The present invention provides a resist composition containing a base resin composed of a polymer compound that contains a repeating unit “a” shown by formula (1) and a repeating unit “b” having either or both of a carboxyl group in which a hydrogen atom is substituted with an acid-labile group and a phenolic hydroxyl group in which a hydrogen atom is substituted with an acid-labile group, with a weight average molecular weight of 1,000 to 500,000. There can be provided a resist composition that has high sensitivity and high resolution, and can give a pattern with low dimensional variation and good pattern profile after exposure.