprise is not able to independently develop and implement a restructuring project. The state should provide assistance in financing the services of professional management consultants selected on competitive terms. By the way, today there are a sufficient number of Russian consulting firms on the market that can carry out such work.

VI. State regulation

Tax legislation, duties, tariffs, etc. should be developed taking into account the main goal - whether this measure will help strengthen the competitiveness of Russian enterprises. For example, the introduction of duties on the purchase of electronic components led to the complete liquidation of all planned projects for the creation of consumer electronics in Russia and the loss of an entire industry. On the other hand, according to the experience of China, if you plan to sell a milk truck to China, you must pay up to 100% duty. If the first measure reduced the competitiveness of Russian enterprises, then the introduction of measures similar to the Chinese ones may help to strengthen their competitiveness.

The introduction of advertising taxes does not allow Russian enterprises to fully compete with Western firms. The inability to sell the assets and products of the enterprise below cost (tax on losses) puts the enterprise in an extremely disadvantageous position in relation to its competitors, reduces the possibility of liquidating illiquid assets and replenishing working capital. On the other hand, high duties on imported industrial equipment, which is necessary to ensure the competitive quality of Russian products, lead to an increase in the cost of goods and, accordingly, a loss of competitiveness.

It is also very important that state regulation measures stimulate the development of industries aimed at deeper processing of raw materials. That is, state regulation measures should provide unconditional assistance to the development of industries, the purpose of which is the end consumer. Not a transistor consumer, but a TV consumer. Not a leather consumer, but a shoe consumer. Such an approach, on the one hand, will ensure the development of the consumer market and the strengthening of the position of Russian manufacturers on it, on the other hand, it will stimulate the development of industries engaged in intermediate technological stages. Measures to stimulate deep processing will help create viable industrial groups with common strategic goals, each link of which will be interested in the effective work of the other. This list can be continued, but the main thing is that the principle of taking certain regulatory measures should be the same: they should be aimed at strengthening the competitive positions of Russian enterprises.

  • Leadership and Management

Keywords:

1 -1

In the foreign market, it is a complex mechanism for realizing competitive advantages based on the efficient use of available resources in order to increase the volume of production and sale of goods and services on the world market.

Country competitiveness factors

The concept of "competitiveness of the country" implies the production of such goods that meet the needs of the international market and specific consumers. These items must have high quality and meet world standards.

It must be borne in mind that any product after entering the world market begins to gradually use up its competitiveness potential. In order to slow down this process, it is necessary to constantly improve the quality and performance characteristics of the product, and the production of a new product must be carried out systematically in order to create conditions for its entry into the world market.

To ensure the country's competitiveness in the international market, it is necessary to constantly study the world market conditions and the level of competition development in accordance with the phases of the product life cycle. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the expediency of releasing a new product before the old one has exhausted its capabilities.

Thus, the country's competitiveness in the world market is characterized by a set of parameters of the product offered for sale on the foreign market, which distinguish this product from analogue products in terms of the degree of satisfaction of consumer needs and the level of costs for its acquisition and operation.

  • country's ability to produce more material assets than their competitors in global markets;
  • the degree of a country's ability to produce goods and services under conditions of a free and fair market (Commission on Industrial Competitiveness under the President of the United States);
  • economic ability to pay for the funds received ( The World Bank development);
  • the country's ability to produce goods and services that meet the requirements and create conditions for increasing public resources at a speed that allows to ensure sustainable GDP growth rates and at the level of world values.
Factors that determine the country's competitiveness:
  • the dynamism of the economy, measured by indicators such as the pace economic development, the position of the national currency, the volume of production of the most important goods per capita, etc.;
  • industrial production efficiency:
  • market dynamism, assessed by indicators of level, volume consumer spending per capita, etc.;
  • the state and development of the country, assessed on the basis of the activities of commercial banks, ;
  • , determined on the basis of the size and growth rate of the population and , the skill level of labor resources, etc.;
  • the role of the state, assessed by the degree of impact on the basis of a study of the level of taxation, shares public sector in the national income of the country, etc.;
  • resources and infrastructure - the provision of the country with various types of resources with the degree of infrastructure development is studied;
  • the socio-political situation in the country - indicators that characterize it are the amount of income and its distribution, labor relations in industry, etc.

Structure of competitiveness each countries varies greatly, since no state can be competitive in all or at least in the majority. Ultimately, countries succeed in certain sectors because their domestic conditions are, where appropriate, the most dynamic and promising.

Unlike the categories of competitiveness of products, goods, enterprises related to the field of microeconomics, competitiveness national economy has a pronounced macroeconomic character.

On present stage economic development, ensuring the country's competitiveness is the most important problem that characterizes not only the country's position in the world market, but also determines it to a large extent.

World Competitiveness Rating

Country Competitiveness Assessment

Among the most common methodological approaches to assessing the level of a country's competitiveness are methods World Bank, World Economic Forum.

