| Contacts: | Kerry Parke, kparke@hbs.edu, (617) 495-6931 |
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HBS PROFESSOR RICHARD VIETOR INVESTIGATES HOW COUNTRIES COMPETE
New Book Offers Insight into How National Policies Affect Corporate Performance
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| How Countries Compete |
BOSTON - Business and political leaders often talk about what their countries must do to grow their economies in today’s thoroughly globalized world. And the strategies that come out of these discussions will either make or break their efforts to drive and sustain growth, reduce poverty, accommodate urbanization, create jobs, and raise the standard of living. But what does it really mean for a country to compete in the world economy, and how can governments do it successfully?
In How Countries Compete: Strategy, Structure, and Government in the Global Economy, Harvard Business School Professor Richard H.K. Vietor shows how governments set direction and create the climate for developing a nation’s economy and nurturing profitable private enterprise. “Government strategy matters, and we all have a responsibility for effecting good government policy in our home countries,” he says.
Vietor points out that in today’s hypercompetitive environment, government invariably provides many of the distinctive advantages that firms need in order to go head to head with rivals. These advantages include high savings and low interest rates for investment, sound property rights and good governance, a technologically motivated and committed workforce, a low rate of inflation, and a rapidly expanding domestic market.
Recently published by the Harvard Business School Press, How Countries Compete draws on history, economic analysis, and interviews with executives and officials around the globe to provide a rich and insightful examination of different government approaches to growth and development, looking at strategies that lead to both success and failure.
Individual chapters focus on the unique social, economic, cultural, and historical forces that shape individual governments’ approach to economic growth. Divided into three sections, the book analyzes:
- Pathways to Asian High Growth: Japan, Singapore, China, and India
This section explores the high-growth development strategies of these countries – strategies that have focused on export-led growth and the liberalization of previously closed systems. “In Asia we see strategies dependent on high savings and investment, including significant foreign investment,” says Vietor. “Wages are low, inflation is controlled, and government plays an active role in planning and implementing development strategies.” - The Difficulties of Structural Adjustment: Mexico, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Russia
Here Vietor examines development trajectories that entail the deep structural adjustment of institutions, including Latin America’s recovery from debt crisis, the return of economic growth to sub-Saharan Africa, the impact of the Islamic resurgence in the Middle East, and the adjustment in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union. “When there are deep structural adjustments, countries’ trajectories – that is, their developmental pathways – have proved less successful,” he observes. - Deficits, Debt, and Stagnation: European Integration, Japan, and the United States
According to Vietor, “It’s very important to explore the significant problems that these countries face with growth, economic competitiveness, and debt. We need to reexamine the idea that in market-driven economies such as the United States, a strong government can only hinder business success.”
About the Author
Richard H.K. Vietor is the Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management at Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on the regulation of business and the international political economy. He received a B.A. in economics from Union College (1967), an M.A. in history from Hofstra University (1971), and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Pittsburgh (1975). He has been a member of the HBS faculty since 1978.
About Harvard Business School
Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School (www.hbs.edu) is located in Boston and offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and doctoral degrees, as well as more than 40 Executive Education programs. With a faculty of more than 200 distinguished scholars, the School is dedicated to educating leaders who make a difference in the world. Its core focus is to shape the practice of business, build enduring knowledge, and effectively communicate important ideas. Harvard Business School is the world’s largest producer of business cases, a method of teaching pioneered by the School in the 1920s.