Konkurenčná schopnosť a procesy konvergencie vo svetovej ekonomike
COMPETITIVENESS AND CONVERGENCY PROCESSES IN WORLD ECONOMY

Summary/Abstract: On the background of the theories on international trade and the new growth theories the author of this paper seeks above all the explanation of a very frequented term of competitiveness in terms of convergence and divergence in the world economy, its ade-quate definition and place within the framework of the economic policy mainly in less developed countries. He has chosen the approach, where the development of interna-tional trade theory is not judged from the standpoint of traditional explanations of the grounds for trading between countries, but centres his attention at the origins of these grounds. Just this is important from the standpoint of the theoretical explanation of current motive powers in the international trade dynamisation. In conformity with many economists the author comes to the conclusion that classic and neo-classic theory of international trade is indeed rich in theoretical platforms, provides nevertheless little explanation for current growth conditions of the international trade. The author con-trariwise ascribes more chan-ces here for alternative (new) theoretical concepts of the trade among countries. Such approaches as for instance the concept of imitation gap, product differentiation, production cycle theory represent currently one of the two meth-odological support pillars of the competitive economy phenomenon. According to the author the second pillar is the so called endogenous theory of the economic growth. This view is based on the fact, that this theory is founded in principle on the identical factors that present new theories of international trade. From the methodological point of view one can characterise current convergence tendencies of the theories of interna-tional trade and economic growth as a phase of repeated return towards the integrated research of economic advantage, as was the case in times of A. Smith, when the growth theory was in fact the theory of international trade, and vice versa. As a result of cited bases the author postulates both higher adequacy of the term competitive advantage, and the thesis that the problem of competitiveness need not be reduced to the foreign trade sphere, but that one should consider it as a problem of the overall development of the supply side of economy, as a process of competitive advan-tage generation through cost minimising and real technological increase of productivity level.

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