1. The World Economic Forum, 1986 evaluates according to 8 groups of aggregated factors (381 indicators):

  • internal economic potential;
  • foreign economic relations;
  • state regulation;
  • credit and financial system;
  • infrastructure;
  • control system;
  • scientific and technical potential;

Indicators for assessing the stage of development of the country's competitiveness:

  • characterizing the level of development of the economy and the rate of its growth;
  • characterizing labor resources(share of the active population, level of labor productivity, wages, personal income);
  • R&D expenditures, % of (expenditure growth rates, education expenditures, number of patents);
  • characterizing exports (the country's share in world exports, export growth rates; the share of labor-intensive and raw materials industries, capital-intensive industries, high-tech industries; the share of services in GDP);
  • investments (share of domestic investments, % of GDP: investments abroad, % of GDP: foreign investment, % of the total investment; share of taxes in GDP).

2. The World Bank evaluates the country's competitiveness according to 9 criteria (the sum can be up to 100 points):

  • political risk (return of money);
  • economic prospects;
  • external debt;
  • debt due to default or debt restructuring;
  • access to banking resources;
  • access to capital markets;
  • provision of forfaiting services.

The competitiveness of a country is calculated by the formula:

100 points = 25 + 25 + 10 +10 + 10 + 5 + 5 + 5 (Table 1).

Table 1. Assessment of the country's competitiveness

Indicators

Constituent elements

Evaluation criterion

Note

1. Political risk, /p

Possibility of non-payments for the supply of products (rendering of services)

Defaults on loans, financial liabilities, dividends

Impossibility of repatriation of invested capital

max = 25 points

2. Economic prospects, /e

Development forecast for given year Forecast for next year

max = 25 points

3. External debt, /z

/ z \u003d A + (B x 10) - (C x 10)

The ratio of the country's total debt to GDP, A

The ratio of debt to the amount of exports, V

Current account balance of payments to GDP, С

max = 10 points

The lower the numerical value according to the formula, the higher the rating

4. Debt due to default or debt restructuring, /d

Fulfillment (failure) financial obligations or postponing the due date for the entire debt

max = 10 points

The countries with no payments receive the maximum score;

0 points - who has a default on financial obligations or a deadline has been postponed

max = 10 points

Maximum points for the most solvent firms

6. Access to banking resources, /b

The ratio of private, long-term, non-guaranteed loans to GDP

max = 10 points

Source of estimates "Global Development Finance"

7. Access to short-term financial resources, /f

The possibility of obtaining resources in the capital market without problems

The possibility of obtaining resources in the capital market without problems in 95% of cases

Access is no problem

Access is possible depending on the situation on the capital market

Access is not excluded under certain conditions

Access is not possible at all.

5 points

0 points

8. Access to forfaiting services, /ff

Access is risk-free

max = 5 points

Sources: Morgan Crenfell, Trade Finance, Standard Bank, Mc Kinsy branch (Moscow)

Fatkhutdinov R.A. The country's competitiveness is estimated by the formula:

  • b i— significance of factor i of competitiveness (i = 1.0);
  • to i— competitiveness of the factor (K j = P i / P ni);
  • P i— absolute value;
  • P ni — normative value factor a).

Indicators for assessing the country's competitiveness (1.0):

  • spending from the state budget on R&D (in % of GDP);
  • expenditures from the state budget for human development (education, healthcare, social sphere), in % of GDP;
  • stability in the country, points;
  • GDP per capita, thousand dollars;
  • average life expectancy;
  • resource efficiency; exports as % of GDP;
  • country's place in the world in terms of natural resources per capita.
  • place of the country in terms of share in the composition of the 250 largest competitive firms in the world.

In the most general sense, under competitiveness is understood as the ability to get ahead of others, using their advantages in achieving their goals.

Competitiveness is one of the most important integral characteristics used to evaluate the effectiveness economic activity business entities. The very word competitiveness, in relation to whatever subject it is considered, means the ability of this subject (potential and / or real) to withstand competition.

S.I. Ozhegov in the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language" interprets the term competitiveness as the ability to withstand, resist competitors.

R.A. Fatkhutdinov gives the following definition of competitiveness- is the ability of the object to withstand competition in comparison with similar objects in the market. The author emphasizes that a product or service is competitive or non-competitive in a particular market.

The variety of existing approaches to the concept of competitiveness is currently determined in the economic literature:

  • or the peculiarities of setting the task and the purpose of the study, which leads the author to the need to focus his attention on one or another aspect of competitiveness;
  • or features of the choice of the subject of research, which can be subjects of competition (goods, services) and subjects of competition (enterprises, industries, regions, national economy, state), and objects of competition (demand, market, factors of production: natural raw materials, labor force, capital, securities, information, political power), and the scope of activities (product markets, industry markets, regional markets, interregional markets, world markets).

