MEASURING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF POST-SOCIALIST COUNTRIES

Relevance of research topic. The development of a country (economic, social and environmental) is mostly determined by the political system within which this country is developing. As a direct reflection of the level of development of a nation, its competitiveness is considered. Formulation of the problem. For this reason, the present study is focused at examining and analyzing the national competitiveness of countries that have transformed their governance system from socialism to democracy. Method or methodology for conducting research. Speaking of competitiveness, despite the many studies, there is still no uniform definition that best describes the concept. The starting point for the study is the disclosure of the methodology used to measure the competitiveness of the countries - the methodology of the World Economic Forum. The clarified methodology based on which the index used is constructed is the basis for directing the study to present and analyze the results achieved by the post-socialist countries surveyed over the last 10 years. Presentation of the main material (results of work). The focus is on the following countries: Armenia, Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. The index of global competitiveness of a nation is estimated by indicators in 12 areas, grouped into 3 sub-indexes. Sub-index "basic (fundamental) requirements" includes indicators in groups: institutions; infrastructure; macroeconomic environment; health and primary education. Sub-index "performance accelerators" includes groups of indicators: higher education and training; goods markets efficiency; labor market efficiency; financial market development; technological readiness and market size. The sub-index "Innovation and Complexity of Factors" includes indicators in groups of "business and strategy complexity" and "innovation". Conclusions according to the article. Different countries achieve their development at different rates, depending on the advantages they have for achieving competitiveness. As a result of the study, it can be concluded that the post-socialist countries today have a positive tendency in the area of competitiveness.