The researcher thought to add another factor to the credit-scoring model: the competitiveness of the schools the students attended.

FORBES: Practical Implications

The candidates who have done well have been those who have suggested that France does not have to choose between its "social model" and international competitiveness, and stirred up their followers with more emotive stuff.

BBC: Nationalism looks set to remain on trend in France

With the fall from grace of the Japanese model in the 1990s and the increasing competitiveness of foreign firms, Japanese companies started to realise that they might benefit from outside expertise.

ECONOMIST: Still work to be done

Only in Ireland, where the economic model is based on openness to trade and foreign investment, is competitiveness a big part of the policy debate.

ECONOMIST: In place of devaluation, troubled members could try reform