Main types of competitiveness:

  • (enterprises, firms, companies);
  • (goods, services).
Table 1. Hierarchy of the concepts of competitiveness

Hierarchy level

The concept of competitiveness

The ability of a country to produce goods and services that meet the requirements of world markets and create conditions for increasing public resources at a rate that allows for sustainable GDP growth and the quality of life of the population at the level of world values

The ability of the region to produce goods and services that meet the requirements of domestic and world markets, to create conditions for increasing regional resources (innovative, intellectual, investment) to ensure the growth of the competitiveness potential of economic entities at a rate that ensures sustainable growth rates of GRP and the quality of life of the population of the region at the level of world values

The ability of the industry to produce goods and services that meet the requirements of global and domestic markets, and create conditions for the growth of the potential for competitiveness of industry enterprises

Ability:

  • to achieve their own goals in the face of opposition from competitors;
  • meet the needs of consumers by producing and offering to the market products that are superior to competitors; use production and management resources to develop and expand sales markets, increase the market value of the enterprise

The ability to be attractive to the buyer in comparison with other products of a similar type and purpose due to the better compliance of its quality and cost characteristics with the requirements of this market and consumer assessments

Competitiveness of goods (services)

- a complex, multidimensional, economic object, characterized by a set of properties, the main of which are consumer properties, i.e. the ability of a product to satisfy the needs of its owner. A commodity is a product of labor produced for sale. The term "goods" is more universal, the more general term is "product". Goods are physically tangible products. The product also includes an intangible component (services, ideas, etc.).

A product is anything that can be offered to the market for purchase, use, or consumption in order to satisfy certain needs (physical items, services, ideas). According to Kotler, the product is perceived at three levels:

  • goods by design, which should determine what consumer problem the product being created solves (the main benefit or service);
  • real product- a specific product with a quality level, a set of properties, specific design, brand name, packaging;
  • backed goods- providing additional services(deliveries and lending, installation, guarantees, after-sales service, etc.).

A service is a type of activity or benefit that one party can offer to another.

Service characteristics:

  • intangibility (the service cannot be seen and tasted, heard before it is purchased);
  • inseparability from the manufacturer (its implementation is possible only in the presence of the manufacturer);
  • inconstancy of quality (the quality of the service depends on the skill of the producers);
  • non-persistence (the service cannot be stored until the next sale or use).

In the hierarchy of competitiveness concepts, the basic concept is "", which can be considered for various kinds goods (industrial and technical purposes, consumer purposes, services, information, etc.).

Enterprises, industries, regions, states that compete for:

  • consumers;
  • markets (commodity, industry, territorial);
  • factors of production (natural raw materials, industrial
  • technological, labor, financial resources);
  • investments.

Consumer value of the goods is its ability to satisfy the specific needs of the relevant consumer group (consumer segment). The consumer value of a product is determined by the degree to which it meets the needs of the relevant consumer group. A measure of the consumer value of a product- the maximum price that the consumer is willing to pay for it without regret. The lower the selling price of a product relative to its consumer value, the more profitable it is for the consumer to purchase the product, or, in other words, the higher the competitiveness of the product. For the consumer, the unpaid part of the consumer value is equal to the additional profit received by him from the use of the product. For the manufacturer, it corresponds to the "margin of competitiveness of its products."

Many buyers, when making a decision to purchase a particular product, use the following criteria: price and quality (moreover, for some buyers this may mean reliability, for others - aesthetic characteristics). The consumer weighs whether "enough quality" is offered to him for the specified price. Describing a successful purchase, people often say that “for just so many rubles, they managed to buy a product with such and such advantages.” In other words, the buyer believes that it was not a pity to give even more for the purchased goods. But since it got cheaper, the acquisition price is lower than consumer value. The competitiveness of the goods is the higher, the greater the share of unpaid utility received by the consumer as a gift.

By comparing goods designed to meet the same need, the buyer takes into account their consumer properties, finds out the degree of compliance with their own needs. At the same time, he seeks to achieve the optimal ratio between the level of consumer properties of the product and the costs of its acquisition and use, that is, to obtain the maximum consumer effect per unit of costs. In relation to a specific need, this ratio can be achieved by a number of different products due to the presence of similar properties in them. Accordingly, all of them will have the ability to satisfy this need and in relation to it can be considered as interchangeable. For example, a person's need for mobility can be satisfied by using a car, motorcycle, bicycle, train, etc.

Applied to economic sphere competitiveness is understood as the possession of properties that create advantages for the subject of economic competition. The whole variety of competitive relations is carried out at three levels: micro - specific types of products, production, enterprises; meso-industries, sectoral corporate associations of enterprises and firms of the horizontal type of integration; macro - national economic complexes of the intersectoral type of integration (Fig. 1.). Competitiveness at the micro, meso - and macro levels affects each other. This close relationship is manifested in the nature of the foreign and domestic policies pursued and in the development strategies of companies. Moreover, the more developed the economic system of the country, the more clearly this interaction is manifested: in fact, it is proclaimed as the goal of the policy pursued by the state and the development of companies. In Russia, this interaction is only at the initial stage of formation. Some large companies are not fully aware of the need to interact with the state and society.

