The East Asian Electronics Sector
The Roles of Exchange Rates, Technology Transfer, and Global Value Chains

This Element explores the manufacturing of electronics in East Asia.

Willem Thorbecke (Author)

9781009216814, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 February 2023

75 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 0.5 cm, 0.149 kg

'The book provides a really useful combination of relevant theory and East Asian experience in the semiconductor industry. And it does this in under 100 pages!' Gary Hufbauer, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics

The lion's share of smartphones, computers, televisions, semiconductor devices, and other electronics goods is made in East Asia. Final electronics goods are assembled in China, and sophisticated parts and components (P&C) such as semiconductor chips, image sensors, and ceramic filters in upstream Asian economies such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. How did Asia become the center of electronics manufacturing? How did learning take place that allowed Asian workers to produce cutting-edge products? Are there lessons for countries like the US that seek to reshore manufacturing of semiconductors, flat-panel displays, and related products? This Element addresses these issues.

1. Introduction
2. Out of the Ashes
3. How the Tigers Got Their Claws
4. The Little Tigers Emerge
5. The Dragon Stirs
6. Free for All
7. Lessons.

Subject Areas: International economics [KCL]