Newly Industrializing Economies Research Articles

Pathways to industrial environmental improvement in the East Asian newly industrializing economies

AbstractAfter the adoption of ‘grow first clean up later’ environmental strategies, governments in the East Asian newly industrializing economies (NIEs) turned to environmental ‘clean‐up’ by enacting landmark environmental legislation, creating command and control environmental agencies and promulgating tough air and water emissions standards. Available evidence suggests there is wide variability in the performance of these new environmental regulatory agencies.Most attribute this variability to differences in ‘political will’. However, why have some governments among the East Asian NIEs been able to muster the ‘political will’ to impose duties on industrial polluters while others have not?This paper answers this question by summarizing a larger study (Rock, 2002) which examines the ‘politics of industrial pollution’ control in six East Asian NIEs. Each case study is based on extensive interviews, the collection of data on the effectiveness of pollution management policies, and the integration of both with the political economy literature on each economy. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment

Regionalization of Trade and Investment in East Asia and Prospects for Further Regional Integration

Intra-regional trade and investment in East Asia has increased during the last few decades. These flows have accelerated again since the beginning of the 1990s. The recent trade integration in the East Asian region can be explained mainly by the more active and connecting roles of newly industrializing economies (NIEs) rather than by Japan and concentrated FDI flows within the region. Regional financial market integration also helped facilitate this process of trade and investment integration within the region. The concentrated FDI flows have led to the internationalization of production networks, of which ethnic Chinese networks have been particularly significant. East Asian economies are able to seek further regional integration based on these production networks and on newly formed local and subregional integration schemes.

From Confucius to the Post-Industrial State: Public Services for the Single Elderly in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has experienced rapid economic development and social change over the last three decades. Its society is not only aging but differentiating rapidly as its economy matures and processes of globalisation intensify. While economic development has provided opportunities for many, a significant minority live in poverty. This paper explores the extent to which social policy is adapting to meet the needs of one disadvantaged group, the low income single elderly. Many single elderly live in poverty because they are unable to save for their old age, there is no comprehensive retirement protection, public assistance levels are inadequate and stigmatised, and employment opportunities are restricted. The government provides a relatively extensive range of social services to the elderly, reflecting generally high levels of social service provision in Hong Kong. Yet in spite of the government's promotion of “aging in place”, a number of key services necessary to achieve this goal, in particular housing, social services and medical care, are significantly undeveloped and/or under-supplied. While mature market economies shifted from pre-Fordist to Fordist and now post-or after-Fordist models of welfare, the Newly Industrialised Economies (NIEs) can be characterised as having shifted from Confucian to post-Fordist or post-industrial welfare regimes. Our case study suggests that the implications of this trajectory require further research, in particular with respect to its uneven impact on vulnerable groups—and the single elderly would be an excellent case in point.

Technological capabilities and international production strategy of firms: the case of foreign direct investment in China

In this paper, the author highlights the differing motives behind direct foreign investment (FDI) made by (1) large transnational corporations (TNCs) from industrial countries, and (2) small manufacturing firms from newly industrializing economies (NIEs). The basic premise is that TNCs that command sophisticated technologies wish to produce in China to exploit their technological advantages by gaining access to potentially substantial Chinese domestic markets. However, small firms from NIEs such as Hong Kong use more mundane technologies. They are more interested in using low cost inputs, such as labor and land in China, so that they can continue to export manufactured goods to third countries, thus avoiding rising input costs in their own domestic economies. The discussion is supported by the results of a survey and interviews with executives from both large TNCs and small NIE firms active in PRC.

The Electronics Industries of the Asia–Pacific: Exploiting International Production Networks for Economic Development

Although the electronics industry has been one of the main driving forces behind the export‐led growth of the newly industrialising economies (NIEs) of the Asia–Pacific, there has until recently been little empirical research showing how the various NIEs managed to enter international markets and gain technology. This paper describes the overall characteristics of the electronics sector in the NIEs, highlighting the main organisational innovations which have enabled local firms to enter international markets and acquire foreign technology. The OEM (original equipment manufacture) system, prevalent in East Asia, is contrasted with the TNC (transnational company)‐led growth dominant in Southeast Asia. The paper also discusses the emerging ‘contract electronics manufacturing’, or CEM, which could threaten traditional OEM and TNC‐subsidiary production in the NIEs. The electronics sector proves to be a rich source of empirical material, both for understanding the processes of economic development and for illustrating the role of latecomer enterprise in engaging with and exploiting international production networks.

