The main aim of this research paper is to compare the total synthetic measure value of sustainable development for each EU country using a multidimensional comparative analysis of the EU countries in terms of sustainable development. The statistical evaluation of this complex phenomenon was based on 108 statistical indicators describing 17 goals of sustainable development which were taken from the Eurostat database. The statistical data applies mostly to the year 2018. The zero unitarization method was applied as a research tool. Passing through consecutive stages, the values of synthetic measures with variables determining the subsequent goals of sustainable development were set. Our study led to the ranking of EU countries into groups of high, medium-high, medium-low and low level of sustainable development. The results confirmed that the leaders of sustainable development in the EU are Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Austria. Most EU countries have reached the medium level, while Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus have poorly realized the goals of sustainable development. Due to the growing importance of countries of the Visegrad group in Europe, this article also subjected them to a more detailed assessment in terms of their sustainable development. Among the Visegrad countries, only the Czech Republic has reached a medium-high level of sustainable development. The other three countries, i. e. Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, hold a similar position in the ranking of EU countries in terms of sustainable development. Considering future generations, the implementation of the goals of sustainable development as well as the identification of key indicators for each country are becoming an important challenge in terms of global market competitiveness.

The issue of countries' competitiveness and sustainable economic growth is constantly at the centre of interest and represents the frequent object of research in economic theory as well as economic practice. The multi-criterial approach and the assessment methodologies relating to the global competitiveness have been dynamically adjusted over the recent years to reflect the current globalization trends in the world economy. The main objective of this study is to analyse the objectivity and resulting values' deviations of the Global competitiveness Index (GCI) and World Competitiveness Index (WCI) composite indexes that are currently considered to be the world's most respected and to identify the impact of key factors that affect the countries' competitive positions with a focus on Slovakia. The research study is realized within the group of EU (24) countries for the period 2006 -2016. The partial objective is to summarize the main starting points of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Institute for Management Development (IMD) composing these indices, to identify their common features and different approaches that create differences in the results achieved. Then we analyzed the differences between the resulting rankings and the resulting scores of the GCI and WCI rated countries. In the next part, we focused on analyzing the position of Slovakia using the correlation and multiple regression analysis and identifying the interrelationships between individual pillars and the GCI score in order to determine the impact of key factors that influence the competitive position and sustainable growth of Slovakia and improve or worsen its position. Our results highlighted the economic and statistical context of GCI Slovakia development and the impact of the following key pillars and key factors: pillar P1 (P1: Institutions -Public trust in politicians), pillar P3 (P3: Macroeconomic environment -Government debt) and pillar P11 (P11: Business sophistication -Nature of competitive advantage). All three pillars, identified as crucial to the development of the overall Slovakias' GCI scores, occupy unflattering positions in the comparison of pillar rankings. Therefore, we conclude that it is necessary to clarify the causes of their development and eliminate these identified factors as soon as possible. The results can be seen as beneficial to countries' economic policies in increasing global competitiveness.

This paper examines the relations between the R&D expenditure and the global competitiveness development in the case of Slovakia as well as in member states of the European Union from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE EU (11)). To assess the competitiveness of CEE EU (11) member states, we used the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) processed by the World Economic Forum (WEF). By using the correlation analysis, we focused on the detection of interrelations between the R&D expenditure height (per capita) (using five variables of GERD) and values of the overall GCI score as well as its three main subindexes in the case of CEE EU (11) countries over the period of 2007 -2016. In doing so, we determined that an increase in R&D expenditures can significantly contribute to an increase in the CEE EU (11) countries' competitiveness level. All performed analyses confirmed that it is important to focus on increasing R&D expenditures, especially in the higher education sector, as it has a significant influence on improving the global competitiveness development of the CEE EU (11) countries in the case of the 1st and 3rd GCI subindexes. In the end, it will be also reflected in the overall competitiveness assessment of this group of countries.

Research background: Under the current conditions of increasing competitiveness and interdependence, national economies are more influenced by the global business environment and its development. Constantly changing economic, social, political aspects, and many other factors, cause the differences in the global competitiveness of economies, so the economies are forced to analyze their competitive level more complexly. Despite that, there is a lack of research studies analyzing the international competitiveness of EU-28 economies from the point of view various multi-criteria indices. Purpose of the article: The paper investigates the relations between the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and other selected multi-criteria indices, namely the Global Innovation Index (GII), the Doing Business Index (DBI), the Economic Freedom Index (EFI) and the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) in the case of EU–28 economies. Methods: In order to investigate the relations between the global competitiveness and selected multi-criteria indices affecting the EU–28 economies, the multiple linear regression analyses were applied. The multiple regression model was quantified for every single year, as well as, the regression model using the average score of all analyzed indices. The secondary data concerning the scores of individual indices were collected based on annually published online reports over the period of 2014–2018. Findings & Value added: The research confirmed that there is a statistically significant dependence between the global competitiveness, corruption and the level of innovation potential within the EU–28 economies. Besides, we identified the worst results in the context of competitiveness evaluation especially in the area of corruption and innovation activities. In this regard, the issue of insufficient innovation development and inappropriate corruption perception is considered to be key determinants influencing the assessment of the global competitiveness of the EU–28 member states. In our opinion, to improve the competitiveness of these countries, targeted activities should be implemented in the frame of national competitive strategies, programs, and policies.

In this paper, the following research problem was addressed: Is there a significant economic impact of multidimensional specified competitiveness within the EU (28) countries on the competitive business environment, human development, and sustainable growth? Based on the mentioned research problem, we formulated the aim of paper: To detect the significant interrelations among the assessment of global competitiveness, business environment as well as human development in the EU (28) countries for the period of 2006–2017. To address these problems, the methodology of global multi-criteria indices, namely the global competitiveness index (GCI), doing business index (DBI), and human development index (HDI), as well as panel analysis and non-linear regression analyses with ANOVA, were applied. The panel analysis results suggest that there is a direct linear relationship between the GCI and HDI. Moreover, the impact of the DBI on the change in the GCI score was not confirmed. We identified the main areas of countries’ interest, and important economic and statistical significant relations of competitiveness by creating three models: The GD model (constructed by GCI and DBI scores), GH model (GCI and HDI scores), and GDH model (GCI, DBI and HDI scores). Based on the results, all interrelations were confirmed. However, the highest extent of variability for the explanation of the selected data was recorded in the case of the GDH model (87.12%). We detected the impact of the business environment and human resources as competitive advantages on global macroeconomic competitiveness. As the business sector in EU (28) countries is represented mainly by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), enterprise activities play a key role in the process of sustainable competitive economic development. Moreover, human resources are considered to be another important driver of the internationalization of European SMEs.