Industrial Policy in Asia

This paper examines three types of industrialization that have occurred in East Asia: the Japanese, Chinese and generic Asian models. Industrial policies in Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) initially protected local companies from foreign investors by imposing high tariffs on foreign investors. But Japan began introducing liberalization policies to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in the 1960s, and the ROK began to welcome foreign technology in the 1970s. Meanwhile, the governments of the ASEAN countries and Taiwan established export-processing zones (EPZ) to invite FDI by offering preferential treatment, such as tax deductions and exemptions. China adopted similar industrial policies and also established EPZs, attracting the capital and know-how of multinationals and thereby strengthening the international competitiveness of local enterprises. This paper reaches the following three conclusions. First, it would have been difficult for East Asian countries to grow without FDI. Second, central governments were a crucial factor in these countries' growth strategies. Third, EPZs offering preferential treatment can effectively enhance aggregate growth in developing countries, and the Asian experience shows that this strategy can be applied to other countries that satisfy certain preconditions.

Competitiveness of the knitwear industry in Bangladesh : a study of industrial development amid global competition

This paper assesses the technical efficiency and profitability of the knitwear industry in Bangladesh taking into account the sector’s role in poverty reduction. While stochastic frontier analysis was invoked to assess technical efficiency, three alternative measures, namely the rate of return, total factor productivity and the Solow residual, were used to gauge the extent and determinants of the profitability of the industry based on firm-level data collected in 2001. The estimation results indicate the high profitability of the knitwear firms. In Bangladesh, the dynamic development of the industry has entailed great diversity in efficiency in comparison with the garment industries of other developing countries. While there is a significant scale effect in profitability and productivity, no supporting evidence was found for the positive impact on competitiveness of industrial upgrading in terms of usage of expensive machinery and vertical integration and industrial agglomeration.

Asian Industrial Development from the Perspective of the Motorcycle Industry

This paper discusses the diversity of industrial development among Asian countries that emerges through an investigation of the motorcycle industry despite its uniform industrial attributes. The paper then explores factors that generate diversity, focusing attention on the differences in knowledge-based assets accumulated in each country. It finds that diversity is brought about through the differences in domestic industrial resources and the capabilities of local firms. The analysis underscores each country’s intrinsic logic in industrial development, contrary to the current trend of stressing assimilation through the global production networks of multinational corporations.

The determinants of offshore production by Multinational Corporations (MNCs) : a comparison of Japanese and US MNCs

This study employs confidential affiliate-level panel data to improve measures of foreign affiliate activities of Japanese firms in manufacturing sectors. Combining existing data on U.S. MNCs with the Japanese data, we illustrate the pattern and determinant of their foreign affiliate sales by destination market across countries and industries for the period 1989-2005. Among our results, Japanese and U.S. MNCs are similar in the substantial growth of their foreign affiliate sales and the importance of sales to local markets. However, Japanese MNCs are distinctive from U.S. MNCs in that Japanese affiliate sales in Asia were prominently higher in host markets with lower educational attainment.

Production networks in the Asia-Pacific region : facts and policy implications

Production networks have been extensively developed in the Asia-Pacific region. This paper employs two micro-level approaches, case studies and econometric analysis, using JETRO's firm surveys which investigate Japanese affiliates operating in Southeast Asia. These two approaches found that production networks have extended, involving suppliers, across various nations in the Asia-Pacific region, and that production bases in host and home countries have different roles. A home country serves as a headquarters with services such as R&D, international marketing, and financing. A high tariff policy in a host country may foster domestic industries through the expansion of procurement from domestic suppliers, either indigenous or foreign, but it may discourage a country from becoming an export platform.

Firm-level impacts of natural disasters on production networks : evidence from a flood in Thailand

In this paper, we explore the firm-level impacts of flooding in Thailand in 2011, specifically those on the procurement patterns at Japanese affiliates in Thailand. Our findings are as follow. First, the damaged small firms are more likely to lower their local procurement share, particularly the share of procurement from other Japanese-owned firms in Thailand. Second, damaged young firms and damaged old firms are more likely to raise the shares of imports from Japan and China, respectively. Third, there are no impacts on imports from ASEAN and other countries. These findings are useful for uncovering how multinational firms adjust their production networks before and after natural disasters.

Boundaries of firms and catching up by latecomers in global production networks : the case of a Mexican auto-parts manufacturer

For manufacturing firms in developing countries, there are high barriers to entry and to catching up with competitors in their global production networks (GPNs). This paper examines the case of a Mexican auto-parts manufacturer that succeeded in catching up in the automotive GPN. The author proposes that the door to GPNs is open thanks to frequent changes in the boundaries of firms, and also stresses the importance of the necessary conditions that generate opportunities, including institutional settings that facilitate market entry and catching up, and capability building by firms hopeful of entry.

Industrial deepening in East Asia

Structural transformations are an indispensable element of sustained economic growth. Within the context of East Asia, this study focuses on industrial deepening, which refers to the formation of local linkages and the creation of a robust local supplier base. To investigate the progress of industrial deepening, this study introduces two kinds of domestic procurement measures in addition to the previously developed local content measures. Specifically, two kinds of vertical specialization measures are used to demonstrate the degree to which respective East Asian economies are specialized within their vertical production networks. The results clearly show that the advancement of production networks is likely to reduce domestic procurement ratios, even if local supplier bases are strengthened in the respective countries. Moreover, the trend of domestic procurement ratios differs depending on the characteristics of particular industries and the industrial policies adopted by individual countries.

