DOES THE INCREASED COMPETITIVENESS IMPROVE STANDARD OF LIVING IN THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES?
DOES THE INCREASED COMPETITIVENESS IMPROVE STANDARD OF LIVING IN THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES?

Summary/Abstract: The concept of competitiveness becomes a key of success for the companies, nations or regions that want to participate in the global economy platform. A more competitive economy is likely to grow faster over time, reach higher level of sustainable development and enable citizens to enjoy its benefits through higher wages and standard of living. Despite the global financial and economic crisis in the recent decade, the Western Balkans is continuously improving its competitiveness as a region, but the progress is uneven and much slower than in other EU countries. Furthermore, all of these countries face major convergence challenges in terms of the living standard of their population, such as the trend of increasing inequality and poverty level, which seems to have become a regional problem in the recent years. The paper aims to present the similarities and differences among the Western Balkan countries regarding the competitiveness level, as well as to examine whether the increased competitiveness has contributed to the improvement of the standard of living of the population in the Western Balkan countries.

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