Developed by Professor Michael Porter and the staff and affiliates of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, the microeconomics of competitiveness course on competitiveness and economic development addresses the subject from a bottom-up, microeconomic perspective. While sound macroeconomic factors affect the potential for competitiveness, wealth is actually created at the microeconomic level. The microeconomics of competitiveness course focuses on the sources of national or regional productivity, which are rooted in the strategies and operating practices of locally based firms, the vitality of clusters, and the quality of the business environment in which competition takes place.