Domestic Competition, Cyclical Fluctuations, and Long-Run Growth in Hong Kong Sar

41 Pages Posted: 31 Jan 2006

Date Written: August 2000

Abstract

This paper provides an empirical assessment of the degree of competition in Hong Kong SAR using industry-level data. Although due to data limitations only approximate measures of competitiveness can be estimated, the results do suggest that Hong Kong SAR is as competitive as a typical OECD economy. The dramatic shift of the economy toward services over the last decade has also made it slightly less competitive on average. Imperfect competition is not leading to counter-cyclical markups and slower price adjustment as some theories predict, however, since markups are more pro-cyclical than in OECD countries. Lastly, markups are sufficiently imperfectly competitive in both Hong Kong SAR and the OECD to significantly downwardly bias growth accounting estimates of total factor productivity in Asian NICs vis-à-vis OECD countries.

Keywords: Markups, competitiveness, cyclical fluctuations, growth

JEL Classification: E31, E32, L13, L16

Suggested Citation

Zitzewitz, Eric W., Domestic Competition, Cyclical Fluctuations, and Long-Run Growth in Hong Kong Sar (August 2000). IMF Working Paper No. 00/142, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=879937

Eric W. Zitzewitz (Contact Author)

Dartmouth College ( email )

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