Information Theoretic Competitiveness Composite Indicator at Micro Level

In this paper we study the potentialities of a multivariate index approach for measuring competitiveness. Our proposal aims at developing a multidimensional economic performance index that could be used to measure and compare competitiveness at different level of aggregation (country, region or sector) with a micro-level foundation. The basic idea is to analyse the firm competitiveness by means of multivariate inequality indexes following the approach of Maasoumi (The measurement and decomposition of multidimensional inequality. Econometrica 991–997, 1986). An empirical analysis of the multidimensional economic performance index is also provided in terms of profitability, productivity as well as output growth using micro-data for Italian firms for the year 2008.