"International competitiveness rankings, of which quite a number exist, enjoy great popularity with the media that, notwithstanding the rankings' rather shaky theoretical foundations, tend to use them as yardsticks for assessing the achievements or failures of governments. Against this background, the present article asks how consistent major rankings are. Do different rankings give consistent messages both each year and over the course of time so that one can be fairly sure that the results are trustworthy, or is it largely in the eye of the beholder in which ranking he or she should invest more trust, since different rankings lead to by and large different results?"

Support: Paper