Governance of technology in the electronics industries of East and South-East Asia

This paper develops a taxonomy of government-firm relations in the electron ics industries of four countries within East Asia. The paper analyses the s trategies, behaviours and functions of firms (local and foreign), suggestin g that the effectiveness of direct government-firm interventions may be ove rstated in the policy literature. By focusing on electronics, the largest e xport sector, the paper makes inter-country comparisons between government policy approaches, corporate strategies, technological trends, product spec ialisations, and the effectiveness of government-funded technology institut es and government-firm partnerships for technology. Firm-level case finding s are used to provide a detailed understanding of emerging East Asian corpo rate strategies and technological strengths and weaknesses. The paper confi rms the remarkable degree of technological progress over the past three dec ades but warns against simple extrapolations into the future. By examining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, the paper touches on issu es raised by the economic crisis in East Asia, supporting the view that the primary role of government is to secure macroeconomic stability, rather th an to intervene in support of specific firms or sectors. The empirical evid ence is used to assess and extend conceptualisations of the East Asian deve lopmental state, arguing that the conventional market to state continuum fa ils to capture important features of the region's development. The paper al so comments on the relevance of the findings for modern resource-based theo ries of the firm and neo-Schumpeterian models of innovation. (C) 2001 Elsev ier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.