Benchmarking developing Asia's manufacturing sector

The purpose of this paper is to document the transformation of developing Asia's manufacturing sector during the last three decades.

The paper briefly discusses the transformation during the last 30 years and benchmarks the sector by estimating a regression based on the logistic pattern of growth. It then summarizes the main findings.

It is found that: the share of developing Asia in world manufacturing output has increased significantly since the 1970s; the increase is concentrated in a number a countries, mostly the NIES, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand; and there has been an important technological upgrading as the share of more technologically advanced manufacturers has increased. However, the increase is also concentrated in a reduced group of countries.

The findings in the paper should be of value to both other researchers and policy makers trying to understand industrialization.