Innovation In East Asia

A series of detailed case studies is used not only to show how individual companies developed, but also how large groups of firms formed industrial clusters from behind the technology frontier. Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore have emerged as dynamic and distinct forces for growth and innovation. Increasingly the competitive challenge to Japan comes from these countries rather than from Europe and America.

A series of detailed case studies is used not only to show how individual companies developed, but also how large groups of firms formed industrial clusters from behind the technology frontier. Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore have emerged as dynamic and distinct forces for growth and innovation. Increasingly the competitive challenge to Japan comes from these countries rather than from Europe and America.

This review provides a quantitative and qualitative assessment of Southeast Asian countries’ capacity in S&T and innovation.

After a half century of transformative economic progress that moved hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, countries in developing East Asia are facing an array of challenges to their future development. Slowed productivity growth, increased fragility of the global trading system, and rapid changes in technology are all threatening export-oriented, labor-intensive manufacturing—the region’s engine of growth. Significant global challenges—such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic—are exacerbating economic vulnerability. These developments raise questions about whether the region’s past model of development can continue to deliver rapid growth and poverty reduction. Against this background, The Innovation Imperative in Developing East Asia aims to deepen understanding of the role of innovation in future development. The report examines the state of innovation in the region and analyzes the main constraints that firms and countries face to innovating. It assesses current policies and institutions, and lays out an agenda for action to spur more innovation-led growth. A key finding of the report is that countries’ current innovation policies are not aligned with their capabilities and needs. Policies need to strengthen the capacity of firms to innovate and support technological diffusion rather than just invention. Policy makers also need to eliminate policy biases against innovation in services, a sector that is growing in economic importance. Moreover, countries need to strengthen key complementary factors for innovation, including firms’ managerial quality, workers’ skills, and finance for innovation. Countries in developing East Asia would also do well to deepen their tradition of international openness, which could foster openness in other parts of the world. Doing so would help sustain the flows of ideas, trade, investment, and people that facilitate the creation and diffusion of knowledge for innovation.

The importance of East Asia in the global economy is now unquestionable, and its market expansion, driven by a population of nearly 1.9 billion, will strongly influence the tempo of international trade and growth of global incomes, However, while the region's economies have amply demonstrated their potential, their future performance is by no means ensured. This book offers an in-depth analysis of the policy trade-offs identified in the recently published Can East Asia Compete? (WB and OUP, 2002). The major contribution of the new book to that it shows how stability can be a stepping-stone to growth that is led by innovation; identifies and analyzes the ingredients of an innovative economy, and discusses how these ingredients mesh with government policy and market initiatives.

Abstract: The generation, diffusion, absorption and application of new technology, knowledge or ideas are crucial drivers of development. This paper surveys the diverse approaches to innovation adopted by East Asian economies, the problems faced and outcomes achieved, as well as possible policy lessons. Knowledge flows from advanced countries remain the primary source of new ideas in developing economies. The authors evaluate the role of three main channels for knowledge flows to East Asia - international trade, acquisition of disembodied knowledge and foreign direct investment. The paper then looks at the exceptionally fast growth in domestic innovation efforts in Korea, Taiwan (China), Singapore and China, drawing on information about R & D as well as original analysis of patent and patent citation data. Citation analysis shows that while East Asian innovations continue to draw heavily on knowledge flows from the US and Japan, citations to the same or to other East Asian economies are quickly rising, indicating the emergence of national and regional knowledge stocks as a foundation for innovation. A last section pulls together findings about policies and institutions to foster innovation, under three heads: the overall business environment for innovation (macroeconomic stability, financial development, openness, competition, intellectual property rights and the quality of communications infrastructure), human capital development, and government fiscal support for innovation.

East Asian economies of the 1980s and 1990s were among the most competitive exporters of manufactured products and sustained far higher growth rates than other countries, developing or industrial. Although recovery from the effects of the 1997-98 economic crisis began fairly quickly in some countries, others have yet to regain their growth momentum. Future competitiveness will depend on innovative capability in manufacturing and services, grounded in stronger institutions, improved macroeconomic policies, and closer regional coordination.

Drawing on a wide range of literature and on interviews with firms, this book explores issues of economic growth with a focus on six East Asian cities: Bangkok, Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. It suggests how policies and institutions can induce and furnish an urban environment that supports innovative activities. A valuable resource for researchers, urban planners, urban geographers, and policy makers interested in East Asia.