Date of Conferral

9-7-2026

Date of Award

September 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Lynn Wilson

Abstract

Persistent poverty, middle-income traps, uneven growth, and productivity gaps expose smaller countries, defined as those with fewer than nine million people, to multidimensional vulnerability that retards development. Research revealed a positive relationship between competitiveness and growth in larger and developed countries. However, the competitiveness-development nexus in smaller and developing countries was omitted from previous research. Growth is not development. The purpose of this quantitative, longitudinal, comparative study was to examine the development-by competitiveness experiences of smaller states at different stages of development with productivity and sustainability through the lens of punctuated equilibrium theory and the national competitive development model. Results indicated statistically significant differences in overall competitiveness, in productivity or systemic competitiveness, and in sustainability or sustainable competitiveness, when disaggregated. Limited statistically significant differences in Kruskal-Wallis pairwise group comparisons, for both systemic and sustainable competitiveness, particularly at lower stages of development, indicated stronger influences of productivity over sustainability on differences in competitiveness. Policymakers can promote positive social change by research-based adaptations in competitiveness-driven productivity-enhancement and sustainability-improvement policies for over 522 million people in smaller developing states, many living at risk of multidimensional vulnerability or below the poverty line.

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