There is a pattern: the more economically developed the state, the more the initiative of such interaction comes from the micro level, i.e. from the companies themselves. It is large companies in developed countries that largely determine foreign policy. In Russia, the state must take over the restoration of this chain of competitiveness.

General characteristics of the competitiveness of the Russian economy.

Competitiveness at the macro level refers to the ability of a country to maintain high rates of economic growth in the medium and long term. To assess the country's competitiveness, 3 approaches are used: cost-price, rating and based on realized competitive advantages.

The cost-price approach is based on the indicator of labor productivity. Russia, in terms of unit wages (UOT), determined by the ratio of wages to labor productivity, has a competitive advantage compared to industrialized countries. However, the extremely low rate of FEP is not a consequence of the progress of technology and the growth of labor productivity: it reflects only low wages and poverty of the population, a high rate of labor exploitation and an undervalued ruble relative to purchasing power parity (PPP).

The analysis of realized competitive advantages is carried out on the basis of data on the volume and structure of exports and imports, as well as on the change in the share of domestic goods in the domestic trade turnover. A sharp reduction in the scale of the national economy, an accelerated painful transformation of its economic mechanisms are also manifested in the collapse of the foreign economic sector, where the processes of liberalization took place most rapidly. The increase in exports is carried out only for mineral fuels, raw materials and metals. In the commodity group "machinery and equipment", Russia's share in world exports does not exceed 0.5%, and in goods of science-intensive industries it is less than 0.3%. At the same time, the share of Russian goods in consumption in the domestic market decreased. If for many years of the pre-reform period, the resources of consumer goods for the domestic market were formed by at least 80% of their own production, then at present, despite the advantages of devaluation, their share has decreased to 70%.

Fig.1. Levels of competitive relations

Russia ranks last in the WEF Competitiveness Index and in almost all of its components. However, for some sub-factors of the "infrastructure" and "technology" factors, Russia ranks above average. Relatively competitive in general, we have only the labor force - 25th place. All other factors require development and represent an extensive reserve for increasing competitiveness.

In Russia, due to objective circumstances, there are a number of factors leading to a decrease in competitiveness both in the domestic and foreign markets, the main of which is a higher indicator of production costs compared to the world average, associated with unfavorable climatic conditions and a large area. Russia is the coldest and longest country in the world, and this circumstance is the reason for the increase in construction costs, high transport and energy costs. Labor productivity in Russia is only about 20% of its level in the United States. In this regard, in order to maintain the price competitiveness of domestic products, it is necessary either to underestimate the level of wages by an amount that compensates for the additional costs of transporting goods and increased energy intensity, or artificially maintain low tariffs. Therefore, an active government policy is needed to level these negative factors and support national producers. The domestic market should be considered by Russian companies as a launching pad, a mechanism for rejecting new ideas, and the state should strive to bring the conditions and mechanisms of the domestic market as close as possible to the objective, given requirements of the external one. Of course, gradual convergence can and should be ensured not only by manufacturing companies (on the supply side) and the direct influence of the state, but also by bringing demand factors closer to world standards (attitude to product quality, compliance with its requirements for efficiency and environmental standards, etc.). .). According to Corr. RAS B. Kuzyka, "... internal competition in the current state of our economy in general and the domestic military-industrial complex in particular is absurd." Today, those of our companies that survived and were able to enter the world market must integrate. Even advanced, but single enterprises have little chance of gaining a stable position in the world market. Today, they prefer to cooperate with global companies whose product range accounts for 50-60% of the domestic market and at least 5-7% of the world market. So, to support shipbuilding companies, B. Kuzyk proposes to form two or three large holdings.

Competitiveness is an attribute of a developed market mechanism based on competition in the domestic developed market, which should be formed in Russia before 2010 as a result of institutional reforms in the public and private sectors, namely in education, medicine, banking and finance, and also on commodity markets. But competition is not the end in itself of the reforms, but only their consequence. In this regard, it is important to consider the main tasks of ongoing institutional reforms from the standpoint of competitive relations.

Course work

on national economy

Competitiveness of the Russian economy

Introduction

Theoretical aspects

1 The concept of competitiveness

2 Factors of competitiveness

3 Competitive strategy of the country

Practical aspects

2 Devaluation as a tool to increase the competitiveness of the national economy

3 Protection of competition: sanctions, adequate violations

Conclusion

Bibliography

Application

INTRODUCTION

Russia is part of the world economy, and this is a fait accompli. The most important goal of the Government of Russia: the creation of a competitive economy that ensures the country's leadership in the international market. Analysis of the competitiveness of the Russian economy, determining its place in the modern world economy and further prospects for the development of competitiveness Russian economy- is the main purpose of this abstract.

