ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the institutional configuration of divergent paths of industrial restructuring in Hong Kong and Singapore. It looks at the effects of state-industry, finance-industry, and labor-capital relations on restructuring strategies in the two city-states. The state in Hong Kong, as a result of historical legacies in the composition of the governing coalition as well as on-going financial constraints, tends to adopt a detached approach to the economy. The relationship between the state and industry is the first point of departure in Hong Kong and Singapore's approach to economic management. In contrast to the detachment of the Hong Kong government, the Singapore state has intervened systematically and extensively in its attempt to increase the competitiveness of the economy. The high wage policy was intended to restructure the economy by forcing industry to move up or move out and in the process redistribute scarce labor between industries.
