ECONOMIC FREEDOM EFFECT ON NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS: EVIDENCE FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES

The main goal of this paper is to find out the effect of economic freedom and economic growth to national competitiveness. The other goal is to find out the economic slowdown impact of national competitiveness. National competitiveness or competitiveness at macroeconomic level is a framework that has become one of the most used words by economist and politicians. Nonetheless, there are lots of definitions and approaches. Authors apply comprehensive and established indicator the Global competitiveness index published by the World economic forum. Since the time of Adam Smith economic freedom is one of the crucial factors for economic progress. Economic freedom is measured by comprehensive indicator the Index of economic freedom provided by the Heritage Foundation. European Union countries were included to panel data model used to investigate the influence. We found out economic freedom and economic growth positively influence national competitiveness. The recent economic recession significantly negatively affected national competitiveness.