Since the seminal work of Adam Smith, markets have been considered an efficienttool for co-ordinating the behaviour of economic agents. The basic characteristicof a market economy is that the complex system of interaction amongindividuals is not centrally coordinated. Under the assumption of...

‘Productivity and efficiency growth enhances competitiveness’. Similarly formulatedstatements are common in the literature on the economic performance of firms,industries and nations. This conventional perception in the economic literature,originating from trade and growth theory models,...