The basis of a competitive economy is a competitive industry. All actions of the Government: programs and legislative acts being developed, state regulation procedures and state support measures should be subordinated to the main and priority goal for today - ensuring the competitiveness of Russian enterprises, and, consequently, the competitiveness of the economy and the country as a whole.

Competition is one of the most important features of a market economy. It is competition that ensures the creative freedom of the individual, creates conditions for its self-realization in the economic sphere through the development and creation of new competitive goods and services. IN modern conditions the growing process of globalization and internationalization, the problems of international competition come to the fore.

An indicator of the recognition of the leading role of competition for the successful functioning of the market economy is the fact that in most countries of the world, including countries with economies in transition, competition laws have now been adopted and national authorities have been established to deal with these issues.

Country and sectoral competitiveness ultimately depends on the ability of a particular commodity producer to produce a competitive product.

The competitiveness of the economy is the basis for development. The competitiveness of the economy is primarily the activation of exports. The development of exports is the most important task of the Government.

The competitiveness of Russia is the flag that the Government should carry in its hands as the main symbol of the transformations in the economy. This is the idea that can unite people, regardless of their political preferences and position in society.

All these arguments testify to the undeniable relevance of resolving the issue of the country's competitiveness as one of the fundamental factors for the successful development of the state in all spheres of life.

Theoretical aspects

1 The concept of competitiveness

"Competitiveness is a property of an object that has a certain share of the relevant relevant market, which characterizes the degree of compliance of the technical, functional, economic, organizational and other characteristics of the object with the requirements of consumers, determines the market share owned by this object, and prevents the redistribution of this market in favor of other objects" .

The consequences of the above definition are the following fairly obvious statements:

only such products can be recognized as fully competitive, which have indicators of different nature that are not inferior (at least) to the corresponding indicators of the goods sold in a particular market;

the basis for assessing the competitiveness of any type of product should be a comprehensive market research using modern marketing methods, which will allow not only to determine some abstract "basic sample", but also to correctly assess the place of the analyzed object in this market in comparison with similar assessments of real and possible market entities;

when purchasing a product, the consumer chooses the sample among similar ones that best satisfies his needs.

About 340 indicators are used to determine the competitiveness of the country (Indicators of competitiveness - a system of criteria quantification state of competitiveness of a product or a group of products of the same class.) and more than 100 assessments of expert economists.

The United States, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland are traditionally highly competitive. At the same time, experts note not only a powerful general economic basis for the competitiveness of these countries, which is quite fully characterized by competitiveness factors, but also an equally important structural aspect of their competitiveness. Namely: the degree of adaptation of the economy to the evolution of world demand; the exact choice of national specialization, corresponding to internal capabilities; the ability to avoid sharp and senseless competition by switching to the release of new products or the development of new markets. Understanding the global structure of world demand, the ability to dynamically respond to it, while actively shaping it in the right direction, is the secret of the market success of the world's leading exporters.

2 Factors of competitiveness

Competitiveness integrates (synthesizes) all aspects, parties, factors of functioning and development of the control object. In accordance with the definition of the system as consisting of the external environment (inward view, primary) and internal structure (inside view, secondary), competitiveness factors should be divided into general external and specific internal.

Competitiveness factors:

) primary in determining the competitiveness of a product is the competitiveness of the external environment: the quality of management, the competitiveness of the country, region, organization. These factors can be depicted in the form of a “matryoshka”: in the center is the organization, then the region, country, quality of management;

) among the specific internal factors of the competitiveness of the goods, the most important is its quality, which determines the level of price and costs for the use of the goods;

) the quality of service for consumers of goods determines the level of costs for life cycle goods;

) the structure of factors according to the degree of their influence on competitiveness for each group of goods will be individual.

Professor V.Ya. Belobragin proposes to include in the composition of the factors of competitiveness of goods, along with the four factors considered, two more - delivery times and the image of the manufacturer. In our proposed structure of product competitiveness factors, “delivery time” is included in “management quality”, and “manufacturer's image” is included in “quality of service for product consumers”.

The main, general external factor of competitiveness is the quality of strategic management decisions, which expresses the degree of validity of the distribution of resources, the accuracy of forecasts of future parameters of managed objects. The quality of management can be improved by analyzing the action economic laws and laws of the organization, compliance with the principles, application of scientific approaches and methods.

Currently, the world's most competitive corporations pay great attention to improving the accuracy of technical and socio-economic forecasts for the long term by increasing the number of external and internal factors taken into account, and using modern optimization methods. No less attention is paid to improving the quality of raw materials, materials and components, the quality of equipment and various processes in order to reduce the tolerance of connections and manufacturing defects. Thus, the corporations General Motors, Ford, Motorola, Mercedes, Toyota, and others spend billions of dollars every year to improve manufacturing quality, reduce defects to six sigma (no more than 3.5 possible defects per million operations). The Russian industry, by our estimation, works according to systems that allow the number of defects to be thousands of times greater than six sigma.