The effects of structural change and economic liberalisation on gender wage differentials in South Korea and Taiwan

This paper investigates the sources of divergent trends in gender wage differentials in two important newly industrialised economies (NIEs), South Korean and Taiwan. As these economies have entered the post-industrial phase of development, gender wage differentials in Taiwan's manufacturing sector have widened, while in Korea they have narrowed. Decomposition analysis is used to broadly identify sources of change in gender wage differentials. Multivariate regression analysis is relied on to differentiate the impact on the gender wage gap of (1) macro-levels policies, (2) institutional factors, and (3) shifts in labour demand and supply. In addition to the predictable effects of several standard supply-side variables, in Taiwan physical capital mobility is found to have contributed to a wider gender earnings gap. Women's greater concentration in industries where capital is mobile may explain this result. The effects of capital mobility in Korea appears to differ, which may be due to the dissimilar characters of outward FDI from that country. Copyright 2000 by Oxford University Press.

A Sub-Provincial Recipe of Coastal Development in China: The Case of Qingdao

No monocausal explanation will suffice to account for the complex process of economic development. At different times and under different politico-economic circumstances, different combinations of actors and institutions are involved as agents of development, which include factories, investment banks, entrepreneurial bourgeoisie, foreign capital and the state. When “telescoping” the arduous process of development is the key imperative, the role of the state becomes particularly crucial in designing overall development strategies, governing the market by getting the prices wrong, and controlling the major sources of financing development. It should be noted, however, that the state is a multi-layered structure of authority with its own intra- and inter-governmental dynamics. As the extensive literature on the East Asian Newly Industrializing Economies (NIEs) almost uniformly adopts the highly encompassing term of state, it largely fails to differentiate the roles performed by the central and local governments in executing “developmental intervention.”

Total Factor Productivity Growth in Singapore: A Survey

Since the early 1990s, discussions on total factor productivity (TFP) have become increasingly important for Singapore, and there has been substantial amounts of empirical work done in this area using both cross-country and inter-temporal analysis. This article reviews the conceptual and empirical aspects of some of the TFP growth studies on Singapore and provides suggestions for future research. Introduction Total factor productivity serves as an important measure of the productive performance of an economy for the following reasons. First, unlike the partial productive measure, it considers the contribution of more than one input to output. Second, it is important to the growth process in the long run, as there are constraints imposed by population growth, together with diminishing returns that set in as capital intensity is increased. One way to secure economic growth beyond these limits is to secure ongoing increases in TFP. This is a very relevant issue for Singapore, which the OECD has upgraded to the status of an advanced newly developing country. Although Singapore has enjoyed impressive levels of economic growth, in terms of sustainable long-term growth given by TFP, it was Young (1992) who first argued that Singapore was nowhere near its twin city, Hong Kong. This was then emphasized by Krugman (1994) who singled out Singapore as the only newly-industrialized economy (NIE) which experienced no TFP growth. But Lim (1986, p. 5) once commented that, if a country can raise its standard of living so spectacularly with a very low TFP growth, does it then matter whether TFP growth is low?' Peebles and Wilson (1996, p. 205) as a reply to Lim, argued that an important point is missed in this comment which only looks at the benefits resulting from high growth and ignores the cost of achieving such growth. This means that TFP analysis in Singapore is not to be taken lightly. It was noted that most developed countries at the same development stage as Singapore were having TFP growth rates between 2 per cent and 4 per cent while Singapore registered an insignificant 0.4 per cent between 1980 and 1992. The target is now set to reach at least 2 per cent in order to sustain a (labour) productivity growth of 4 per cent and a GDP growth of 7 per cent.2 The importance of TFP in Singapore is further reflected in the numerous studies undertaken to examine the issue. Review of TFP Studies Table 1 provides a summary of various studies' estimates of TFP growth for Singapore's aggregate economy, manufacturing (Manu) and services (Serv). Most of the studies above show that TFP growth in Singapore has been insignificant, particularly in comparison with the NIEs and other countries. After the pioneering work of Tsao (1982) on Singapore, various studies have reexamined this issue. While Wong and Tok (1994) and Rao and Lee (1995) showed that TFP growth increased in the latter half of the 1980s, the National Productivity Board (1994) and Sarel (1997) showed improvements in TFP growth for the early 1990s. However, the Department of Statistics (1997) and Renuka M. (1998) show otherwise and Leung's (1997) results are inconclusive for the early 1990s. It is obvious that TFP results can vary significantly from one another and this is due to different methodologies used and different time periods of study. The objective of this article is to critically analyse some of the often-cited cross-country and inter-temporal TFP studies in order to understand the problems that still exist in the analysis of TFP growth. In particular, the conceptual and empirical aspects of the studies are reviewed and suggestions for future research are put forth. Unfortunately, the space constraint and the disparate and complex nature of the various studies reviewed are not amenable to a more integrated approach to the article.3 For instance, a detailed comparison of various methodologies in TFP measure and their caveats as well as data problems in Singapore could not be discussed extensively but an attempt was made to incorporate these issues within the studies whenever possible. …

