Evaluating sustainability and transferability of the “Singaporean Competitiveness Model”: Lessons for the catching-up European states
Evaluating sustainability and transferability of the “Singaporean Competitiveness Model”: Lessons for the catching-up European states

Summary/Abstract: Singapore is a poster-child of an economic convergence, exemplifying how to become one of the richest countries within a lifetime of one generation. This success story invites for asking the following questions: what are the main elements shaping the Singaporean competitiveness, how sustainable this competitiveness is and which of its determinants could be transferred across catching-up European states. The author argues that the socio-institutional and geo-economic pillars of the “Singaporean Competitiveness Model” constitute a unique set of national characteristics and favourable external circumstances that met in one point in time, creating a perfect development opportunity. This leads to two conclusions. Firstly, the fact that the model worked in the past does not imply that it will pass the test of time, especially in the light of decreasing labour productivity. Secondly, the model fitted the Singaporean case, but it can be only to a limited extent repeated on the European grounds.

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