The international competitiveness of China’s shipbuilding industry

Abstract

This paper introduces profit rate as a more relevant measure of international shipbuilding competitiveness. We also develop a model to identify competitiveness factors and their relative importance. Our findings suggest that Chinese competitiveness derives from shipbuilding costs, whereas contract price deviations are the driver for Japan and South Korea. We argue that China became more competitive in building of bulk carriers and tankers than Japan and to a lesser extent than South Korea after year 2000 and that a market trough would further strengthen China’s competitiveness. Our results have broad implications for monitoring industrial performance and formulating competitive strategies for shipyards.