Competition is a familiar activity for every school child who plays games, from schoolyard games like tag, to board games like checkers, to organized sports like soccer. Two or more people independently strive for a single goal, such as evading the person who is “It” in tag, being the last person with a piece on the board in checkers, or winning the most points in a given amount of time in soccer.To economists, the word “competition” usually refers something more specific. In particular, businesses are said to compete or to be competitive if they and other businesses selling similar goods or services all act independently to strive for survival as firms.

Unlike in many childhood games, survival as a firm does not necessarily mean being the only survivor, a sole winner. It does not mean driving everyone else out of business. It only means that you, the business owner, are running a viable business that makes it worth it for you–in terms of money and personal satisfaction–to continue. Can you pay your employees? Can you pay your business debts? Can you expand and invest for a future so you can do that in the coming years? And can you also pay your own self enough to make it worth it to you?

In competitions–be they childhood games or business survival–humans have a strong, innate sense of fairness and of the importance of having a clear advance sense of the rules. Cheating, being granted special privileges, or someone else stacking the deck are viewed with indignation and hurt even in childhood games. In business, these outside-the-rules activities not only give rise to indignation and hurt, but also often to lawsuits or criminal charges.

Manuscripts with relevance to the scope can be submitted to our Email: economics@scitecjournals.com or economics@scholarlypub.com (or) Online Submission at Economics

Author Information: Complete names and affiliation of all authors, including contact details of corresponding author (Telephone, Fax and E-mail address).

Best Regards,
Adam Smith,
Editorial Manager,
Research Journal of Economics