Assessment of local competitiveness: A composite indicator analysis of Costa Rican counties using the ‘Benefit of the Doubt’ model

This study employs a Benefit-of-the-Doubt (BOD) weighting model that incorporates information generated via a participatory method—i.e., based on experts' opinion—to construct a composite indicator that evaluates the competitiveness level of Costa Rican counties during 2010–2016. The results of the empirical application based on the county competitiveness index (CCI) reveal the superior informative power of the proposed BOD composite indicator, relative to models using equal weight restrictions or weights estimated via principal component analysis. The county competitiveness index is a valuable tool to monitor counties’ competitive level, and the findings underline that an analysis based on the BOD approach may offer useful information to policy makers on what strategic actions may potentially optimize the allocation of local resources and, subsequently, enhance economic outcomes (i.e., business creation and employment).