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How Sustainable are Benefits from Global Production Networks? Malaysia’s Upgrading Prospects in the Electronics Industry

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Trust and Antitrust in Asian Business Alliances

Abstract

A progressive integration of East Asia’s electronics industries into global production networks (GPNs) provides a fascinating example of the benefits that Asian firms can reap from linkages with foreign firms (see, for example, Borrus et al., 1997, 2000). Network participation has provided Asian producers with access to the industry’s main growth markets, helping to compensate for the initially small size of their domestic markets. It has also provided new employment opportunities, and induced Asian network suppliers to develop primarily operational technological and management capabilities (Ernst and Kim, 2002). As a result, East Asia has emerged as the dominant global manufacturing base of the electronics industry, especially for assembly and component manufacturing.

One of the most striking features of the 21st century is that everything has become tradable.

(Pender, 2003)

The world is more US-centric now than it has ever been.

(Roach, 2003)

One of the important issues to be examined is whether and to what extent intra-regional trade and investment linkages will work as a major factor of growth in the future.

(Ivan Tselichtchev, Chapter 2 in this volume)

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© 2004 Dieter Ernst

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Ernst, D. (2004). How Sustainable are Benefits from Global Production Networks? Malaysia’s Upgrading Prospects in the Electronics Industry. In: Kidd, J., Richter, FJ. (eds) Trust and Antitrust in Asian Business Alliances. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523579_9

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