The low quality of management at all levels of the hierarchy, that is, ignoring the mechanisms of action of economic laws and the laws of organization, scientific approaches and principles, modern methods and models of management (in the broad sense of the term), leads to unjustified political and socio-economic decisions, inefficient use of resources .

The list of general external and specific internal factors for increasing competitiveness for each type of control object will be individual.

The specific internal factors of the competitiveness of the region and the country, according to the degree of their impact on the final result, the quality of life, are also recommended to be divided into strategic and actual ones. Formation, financing and implementation of strategic factors of competitiveness (investment climate, innovative activity, expenditures on R&D and personal development, etc.) provide an improvement in actual indicators or factors (security, quality of infrastructure, human development index, unemployment rate, life expectancy, etc. .).

The level of competitiveness of the region and the country is directly affected by the quality of political, socio-economic, and innovative processes. Therefore, these processes and competitiveness should be studied using systemic, integrated, marketing and other scientific approaches.

3 Competitive strategy of the country

It is necessary to understand how a country creates and maintains a competitive advantage. At the present stage, the possibilities of countries are not limited.

To understand the nature of competition, the main unit is the industry (whether it is processing or from the service sector), or industries, i.e. a group of competitors that produce goods or services and directly compete with each other. A strategically significant industry includes products with similar sources of competitive advantage. In addition, there may be related industries whose products have the same characteristics, production technology or distribution channels, but they impose their own requirements for competitive advantage. In practice, the boundaries are always very vague.

By developing a specific strategy, a country seeks to find and implement a way to compete profitably and for a long time in its industry. There is no universal competitive strategy; only a strategy that is consistent with the conditions of a particular industry, the skills and capital that a country has, can bring success.

A specific strategy should be based on a comprehensive understanding of the structure of the industry and the process of its change. In any sector of the economy - it does not matter whether it operates only in the domestic market or in the external one too - the essence of competition is expressed by five forces:

The threat of new competitors;

The threat of the appearance of goods or services - substitutes;

The ability of suppliers of components, etc. to bargain;

The ability of buyers to bargain;

Rivalry between existing competitors.

competitive strategy russia devaluation

Practical aspects

Russia lost 9 positions and dropped to 62nd place in the World Economic Competitiveness Index for 2006-2007 prepared by the International Economic Forum (IEF). This is not a very important indicator, but it clearly indicates the abnormal state of affairs in the Russian economy.

MEF experts attribute the decline Russian rating mainly with the imperfection of the judicial system of the country. "The process of obtaining legal aid in Russia, unlike in most developing economies, takes a long time and requires significant costs, while at the same time not being sufficiently transparent," the report says. In the "correct" translation of the Goblin, it would sound like this: "The seizure of enterprises in Russia has become such a common thing that it has become more expensive to engage in any business other than criminal in this country."

Currently, Russian universities do not train specialists in competitiveness (only since 2002, in some leading universities, they began to study the course "Management of the competitiveness of an organization" as part of the second higher economic education). The country does not have any regulations(laws, decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation, etc.), print media on competitiveness, etc. Meanwhile, according to the report of the World Economic Forum, according to the rating of competitiveness among 80 countries, Russia occupies only 62nd place!

Adopted December 27, 2002 the federal law"On technical regulation" conceptually changes approaches to management scientific and technological progress, standardization, certification and other complex problems of increasing the efficiency of the Russian economy. The mentioned law "penetrates" the idea of ​​increasing the competitiveness of products. At the same time, improving the quality of management, product quality, customer service quality, price and costs of using products will be factors that determine competitiveness. In accordance with the principles of a systematic approach, the requirements of which are met by the Federal Law, one should first build a whole (system), and then structure it and deal with the proportional development of each component of the whole. In Russia, they tried to do the opposite, that is, to improve one component (product quality) of the whole (competitiveness) without structuring the whole. Over the past 10 years, the systematic approach has been ignored, which has led to the waste of huge funds at all levels of the economy.

In February 2003, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted the “Program of socio-economic development Russian Federation for the medium term (2003-2005)”. Paragraph 1.1 of the program notes: “The tendencies towards globalization that have intensified at the end of the last century have significantly exacerbated the problem of Russia's competitiveness. In the absence of significant cross-country barriers to the movement of capital, labor, technology, and information, the problem of maintaining national competitiveness in the struggle to attract global economic resources, as well as for holding their own. In the event of a loss in the competition, Russia loses not only a significant part of its economic resources, but also its political weight, positions in foreign markets, and, most importantly, loses its potential for sustainable development. The task of achieving high rates of economic growth should not be considered in isolation from indicators of the competitiveness of the economy.”

In each section of the program, the idea of ​​increasing competitiveness is defined as the most important tool for reviving the national economy.

