In 2019, HBS faculty members of the U.S. Competitiveness Project conducted the sixth survey on U.S. competitiveness. This report—built on the latest survey findings and eight years of prior research on the competitiveness of the United States—highlights a disturbing pattern: structural failures in the U.S. political system continue to prevent meaningful progress on actions needed to improve U.S. competitiveness. Despite a decade of steady economic growth, the trajectory of the nation’s competitiveness remains disappointing.
The 2016 HBS report on the State of U.S. Competitiveness provides a comprehensive analysis of five years of research from the U.S. Competitiveness Project along with the findings of the 2016 HBS survey on U.S. competitiveness. This survey was administered to HBS alumni worldwide, HBS students, and members of the U.S. general public in May—June 2016.
The 2015 HBS survey on U.S. competitiveness reveals that business leaders are concerned about the economy’s ability to generate shared prosperity. America’s business environment is improving, but alumni doubt that firms in the U.S. will be able to improve living standards for the average American. Alumni see issues like inequality, middle-class stagnation, and economic immobility, as social as well as business challenges.
Superintendents find new, deeper ways to work with business beyond a financial gift.
This report presents the findings of HBS' 2013–14 survey on U.S. competitiveness. It highlights a troubling divergence in the U.S. economy: large and midsize firms are prospering, but middle- and working-class citizens and small businesses are struggling.
Second in the series of U.S. Competitiveness surveys, Harvard Business School gleaned responses from nearly 7,000 alumni and more than 1,000 members of the general public.
Policy steps for the president and Congress to follow in order to make American companies more competitive and their employees more prosperous.
Business leaders should not simply accept the business environment as a given, set by government. They can—and should—enhance the commons in ways that boost their own long-run profits.
Some of the world’s most original thinkers explain the competitiveness challenge America faces and point the way forward.
Over the last four decades companies have dispersed more and more of their activities across the globe. Data and analysis from Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin suggest that the U.S. is losing out on location decisions at an alarming rate, even for high value adding activities such as R&D that it should be able to attract.
Professors Robin Greenwood and David Scharfstein make recommendations in three important domains in which the U.S. financial system has underperformed: financial stability, housing finance, and investment costs.
Professors Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin frame the HBS project on U.S. competitiveness by defining "competitiveness," assessing the state of U.S. competitiveness, and pinpointing dynamics that threaten America's competitiveness.
As part of the U.S. Competitiveness Project, Harvard Business School asked its alumni to complete an in-depth survey on U.S. competitiveness.