CONTRACT MANUFACTURING IN LATE INDUSTRIALIZATION

Contract manufacturing is the catalyst shaping the world economy under globalization. Affirming the dominance of the open network in organizing worldwide value chains, it transformed Japan and US into trade partners rather than rivals. It allows firms like Apple, Nokia and Sony to outsource production tasks to People's Republic of China, which serves as the world's workplace, and provides a niche for Singapore and Taiwan in late industrialization. Tapping into the economy of scope from the pooling of capacity and information, contract manufacturers like Foxconn and Flextronics provide durable and significant benefit for their economies of domicile, hence a novel niche in late industrialization.