A Comparative Study on Competitiveness of KIBS in HK and Singapore
- 1 School of Economics, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the competitiveness of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) in Hong Kong and Singapore from 2005 to 2015. In terms of methodology, we employ three indices —Export Market Share (MS), Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Relative Trade Advantage (RTA) to measure competitiveness in selected sectors. Results show that although Hong Kong and Singapore have taken up greater world market share, neither of them shows strong comparative advantage in overall KIBS. Based on the RCA index, Singapore has stronger comparative advantage than Hong Kong on overall KIBS, while the values of RTA index reveal reverse conclusion. Both the RCA and the RTA indices exhibit the consistent result that the greatest competitive advantage is earned by financial services sector in Hong Kong as well as Singapore. Of particular note, according to the values of two revealed comparative advantage indices, neither Hong Kong no r Singapore has comparative advantage in charge for the use of intellectual property sector.
- Hiziroglu, A., Hiziroglu, M. and Kokcam, A.H. (2013) Competitiveness in Services: Turkey versus European Union. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 62, 436-440. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.071
- Muller, E. and Zenker, A. (2001) Business Services as Actors of Knowledge Transformation: The Role of Kibs in Regional and National Innovation Systems. Research Policy, 30, 1501-1516. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(01)00164-0
- Ciriaci, D., Montresor, S. and Palma, D. (2015) Do Kibs Make Manufacturing More Innovative? An Empirical Investigation of Four European Countries. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 95, 135-151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2015.02.008
- D’Antone, S. and Santos, J.B. (2016) When Purchasing Professional Services Supports Innovation. Industrial Marketing Management, 58, 172-186.
- Miles, I., Kastrinos, N., Bilderbeek, R., Den Hertog, P., Flanagan, K., Huntink, W. and Bouman, M. (1995) Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: Users, Carriers and Sources of Innovation. European Innovation Monitoring System (EIMS) Reports.
- Wood, P. (2009) Knowledge Intensive Business Services—International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, 44, 37-44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-008044910-4.00215-7
- Li, X. and Zhou, C. H. (2010) The Comparison of Trade Structure and International Competitiveness on Knowledge-Intensive Business Services between China and USA. Inquiry into Economic Issues, 3, 131-137.
- Jackman, M., Lorde, T., Lowe, S. and Alleyne, A. (2011) Evaluating Tourism Competitiveness of Small Island Developing States: A Revealed Comparative Advantage Approach. Anatolia, 22, 350-360. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13032917.2011.626311
- Balassa, B. (1965) Trade Liberalisation and “Revealed” Comparative Advantage. The Manchester School, 33, 99-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9957.1965.tb00050.x
- Greenaway, D. and Milner, C. (1993) Trade and Industrial Policy in Developing Countries. Palgrave Macmillan, UK.
- Balassa, B. (1989) Comparative Advantage, Trade Policy and Economic Development. Harvester Wheatsheaf, New York.
- Vollrath, T.L. (1991) A Theoretical Evaluation of Alternative Trade Intensity Measures of Revealed Comparative Advantage. Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 127, 265-280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02707986