The geography of national competitiveness is now charted annually by international indices. However, quite what such indices measure is uncertain as the concept of competitiveness as applied to economies has no clear or agreed definition among scholars. Still less is there any consensus regarding the factors that contribute to national competitiveness. Notwithstanding, governments have incorporated this vague and ill-measured concept both into policy parlance and into public expenditure plans, suggesting that an objective and practical method for identifying national competitiveness is urgently needed. The author reports an exploratory, inductive, approach to identifying the components of competitive advantage of a specimen economy (Hong Kong), by using data from 127 firms operating within it. An inventory of forty-one firm-suggested advantages of Hong Kong is scored, then exploratory factor analysis is used to derive a statistically and conceptually robust index of ten scales representing components of Hong Kong's competitive advantage. Results point to a new, grounded, approach to identifying competitiveness, not just of nations, but of regions and cities too.
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