This paper explores the industrial specialisation of latecomer countries, particularly Korea and Taiwan, which are often referred to as successful catch-up cases. The traditional wisdom is that the ‘developmental state’, resource leverage, and technological sophistication in an export-oriented strategy have been the factors for success. However, firm strategies and a supportive government are not sufficient to explain the different features of catch-up patterns. In this paper we propose that differences in industrial specialisation of catch-up countries are attributable to the interaction between technological characteristics and institutional settings, including corporate organisation, industrial structure, and the role of the public sector.