ICT and economic development in Taiwan: analysis of the evidence

The IT-led development strategy adopted by Taiwan has been greatly recognised by other Asian newly industrialised economies (NIEs) in their own NII initiatives. This paper discusses the impact of ICT on economic growth in Taiwan based on longitudinal data over 16 years. It highlights the joint impact of national IT capabilities and national IT investment on economic growth, and the findings imply that the payoff effect of IT investment on economic growth can be achieved only through a robust national information infrastructure that supports IT adoption and application.

Swimming against the Tide: Crisis Management in Malaysia

Unlike Thailand, Indonesia and Korea, Malaysia succumbed to the financial crisis with only a little foreign debt exposure of its banking system. For this reason, it has so far managed to muddle through without an IMF-sponsored rescue package. In the absence of a clear policy anchor, indecisiveness has adversely affected Malaysia's recovery process. The recent dramatic policy shift could usher in long-term recovery only if the breathing space provided by capital controls and pump priming is appropriately used for the speedy implementation of required adjustment policies, in particular recapitalization of troubled domestic banks and revitalizing the debt-laden corporate sector. Until the onset of the currency crisis, Malaysia was considered the best success story among the second-tier newly industrializing economies (NIEs) in East Asia. While Malaysia's economic performance was impressive by developing-country standards throughout the post-independence period, the achievements were truly remarkable from the late 1980s when there was a decisive shift towards greater outward-- orientation of economic policy. During 1987-96, the Malaysian economy grew at an average annual rate of 8.8%, lifting per capita income from US$1,850 to US$4,425. The economy was at virtual full employment for the last six years, with modest inflation (4.5%). Rapid economic growth was accompanied by rising living standards, and improvement in the distribution of income, ameliorating the twin problems of poverty and racial imbalances. In terms of political stability and policy continuity, the stage was well set for advance through an outward-oriented development strategy. Infrastructure bottlenecks, while important, did not seem impenetrable. Malaysia's aim of entering the league of developed industrial nations by 2020 (as envisaged in Prime Minister Dr Mahathir's Vision 2020 Speech) was generally considered feasible (Athukorala forthcoming). This impressive growth trajectory changed dramatically with the onset of the currency crisis. The currency and stock market turmoil that began in July 1997 was quickly translated into economic collapse. Unlike the other three crisis countries, Malaysia succumbed to the crisis with only a little foreign debt exposure of its banking system (discussed below). For this reason, it has so far managed to muddle through without an IMF-- sponsored rescue package. But in the absence of a clear policy anchor, indecisiveness has adversely affected Malaysia's recovery process. By mid1998, the economy was in recession and there were no signs of achieving currency and share price stability. The stage was set for a dramatic policy turnaround in favour of an unorthodox (and risky) policy posture whose key elements were capital controls and expansionary macroeconomic policy. Ironically, as of mid-1998 prospects for economic recovery in Malaysia in the immediate future were less promising than in Korea and Thailand, which were forced to follow the conventional (IMF) reform. What happened to Malaysia? Did it simply succumb to a wild speculative attack in the wake of the Thai crisis or were there some fundamental weaknesses in the pre-crisis Malaysian economy that made it vulnerable to the Thai contagion? Has the recovery process been hampered by inappropriate policy responses? What triggered particular policy responses? What are the likely implications of the dramatic policy shift in September? This paper sets out to answer these and related issues. The paper is broadly organized into three parts. The following section briefly surveys the onset of the crisis and subsequent economic collapse. The next section examines the sources of vulnerability to the crisis and policy responses, with emphasis on their political and institutional underpinnings. The final section discusses the recent policy U-- turn and its likely implications. From Financial Crisis to Economic Collapse For over five years prior to the onset of the recent currency crisis, the exchange rate of the ringgit varied in the narrow range of 2. …

