Harnessing Quality for GlobalCompetitiveness in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Racine, Jean-Louis

World Bank

关键词: CAPABILITIES;    CLASSROOMS;    COMMUNITIES;    COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE;    CONTENT PROVIDERS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-8509-8
RP-ID  :  61896

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

In many countries in Eastern Europe andCentral Asia (ECA), the National Quality Infrastructure(NQI) does not support business competitiveness, though thisis one of its functions in organization for economicco-operation and development countries. In most of theCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, it evenimpedes competitiveness. The most common economic benefitsof adopting standards include increased productive andinnovative efficiency. Standards lead to economies of scale,allowing suppliers to achieve lower costs per unit byproducing large, homogeneous batches of products. Standardsspur and disseminate innovation, solve coordinationfailures, and facilitate the development of profitablenetworks. Participation in world trade increasingly requiresthat suppliers comply with standards determined by leadbuyers in global value chains. The nature of participationin the global economy has changed dramatically over the pasttwo decades. Rarely do producers turn raw materials intofinal products and sell them directly to customers.Improving the quality of goods and services and diversifyinginto sectors where quality matters can be a sustainablesource of global competitiveness. Some of the productivetasks associated with high-quality goods have high learningand technological externalities. In those sectors, producerstend to form tight relationships with global buyers whotransfer their knowledge and support the producers'quality-upgrading processes. Diversifying into a broad rangeof sectors also reduces macroeconomic volatility, butquality upgrading becomes necessary to enter new sectorsthat compete on quality.