Hong Kong has the third most think tanks per capita in Asia, but not one ranked globally
City has a glut of public policy researchers, but US expert questions credibility of their work
Hong Kong has the third largest number of think tanks per person in Asia, but not one is rated highly internationally, partly due to poor-quality research.
The city has more than four think tanks for every million people, according to data analysis by the South China Morning Post, vastly more than the mainland, where there are 429 serving a population of about 1.35 billion.
Only Armenia and the Maldives have more think tanks per person in Asia. Singapore has just one think tank per million people but three are ranked among the best in the world.
"If you want to be a leader and you want to create new and dynamic institutions, you have to adhere to basic standards," said programme director James McGann.
"You have to be open in terms of the process of the inquiry and in terms of access to data and methodology. Those things there are a general unwillingness to do [in Hong Kong]."
None of the city's 33 think tanks appeared in the University of Pennsylvania's 2015 Think Tank rankings of best in world or region, which are decided over nine months based on a number of criteria including quality of publications and ability to bridge the gap between policymakers and the public. However Hong Kong’s Civic Exchange was recognised as the 45th environmental think tank by the report.