Explainer | What goes into a competitiveness ranking and how much does it matter for Hong Kong?
- Rankings from top think tanks and other groups assess wide list of criteria, ranging from international trade and investment to employment
Hong Kong’s rise to fifth position in a global competitiveness ranking has been hailed by city authorities as a testament to the effectiveness of new measures to stimulate the local economy.
The city climbed two places in the ranking of 67 economies published by Swiss-based business school the International Institute for Management Development, attributing Hong Kong’s rise to improvements in economic performance and business efficiency.
The Post takes a look at out how Hong Kong performed across various categories, as well as exploring what it will take for the city to climb even higher in future rankings.
1. How are economies evaluated?
The institute assesses economies primarily on four factors: economic performance, business efficiency, government efficiency, and infrastructure.
The fields draw on a total of 333 individual criteria that are graded on a scale of 0 to 100.
In the case of economic performance, for example, areas such as the domestic economy, international trade and investment, local employment and prices are all placed under scrutiny.
Meanwhile, the category of business efficiency takes into consideration management practices, attitudes and values, finance and productivity.