This study aims to examine the level of necessity of each condition proposed in Porter’s diamond model, considering “multinational enterprise (MNE) penetration”, “governance quality” and “digitalisation” as additional conditions. In doing so, it introduces a new condition – digitalisation – suggesting that it has a direct effect on national competitiveness.
Using data from 60 countries and necessary condition analysis, necessary conditions for national competitiveness are identified, as well as the bottleneck levels for each level of the outcome of interest.
The results emphasise the importance of digitalisation for national competitiveness, suggesting that it should be considered as an additional condition given its direct effects on national competitiveness. The results also show that “factor conditions” and “MNE penetration” are not necessary to build national competitive advantage in the digital age.
Different from past research, this study tests the extent to which high values of antecedent conditions are necessary for achieving a national competitive advantage. The findings provide novel insights that might inform policy design and future research, emphasising the importance of digital adoption and showing the required level of each condition for a specific levels of the outcome.