East Asia Is Not Mexico: The Difference Between Balance of Payments Crises and Debt Deflations

What was different about the collapse of the Asian emerging markets in 1997? The free fall of the Mexican peso and the collapse of the Mexican Bolsa produced a Tequila effect that spread through most of South America but did not create a sell off in the global financial markets similar to that which occurred in 27 October 1997. Normally, sharp declines in prices in emerging equity markets produce a flight to quality, in which international investors shift their funds back into developed country markets and local investors seek to protect their wealth by diversifying into developed country assets. Yet, the collapse in the Asian emerging markets, that started in Thailand, spread to the other second-tier Newly Industrialising Economies (NIEs) and eventually extended to the first-tier. NIEs produced the largest absolute declines ever experienced in the major developed country equity markets. If equity markets can suffer from what Alan Greenspan has called irrational exuberance, the Asian crisis suggests that they may also suffer from irrational pessimism. Yet, there is much to indicate that in this case the financial markets in Japan, Europe and the U.S. were quite rational in assessing the global implications of the financial crisis in Asia. The developing countries in Asia have come to play a crucial role in global growth. In the 1990s, they accounted for roughly half of global expansion. The immediate implication of the Asian crises is that the collapse of growth in the region would produce a global deflation. This would make it more difficult for developed economies, particularly Europe and Japan, to expand at rates necessary to generate sufficient investment to produce reductions in unemployment. Recovery in the developed world outside the U.S. and the U.K. is thus at risk as a result of declining Asian growth. Indeed, if the U.S. cannot continue its current expansion, there is a clear risk of a global depression similar to that of the 1930s.

Hong Kong's "Transferred" Industrialization and Industrial Geography

Research Article| September 01 1998 Hong Kong's "Transferred" Industrialization and Industrial Geography Victor F. S. Sit Victor F. S. Sit Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Asian Survey (1998) 38 (9): 880–904. https://doi.org/10.2307/2645624 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Victor F. S. Sit; Hong Kong's "Transferred" Industrialization and Industrial Geography. Asian Survey 1 September 1998; 38 (9): 880–904. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2645624 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAsian Survey Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1998 The Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The Impact of Information Technology Investments on Firm Performance and Evaluation: Evidence from Newly Industrialized Economies

The impact of information technology (IT) investments on firm performance has been the subject of active research in recent years. However, findings of almost all studies are based on data collected in the United States. Little work has been done elsewhere to validate these results and to see if they are applicable across national boundaries. In this study, we fill this gap by comparing four newly-industrialized economies (NIEs) with regard to the impact of IT capital on business performance. Secondary data collected from various sources are used to assess the impact over the period from 1983 to 1991. Findings based on four business measures and a market valuation model based on Tobin's q are reported. While the current results are consistent with work done in the United States in general, discrepancies among the four NIEs are observed. Combined with findings from previous work, three pieces of evidence seem to emerge that are generally observed across country boundaries. First, IT investment is not correlated with shareholder's return. Second, there is little evidence that the level of computerization is valued by the market in developed and newly-developed countries. Third, there is no consistent measurement of IT investment as indicated by the mixed results across different performance ratios. Modeling and measurement concerns expressed in previous U.S.-based studies are also observed in our comparative study. Our findings provide a starting point to accumulate a body of comparative studies for the development of a theory that links IT investment, firm performance, and macro factors such as national technology policy in an integrated framework.

The world economy, development, and women

Women are important participants in the world economy. They represent more than 40% of the world's labor force and are now being drawn into the global economy in large numbers. It is particularly women from developing countries who are increasingly being targeted by the global economy. These include the young women of the electronic industries in South East Asia, the miracle makers of the newly industrialized economies (NIEs) of East Asia, the artefact makers of indigenous groups, the women of the maquiladoras of Mexico, and the workers of the export processing zones of the world where 75% of labor is composed of women. The history of the world economy reveals the crucial role played by Third World women in various stages of its development. This essay explores the notion of development in the world economy and its effects on the status of women in such an economy.

