Theory of Competitive Advantage: Economic Growth Orientation presents a novel framework for understanding the sources of economic growth by examining the dual role of regional governments and enterprises within a national economy. The monograph critiques comparative advantage theory and firm-centered accounts of competitive advantage, arguing that long-term development is shaped by a dual competition mechanism: enterprise competition at the microeconomic level and intergovernmental competition at the mezzoeconomic level. The authors emphasize that the interaction between proactive governance and efficient markets is central to sustaining economic growth and overcoming the limitations of single-driver explanations of development. The volume challenges the idea that economic growth can be explained by one dominant source of advantage. Instead, it highlights the interconnected roles of governments, enterprises, markets, and regional dynamics. By introducing an original " 9-in-3" competition framework , it analyzes how regional governments shape competitive performance through development orientation, resource allocation, institutional design, public governance, and market coordination. This framework is supported by the authors' DRP Model , a formal mechanism for examining the determinants of regional government competitiveness and regional competitive advantage. The book further proposes a four-stage theory of regional economic growth -- from industrial economic competition, through urban economic competition and innovative economic competition, to shared economic competition-- and develops a gradient transference model for understanding the formation of regional economic competition structures.
A dedicated chapter presents Shenzhen as a case in China' s regional economic development, tracing the city' s progression through these stages and demonstrating how the cultivation of competitive advantage can support rapid regional economic transformation. Containing 23 figures , a glossary of key terms, references, and a full index, the work offers a systematic theoretical contribution to the study of economic growth, development economics, regional economics, government-market relations, competitive economic development , and comparative economic systems . The volume is recommended for academic libraries supporting programs in economics, development economics, public policy, regional science, industrial economics, China studies, urban studies , and comparative political economy .