This paper investigates the trends and determinants of geographic concentration and industrial specialization in the People's Republic of China (PRC) using interprovincial panel data for the period from 1999 to 2010. It shows that, after 2005, both geographic concentration and industrial...

This study explores the relationship between inequality and structural transformation by constructing a theoretical model, developing analytical frameworks, and implementing a case study. The general equilibrium model we develop demonstrates that inequality exhibits an inverted U shape as...

The paper investigates the situation of middle-income economies around the world. Since 1965, only 18 economies with a population of more than 3 million and not dependent on oil exports have made the transition to being high income. Many more have not been able to move beyond the middle-income...

This paper illustrates the upgrading experiences of the automotive and hard disk drive (HDD) industries in Thailand, chosen because of their outstanding export performance in the developing world. An understanding of their upgrading experiences can shed some light on the ongoing debate regarding...

The relationship between large enterprises (LEs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Japan has undergone major changes during the long-term recession since 1991. While SMEs still play the important role of supplying parts and components to LEs through subcontracting, many LEs have started...

This study sheds light on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing and its performance in Thailand. It elaborates on the key sources of finance existing for Thai manufacturing SMEs and their importance for SME performance as measured by technical efficiency, export performance, and...

The paper examines the impact of foreign-licensed technology and identifies channels to effectively leverage such technology to improve the performance of manufacturing firms in the Philippines. Using the fixed effects approach to World Bank Enterprise Survey panel data for the Philippines...

Even as a number of developing countries have been able to reap the export opportunities presented by the rise of global value chains (GVCs), Nepal's export performance remains dismal. This paper examines the challenges and constraints faced by manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises...

The objective of this paper is to study how manufacturing plants in India adjusted to trade liberalization during the period 1998-99 to 2007-08. We estimate how the labor share changed due to tariff reduction. Our results indicate that a decline in output tariffs led to an increase in the labor...

Many studies discuss the "de-industrialization" or "servicification" of economies in both developed and developing countries. Such studies rely on statistics that distinguish a manufacturing from a service sector. But in the age of global value chains (GVCs), it becomes increasingly difficult to...