Table 1.
Description of the attributes and indicators included in the construction of the sustainable economic competitiveness index.
| No. | Name of Attributes and Indicators | Reasoning | Data Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attribute 1: Factor Endowments and Resource Independence | |||
| I1.1 | The gross production value of cereals | In line with Porter’s Diamond model, the measurement of competitiveness needs to be approached through the lens of factor endowments, not only through processing capabilities or other influencing factors of competitiveness. Consequently, it is assumed in this study that countries with no cereal production capabilities cannot reach high levels of sustainable economic competitiveness. Not only that, but food security issues would eventually emerge, which would attract socioeconomic issues. Relying on a behavior characterized by importing cereal production from other countries does not converge with the concept of sustainable economic competitiveness. In such a context, price volatility would eventually negatively affect economic performance and food accessibility levels [90,116,117,118,119]. With the purpose of encapsulating the resource economics (I1.1) and resource management (I1.2) facets as two complementary determinants of sustainable economic competitiveness, both indicators were included in this SECI attribute. | FAOSTAT |
| I1.2 | Cereal land allocation (the ratio between the cereal-harvested area and the total arable land) | FAOSTAT | |
| Attribute 2: Agricultural Chain Performance | |||
| I2.1 | Cereal yield productivity expressed in tonnes of cereals per cereal-cultivated hectares | Yield productivity is a measurement of efficiency and economic performance that contributes to achieving higher levels of competitiveness [120,121,122]. This attribute of economic competitiveness provides robustness to the sustainability aspect of the constructed index. | FAOSTAT |
| I2.2 | Cereal yield productivity expressed in thou-sand USD per cereal-cultivated hectares | FAOSTAT | |
| Attribute 3: National Agricultural Chain Strategies and Policies | |||
| I3.1 | The ratio between the imports of cereals and the imports of the preparations of cereals | The literature converges towards the fact that the preparations of cereals deliver more competitiveness than the raw materials—cereals. This is grounded in the fact that exporting processed agri-food products implies many activities carried out to add more value to the final commercialized product [108,123,124,125]. By taking this value chain assessment framework into consideration, relevant indicators were included in the index composition. In addition, the design of the SECI respects the effects of national strategies and policies specific to the cereal chain: (a) the imports of cereals must exceed those of the preparations of cereals (I3.1); and (b) the exports of the preparations of cereals must exceed those of the cereals (I3.2). Since factor endowments and resource independence were already considered in the development of this index, the strategic processing flows and value chain management systems were taken into account by integrating indicators I3.1 and I3.2 into the composition of the SECI. | INTRACEN Trade Map |
| I3.2 | The ratio between the exports of the preparations of cereals and the exports of cereals | INTRACEN Trade Map |
|
Higher ratio values express high levels of agricultural chain competitiveness due to efficient national strategies and policies.