India ascends in Business Competitiveness

From HBS Working Knowledge:

The United States and Germany remain atop the latest Business Competitiveness Index, with China continuing to slip in the rankings while India ascends, according to a report released from Harvard Business School's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness.

China, which has retreated in the rankings since 2002, fell nine spots to 64, according to the ISC. "This year's decline was driven especially by higher levels of corruption, weaker assessment of buyer sophistication, and concerns about labor relations," the study found. Also contributing were weak property rights, poor board governance, and low quality of management education. "Overall it is clear that euphoria about China is moderating as the realities of its competitiveness become more apparent," the report concludes.

India moved up four rankings to 27, aided by improvements in its business environment and increasing levels of company sophistication.