A translation of competitiveness and its global implications : comparison of Brazil and Mexico under the lens of the Global Competitiveness Report

Abstract: The importance of the tasks performed by international organizations is increasing at the global level and the discourse used is the one of progress and development. The aim of this thesis is to introduce a new approach regarding the discussions of development in terms of competitiveness and transnational governance by discussing these subjects within the same framework. The empirical findings are focused on the main organizations contributing with different translations of competitiveness and the tools used to measure it, such as nation rankings. In addition, findings stress how within development theory, the concept of competitiveness has become quite popular in media and among policy makers, presidents, prime ministers, scholars and the like. Some of these actors use the term quite loosely and without a further and deeper understanding of the concept, while others endeavor on contributing with different definitions. The World Economic Forum and its Global Competitiveness Index has become if not the most, one out of the two more mentioned and used indexes measuring competitiveness of nations. The GCI is used in this paper to compare two economies in the Latin-American region: Brazil and Mexico, since for a long time Mexico was depicted as a more competitive economy, but in the latest years Brazil has managed, within the GCI perspective, to be depicted as more competitive. The final result of the comparison and what nations should do to be more competitive within the Latin American region is in line with what academics have already discussed. But the main contribution of this thesis is the analysis of the popularity of rankings developed by international organizations, and at the same time, what traits of transnational governance can one identify in such trend, being these rankings an attractive tool to spread free-market ideologies in order to develop a global order.