Structural Changes in International Industrial Linkages and Export Competitiveness in the Asia‑Pacific Region

Abstract

I. Introduction After the second half of the 1980s, developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region have achieved remarkable economic growth, by adopting export-led strategies, with inflows of huge amounts of foreign direct investment (FDI), mainly from Japan. This has made the degree of economic interdependence in this region much deeper, and has changed the industrial structure of each country--and the whole region--especially in the manufacturing sector. One of the concrete phenomena arising has been the globalization of demand, inducing production and procurement of raw materials or intermediate inputs for production, especially in the electric/electronics sector. This article shows this globalization process in a quantitative form, based on an international input-output analysis, with the use of the Asian international input-output tables for 1985 and 1995. The electric/electronics sector and the transportation equipment sector are used here as illustrative examples. From the analysis, two results emerge. First, the electric/electronics sector in Asian countries heavily depends on the demand of the developed countries, especially the United States, and second, the transportation equipment sector depends on Japan for intermediate inputs, since the local supporting industries for the transportation equipment sector have not been sufficiently nurtured. The globalization of demand and procurement patterns for production indicates the importance of export competitiveness among countries. In this regard, the Asian countries have been competitive with each other in the same sector, rather than complementary in terms of production, even after the recent economic crisis. Indeed, the players sometimes compete in the same field, irrespective of their comparative advantage. This will be shown by indicators such as the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Trade Specialization Coefficient (TSC), and will suggest that setting up a reasonable international division of labour is indispensable for sustainable growth in the Asia-Pacific region. II. Data and Methodology In this article, the main methodological approach is an international input-output (I/O) analysis, based on Asian international input-output (Asian I/O) tables compiled by the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE). The framework of the Asian Input-Output table is introduced first. (1) The whole picture of the Asian International Input-Output Table 1995 is given in Figure 1. Looking at Figure 1 according to the columns, each cell in the table shows input compositions of the industries of respective countries. [A.sup.II], for example, shows the input compositions of Indonesian industries vis-a-vis domestically produced goods and services. [A.sup.MI], on the other hand, shows input compositions of Indonesian industries for the imported goods and services from Malaysia. The cells [A.sup.PI], [A.sup.SI], [A.sup.TI], [A.sup.CI], [A.sup.NI], [A.sup.KI], [A.sup.JI], and [A.sup.UI] allow the same interpretation for the imports from other countries. The transaction values thus tabulated are all given at producers' prices of the countries of origin. International freight and insurance paid by Indonesian industries for these imported transactions are all recorded in the row vector B[A.sup.I]. H[A.sup.I] and W[A.sup.I] are input compositions of Indonesian industries vis-a-vis imported goods and services from Hong Kong and those from the rest of the world, and they are given in cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value. Import duties and import sales taxes levied on all Indonesian imports are recorded in the row vector D[A.sup.I]. The value-added items of Indonesian industries are shown in [V.sup.I]. The bottom of the column gives [X.sup.I], the gross inputs of Indonesian industries. Turning to the eleventh column from the left side of the table, it shows the compositions of goods and services that have gone to final demand sectors of Indonesia. …