How to model economic competencies with the objective of empirically testing them? This question has been discussed for many years now without a conclusive measurement model having been presented thus far. Taking an in-depth analysis of the definition of competency proposed by Weinert (2001) as a starting point, we will derive a framework for the necessary complexity of competency assessment, which finds its graphical representation in a competence octagon. After discussing existing empirical work in the field of economic education and classifying it using the categories of the competence octagon, we will then propose a new model of economic competency that allows for empirical testing.