Improving Competitive Advantage with Environmental Infrastructure Sharing: A Case Study of China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park

Abstract

As one way to approach industrial symbiosis, environmental infrastructure sharing is principally concerned with providing an integrated environmental utility system for clustered firms. It is based on the assumption that environmental infrastructure sharing can improve the regional competitive advantage by reducing overall cost and improving environmental performance. In order to verify the assumption, the research examines the cost-effectiveness of wastewater treatment system of China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park between the isolated model and sharing one. The results show that the sharing mode can greatly reduce the overall cost and furthermore provide competitive advantage comparing to the isolated one. In addition, it also improves the overall environmental performance and enforces the cooperation among clustered companies, which creates a good integrated image and attracts more and more excellent enterprises to join in.