Unfortunately, the program was developed in the spirit of the Soviet "Basic Directions for the Socio-Economic Development of the Country for a Five-Year Period." In general, it is declarative in nature, the directions of the socio-economic development of the Russian Federation are not specific. There is no mechanism to increase the country's competitiveness.

Thus, the authors of the program propose to further reduce the share state property, the degree of state participation in the management of the economy. This is a strategic mistake of our reformers, first committed by them more than 10 years ago, when leaders without a scientifically based reform strategy began to carry out "cowboy" (first shoot, then aim) privatization, liberalization, stabilization. Who will be responsible for the fact that the coefficient of extraction from the bowels of natural resources in Russia is approximately 2 times lower than in developed countries? The renewal of fixed assets is several times lower than the norm, and their depreciation exceeds a critical level. In Russia, the gap between the incomes of the rich and the poor is growing, organized crime and corruption are not decreasing, the life expectancy of Russians is decreasing, and its quality is deteriorating. The participation of the state in managing the economy is ineffective, as evidenced by the difficulties of creating and operating a new business, bureaucracy, and disorder in many areas. public life. The state is obliged to develop and implement strategic measures to improve the quality of governance, the competitiveness of the country and the quality of life of the population.

2 Devaluation as a tool to increase the competitiveness of the national economy

Currently, there are two polar opinions about devaluation as a tool to increase the competitiveness of the national economy.

On the one hand, if in a country (with a fixed exchange rate) do not exist full employment and balance of payments deficit, it is theoretically believed that the country can reach the dual equilibrium points (full employment and zero balance of payments) by directive depreciation of the national currency.

However, on the other hand, in the long run, more expensive imports will raise the price level inside the country, since foreign consumer goods are included in consumer basket, which determines the monetary rate of wages, and foreign raw materials are directly included in production costs. Rising prices within the country will negate the increase in the competitiveness of domestic goods due to devaluation.

With a floating exchange rate National currency is permanently devalued and revalued, and therefore the consequences of stabilization policy measures in the face of a changing price level become difficult to predict.

Thus, the government of the country is faced with the question of what is the role of devaluation in the development of the national economy.

Devaluation should ensure the inflow of foreign currency into the country. For Russia, unlike developed and some developing countries, a strong flow of foreign exchange from exports is of particular importance, since the issue of external debt is too acute. Due to the fact that the supply of foreign currency on Russian market provided, mainly by exporters, after each stage of payments for external debt(before which the state buys currency), the ruble exchange rate will fall, and the economic situation in the country will worsen. The state, supporting strong exports with the help of currency devaluation, can form the required amount foreign exchange reserves. In this sense, devaluation to some extent can provide the much-needed stability to our economy.

Do not forget that devaluation, having negative consequences (a sharp decline in the standard of living of the population, the weakening of importers and enterprises dependent on imports), brings all the benefits of increased exports and a drop in the exchange rate, namely: strengthening export industries, increasing employment, increasing the inflow of foreign investment (which is especially important for increasing the competitiveness of the Russian economy), etc.

Thus, devaluation can serve as a tool to increase the competitiveness not of the entire economy as a whole, but of its export industries. If a country focuses on the active development of export industries, then devaluation can be used as such a tool. However, the further development of the national economy requires a rethinking of devaluation as the main tool for increasing Russia's competitiveness.

Also at the 4th Economic Forum in Krasnoyarsk on February 19, 2007 the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation German Gref. expressed the opinion that in the near future Russia faces the task of introducing effective management and effective local administrations. According to him, only when this task is fulfilled in Russia will a certain competitiveness in general and an increase in the efficiency of the regions' work be created.

G. Gref said that the coming years dictate a completely different macro economic situation. The main task of the country is to optimize running costs and infrastructure development.

According to G. Gref, it is necessary to use private-state partnership to achieve the set goals, which will improve the economic situation in the country. G. Gref recalled that the Russian government approved 8 investment development projects involving public-private partnerships. At the same time, he noted that the state is investing $178 billion in infrastructure development.

The minister emphasized that by launching projects investment fund Russia has set a precedent for attracting market financing to build infrastructure. Russia is on the verge of a significant revision of the concept of state action in this area, he believes.

2.3 Protection of competition: sanctions, adequate violations

Sanctions for monopolistic activities should include confiscation of monopoly income. On December 5, 2003, this measure was included in the Code of administrative offenses, however, on July 7, 2006, it was excluded from it, moreover, at the initiative of the Committee for the Protection of Competition. As a justification for their initiative, it was indicated that the withdrawal of monopoly income to the budget allegedly is not a measure of administrative and legal responsibility and is of a civil law nature. However, the seizure of property from market entities by the state is always unilaterally coercive and authoritative (public) in nature and cannot in any way be related to civil law (private) relations arising between equal entities.