Export Competitiveness of China and ASEAN in the U.S. Market

This article provides a comparison of the changing patterns of export share, product mix, industry structure and export growth among China and ASEAN-4 (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand) as exporters of primary commodities, labour-intensive goods as well as capital-intensive manufactures to their common U.S. import market. The degree of export rivalry or competition among China and ASEAN-4 in the US. market is examined by using a conventional shift-share methodology. Changes in ASEAN-China's relative real exchange rate, export composition, as well as changes in their trade patterns, insofar as they might have effects on the export shares of the ASEAN-4 and China to the United States, are considered. The study points unequivocally to some rivalry effects from China on the ASEAN4's exports to the United States. Some of the possible approaches to attaining a propitious outcome of the competition, and ways to ameliorate adverse effects of the rivalry are raised and discussed. Introduction China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)' have experienced strong economic growth over the last two decades or so. The dynamic growth of these economies are attributed, inter alia, to their successful reforms, industrial restructuring and export-led industrializations. Aside from sharing similar rates of growth, there are some other common features between China and the ASEAN countries. For example, in their initial stages of growth, China and ASEAN were predominantly specializing in the production of primary-based and labour-intensive commodities (for example crude minerals, textiles, and clothing), in contrast to the newly-industrialized economies' (NIEs) and Japan's production of largely capital- and technology-intensive products.2 Another similarity is that both China and the ASEAN countries are heavily dependent on the United States and Japan as important destinations for their exports. By exporting similar products (for example labour-intensive goods) to the same markets, these economies tend to face a high degree of export competition or rivalry among themselves. This article aims to provide a comparison of the changing pattern of export competitiveness among China and the four ASEAN countries comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand (hereafter ASEAN-4) as exporters of primary commodities, labour-intensive goods as well as technology-intensive manufactures in the U.S. market. Competitiveness is defined as country A's ability to gain market share on a common export destination (such as the U.S. import market).3 There are many possible factors contributing to the changing level of competitiveness of a trading country. In this article, we confine our analysis to evaluating how important relative changes in real exchange rate, product composition, industry structure and growth rates are in influencing export competitiveness of China and ASEAN-4 in the U.S. import market. The degree of export rivalry among China and ASEAN-4 is examined by using a shift-share model (see, for example, Herschede 1991). In particular, the model assesses the effects of different industry structures and growth rates on the export performance of China and each of the four ASEAN countries in the U.S. market. This article is organized as follows. In the next section, the changing trends and patterns of China and the ASEAN-4's total (primary and manufactured) exports to their major trading partners, namely the United States and Japan, are examined. We then confine our subsequent analysis to the case of the United States as ASEAN and China's common export destination. Issues of changes in real exchange rate and product composition, insofar as they might have effects on the ASEAN-4 and China's export growth rates and on their market share in the U.S. import market, are considered in the article. The shift-share methodology is presented in the following section for assessing and comparing the differences in competitiveness among China and the ASEAN countries in the U. …

THE FIFTH ASIAN DRAGON: SOURCES OF GROWTH IN GUANGDONG, 1979–1994

This paper presents a growth accounting exercise to uncover the sources of spectacular growth in the Guangdong Province in China, the so‐called “Fifth Dragon” in Asia, for the post‐open‐door period 1979–1994. A large fraction of Guangdong's output growth cannot be attributed to the growth in its capital and labor inputs. Of the unexplained residuals, foreign direct investment is a significant growth‐spurring engine while export expansion is not. In this sense, China's open door policy did not generate export‐led growth although it did stimulate capital accumulation through the importation of foreign capital.“East Asia has a remarkable record of high and sustained economic growth. From 1965 to 1990 the twenty‐three economies of East Asia grew faster than all other regions of the world…. Most of this achievement is attributable to seemingly miraculous growth in just eight economies: Japan; the ‘Four Tigers’—Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, China; and three newly industrializing economies (NIEs) of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand….”

EXPLORING PROBABLE FACTORS DETERMINING THE SUCCESS OF BUMIPUTERA ENTREPRENEURS

The roles of small and medium‐scale industries (SMIs) are well‐documented (see Ragayah Haji Mat Zin, 1996). SMIs not only continue to be the majority of enterprises everywhere and exist side‐by‐side with large industries in developed countries such as Japan, Germany, Italy and the United States of America, they are also regarded as the engine of growth in the Newly Industrializing Economies (NEEs). In the developed countries, SMIs are said to be able to generate more employment relative to large firms as well as plying a complementary role to the latter. In Japan, for example, of the 430,393 enterprises in the Japanese manufacturing sector at the end of 1991, 99.1%, or 436,455, were small businesses, which also accounted for 72.1% of the employees and 51.8% of the value of shipment in this sector (JFS, 1993). They are seen to play a wider role in developing countries. In addition to the above, many studies (see for example Chee, 1985, 1990; Levy, 1993; and Rahmah Ismail, 1995) have shown that SMI entrepreneurs can mobilize savings, SMIs can act as seedling beds for entrepreneurial training, as well as improve income distribution.

