Studying and applying the conceptual framework of competitiveness in the digital age

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Abstract

The global economic crisis of 2020, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, affected all areas of the economies of different countries and led to complete transformation of economic systems, including the soaring digitalization, and demonstrated an extreme need for revising many existing approaches to defining economic categories. Given the rapid development of the digital economy, the issue of defining the concept of competitiveness under such conditions is seen particularly topical. The paper aims to conduct a detailed analysis of the approaches of various researchers to the definition of competition and competitiveness both in Russian and international practice, to identify their strengths and weaknesses, to develop necessary criteria for this category and to present a definition of competitiveness relevant in the digital economy era. Within the framework of this paper, an effort was made to collect the existing notions of digital economy and digitalization, competition and competitiveness, to systematize them and analyse them in their entirety. The study resulted in a conclusion that there is no generally accepted definition of competitiveness that would correspond to the current digital realities of the 21st century among both Russian and foreign scientists, who define competitiveness on the basis of the specificity of their countries’ economic development. Findings were also made regarding the existing interpretations of this concept, the main aspects, which are typical to the digital age, were highlighted and a definition of competitiveness, reflecting the main properties in the digital economy, was given.