In addition, for the abuse by market entities of their dominant (monopoly) position, a fine in the amount of a multiple of the MCI should be imposed, and for committing a cartel, a turnover fine should be introduced (as a percentage of the company's turnover).

Until July 2006, fixed amounts of fines were provided. Then they began to be determined as a percentage of the monopoly income received. At the same time, the circumstance was not taken into account that as a result of most abuses of a dominant position, with the exception of cases of setting a monopoly high price and violating the pricing procedure, a market entity does not receive additional monopoly income. Therefore, companies that abuse their dominant position cannot be held liable.

Cartels are considered the most dangerous offenses for competition, therefore, all over the world, increased sanctions are provided for this, calculated as a percentage of the company's turnover (there are often reports in the media about the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars in fines in Europe and the USA). Their average size is 10 percent of the total turnover of the company, in Russia - from one to 15%.

CONCLUSION

Competition is a necessary and determining condition for the normal functioning of market economy. But like anything, it has its pros and cons. The positive features include: flexible adaptation to demand, high product quality, high labor productivity, minimum costs, implementation of the principle of payment according to the quantity and quality of labor, the possibility of regulation by the state. The negative consequences are the difference in the conditions of activity, which leads to dishonest practices, excessive exploitation of natural resources, environmental violations, etc.

We found that for a market to be perfectly competitive, the following conditions must be met: the presence of many sellers, each of which is small relative to the market as a whole; product uniformity; well-informed buyers; free entry and exit of firms into the market, and independent decisions, both on the part of producers and consumers. Some industries, especially agriculture satisfy these requirements, but the competition model is useful even when these requirements are only approximately met. A perfect competitor cannot influence the existing market price goods and services.

In imperfectly competitive markets, as opposed to perfectly competitive markets, sellers can raise the price of their products by limiting their output. A monopoly is an extreme case of imperfect competition, where there is one single seller and there is no room for others to enter.

Society, recognizing that the monopoly disrupts the pricing process, being hostile to monopoly profits, or for other reasons, may declare the monopoly a "public benefit enterprise" and establish control over its prices. Others important types Imperfectly competitive markets are monopolistic competition (many sellers, ease of entry and product differentiation) and oligopoly (few sellers, product differentiation possible and barriers to entry). Under imperfect competition, the firm has known control.

Speaking about the negative methods of conducting competition, it should be noted that as long as there is competition, industrial espionage will also exist, i.e. these two phenomena are interconnected, one cannot, of course, deny the effectiveness of industrial espionage, for example, it has a significant impact on the development of the military-industrial complex. And yet, despite the effectiveness of industrial espionage, it cannot replace development either on an industry, national or global scale; if you always use someone else's, stolen, then some of your own potential for development is lost, which ultimately leads to regression.

We also found out that the competitiveness of the Russian economy is at a very low level, found the reasons for the current situation and possible options solutions to this problem.

I believe that it is with the help of state regulation of the economy and various antimonopoly measures of an official and unofficial nature that it is possible to achieve what the factors automatically acting in conditions of free competition that counteract the influence of monopolies or balance it cannot provide; the problems that arise with today's rising inflation are solvable, including through the growth of market competitiveness.

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12.www.finansmag.ru<#"justify">ANNEX 1

Glossary of terms

Devaluation is a legal depreciation of the national currency.

Competition - economic rivalry for the right to obtain a larger share of a certain type of limited resources.

Competitiveness is a property of an object that has a certain share of the relevant relevant market, which characterizes the degree of compliance of the technical, functional, economic, organizational and other characteristics of the object with the requirements of consumers, determines the market share owned by this object, and prevents the redistribution of this market in favor of other objects.

Monopoly is a situation that arises in the market when there is only one buyer of goods (monopolist), which, due to its exclusive position, can dictate to all sellers the conditions for the purchase of these goods, and above all their price.

The national economy is a system of social reproduction of the country, an interconnected system of industries and types of production, covering those existing in national economy forms of social labor; a self-regulating system consisting of a large number of different interrelated activities.

Privatization is the transfer of former state-owned enterprises under certain conditions to new private owners represented by non-governmental organizations.

APPENDIX 2

CriteriaUSAJapanGermanyChinaBrazilRussiaCompetitiveness (ranking among 80 countries)11314334664GDP per capita, 200111013624740Unemployment rate, 200119235092943Financial market development rate23310631174 federal regulation business131553774861Banking margin13147168072Technological excellence of the country147393764Innovative activity of companies219381776R&D expenses of companies153342541The level of integration of education, science, production2248162645Brain drain1716402148The level of provision with personal computers11 619654549Quality of infrastructure in the country5203524557Protection of intellectual property13210454069Effectiveness of legislative activity24216104851Organized crime214719435871Costs of business on corruption162318504952Barriers to starting a new business44536344965 entities324161143Competitive advantages of companies321465272Degree of customer orientation1313373449Level of marketing development194691975Investment in personnel training and retraining365492971