The Global Competitiveness Report 2016â€“2017 comes out in the context of persistent slow growth and a nearterm outlook that is fraught with renewed uncertainty fueled by continued geopolitical turmoil, financial market fragility, and sustained high debt levels in emerging markets. The report assesses 138 economies and defines competitiveness as the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of an economy, which in turn sets the level of prosperity that the country can achieve. Response to the survey question â€œIn your country, how strong are financial auditing and reporting standards?â€ [1 = extremely weak; 7 = extremely strong]