Symposium on Asian Industrial Relations: Introduction

It is increasingly apparent that models of industrial relations developed by the industrialised market economies in Europe and North America cannot be readily transferred to newly industrialising economies (NIEs) in other parts of the world. Certainly, the impact of US or European- based multinational enterprises (MNEs) have had a significant influence on the NIEs of Asia. Furthermore, the growing outward-orientation of economies in the Asian region means that they are likely to be increasingly influenced by aspects of western-based employment and industrial relations practices. It is important to emphasise that countries in the Asian region have not adopted a uniform approach to industrial relations or other firm- related policies and practices. This is clearly evident in the case for the three countries represented in this symposium. Yet many economies in the region have shared some similar characteristics which include: a high degree of investment in human capital, a welfare-oriented state, relatively weak (and historically repressed) industrial relations institutions, a high degree of economic coordination by government and the lack of an independent trade union movement. However, in many cases, increased economic development is facilitating greater democratisation and a higher degree of labour market institutionalisation as evidenced by the emergence of minimum wage laws, health and safety regulation and independent dispute settling mechanisms. Even trade unions appear to be gaining a greater level of autonomy and influence in some countries where they were hitherto illegal. A study of the changing nature of employment relations in newly industrialising countries of Asia, inspired by an MIT-initiated study led by Tom Kochan and coordinated by Anil Verma et al (1995), emphasised the linkage between economic development and industrial relations. A series of parallel studies were conducted in eight Asian NIEs which revealed a variety of approaches being used to adjust their economic development, labour and human resources strategies to a new global economic order. (1) However, all countries faced a similar question: what is the appropriate mix of industrial relations, human resource and economic policies for adjusting to a higher value added economy? Are new state policies, company practices and union strategies needed to move to a higher wage, higher productivity strategy for further economic development? The evidence from the research project suggests a link between the process of economic growth and policies in the area of human resources and employment relations. As shown in Figure 1, a less developed country begins the process of industrialisation by creating some initial conditions conducive to investment. In industrial relations terms, this may translate to low wages and possibly low unionisation. This situation may attract initial investments by firms which can take advantage of such labour market conditions. However, with increased investment, the initial labour market conditions inevitably change and there are pressures for higher wages and possibly unionisation. These may be called secondary conditions of the labour market because they follow the initial investment surge. However, this reduces the initial advantage which attracted the new investment in the first place, so other inducements are needed in order to retain attraction to external investors. This creates a critical juncture in the development process and places pressure on the existing industrial relations system. The secondary conditions provide the state with strategic choices. On the one hand, it can undertake a series of measures that will maintain the advantages of the initial conditions. These policies may include wage controls, as well as the suppression of unions and collective bargaining (as has occurred in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia). Alternatively, the state may encourage employers to link wages to productivity and to upgrade skills by investing in training and education. …

Asian NIEs and the Global Economy: Industrial Restructuring and Corporate Strategy in the 1990s

Industrial restructuring in the Asian Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs) has become very important. Existing strategies may no longer deliver employment or income growth in many of the Asian NIEs' labour intensive industries. The complex process of restructuring will involve economic adjustment and political realignment among industrial sectors and between industry managers and state policy makers. This book explains how the Asian NIEs have responded to the costs of success, including escalating real wages and prices, slowing growth rates of productivity and increasing competition in markets they once dominated.

Pax americana and asian exports: revealed trends of comparative advantage recycling

Ever since the end of World War II the U.S. import markets, especially those for labor-intensive standardized manufactures, have been opened up for imports from developing countries in order to assist economic development abroad. The Asian economies, in particular, are the most active exploiters of this trade-as-aid policy of the United States formulated along the free trade doctrine of comparative advantage. As Japan graduated from the early postwar labor-driven exports and moved up to higher phases of industrialization (to scale-driven, assembly-driven, and currently knowledge-driven), other Asian economies, first the newly industrialized economies (NIEs) and then the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and China, have been capturing those low-end U.S. import markets in tandem, thereby creating the phenomenon of comparative advantage recycling. Some revealed patterns are examined.