The Changing Comparative Advantages of the Hong Kong Watch Industry, 1950-2010

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to further an understanding of the conditions of competitiveness in the global watch industry from the 1950s to 2010, taking Hong Kong as an example. Analyzing its organizational structure and its integration into the international division of labor over this period makes it possible to highlight three different phases, during which Hong Kong benefi ted from various competitive advantages that supported the expansion of its watch industry (i.e., subcontracting in the 1950s and 1960s; assembly of electronic watches in the 1970s and 1980s; and the implementation and use of new global value chains from the late 1980s).