Skill sorting and production chains : evidence from India

This study proposes a new mechanism that explains skill-sorting patterns and skill wage differentials across industries based on the length of the industry's production chain. A simple simultaneous production model shows that when the quality of intermediate inputs deteriorates rapidly along the production chains, high-skilled individuals choose to work in industries with shorter production chains because of higher returns to skill. I empirically confirm this skill-sorting pattern and these inter-industry skill wage differentials in India, where the quality of intermediate inputs is likely to degrade rapidly because of the high number of unskilled laborers, poor infrastructure, and less-advantaged technology. The results remain robust even when considering selection bias, alternative reasons for inter-industry skill wage differentials, and a different period. The results of this study have important implications when considering countries' industrial development patterns.

Influence of termal fluctuations in radiation damage cascade production and defect dynamics in tungsten

The detailed study of the deterioration suffered by the materials of the components of a nuclear facility, in particular those forming part of the reactor core, is a topic of great interest which importance derives in large technological and economic implications. Since changes in the atomic-structural properties of relevant components pose a risk to the smooth operation with clear consequences for security and life of the plant, controlling these factors is essential in any development of engineering design and implementation. In recent times, tungsten has been proposed as a structural material based on its good resistance to radiation, but still needs to be done an extensive study on the influence of temperature on the behavior of this material under radiation damage. This work aims to contribute in this regard. Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out to determine the influence of temperature fluctuations on radiation damage production and evolution in Tungsten. We have particularly focused our study in the dynamics of defect creation, recombination, and diffusion properties. PKA energies were sampled in a range from 5 to 50 KeV. Three different temperature scenarios were analyzed, from very low temperatures (0-200K), up to high temperature conditions (300-500 K). We studied the creation of defects, vacancies and interstitials, recombination rates, diffusion properties, cluster formation, their size and evolution. Simulations were performed using Lammps and the Zhou EAM potential for W

Application of Ultraintense Lasers to validate materials for laser fusion: production of ions and other relevant species

Justification of the need and demand of experimental facilities to test and validate materials for first wall in laser fusion reactors - Characteristics of the laser fusion products - Current ?possible? facilities for tests Ultraintense Lasers as ?complete? solution facility - Generation of ion pulses - Generation of X-ray pulses - Generation of other relevant particles (electrons, neutrons..)

Cup Anemometer's loss of performance due to ageing process, and its effect on Annual energy Production (AEP) estimates

The deviation of calibration coefficients from five cup anemometer models over time was analyzed. The analysis was based on a series of laboratory calibrations between January 2001 and August 2010. The analysis was performed on two different groups of anemometers: (1) anemometers not used for any industrial purpose (that is, just stored); and (2) anemometers used in different industrial applications (mainly in the field—or outside—applications like wind farms). Results indicate a loss of performance of the studied anemometers over time. In the case of the unused anemometers the degradation shows a clear pattern. In the case of the anemometers used in the field, the data analyzed also suggest a loss of performance, yet the degradation does not show a clear trend. A recalibration schedule is proposed based on the observed performances variations

On the complexity of radiation models for PV energy production calculation

Several authors have analysed the changes of the probability density function of the solar radiation with different time resolutions. Some others have approached to study the significance of these changes when produced energy calculations are attempted. We have undertaken different transformations to four Spanish databases in order to clarify the interrelationship between radiation models and produced energy estimations. Our contribution is straightforward: the complexity of a solar radiation model needed for yearly energy calculations, is very low. Twelve values of monthly mean of solar radiation are enough to estimate energy with errors below 3%. Time resolutions better than hourly samples do not improve significantly the result of energy estimations.

Radiation heat savings in polysilicon production: validation of results through a CVD laboratory prototype

This work aims at a deeper understanding of the energy loss phenomenon in polysilicon production reactors by the so-called Siemens process. Contributions to the energy consumption of the polysilicon deposition step are studied in this paper, focusing on the radiation heat loss phenomenon. A theoretical model for radiation heat loss calculations is experimentally validated with the help of a laboratory CVD prototype. Following the results of the model, relevant parameters that directly affect the amount of radiation heat losses are put forward. Numerical results of the model applied to a state-of-the-art industrial reactor show the influence of these parameters on energy consumption due to radiation per kilogram of silicon produced; the radiation heat loss can be reduced by 3.8% when the reactor inner wall radius is reduced from 0.78 to 0.70 m, by 25% when the wall emissivity is reduced from 0.5 to 0.3, and by 12% when the final rod diameter is increased from 12 to 15 cm.

About the origin of low wafer performance and crystal defect generation on seed-cast growth of industrial mono-like silicon ingots

The era of the seed-cast grown monocrystalline-based silicon ingots is coming. Mono-like, pseudomono or quasimono wafers are product labels that can be nowadays found in the market, as a critical innovation for the photovoltaic industry. They integrate some of the most favorable features of the conventional silicon substrates for solar cells, so far, such as the high solar cell efficiency offered by the monocrystalline Czochralski-Si (Cz-Si) wafers and the lower cost, high productivity and full square-shape that characterize the well-known multicrystalline casting growth method. Nevertheless, this innovative crystal growth approach still faces a number of mass scale problems that need to be resolved, in order to gain a deep, 100% reliable and worldwide market: (i) extended defects formation during the growth process; (ii) optimization of the seed recycling; and (iii) parts of the ingots giving low solar cells performance, which directly affect the production costs and yield of this approach. Therefore, this paper presents a series of casting crystal growth experiments and characterization studies from ingots, wafers and cells manufactured in an industrial approach, showing the main sources of crystal defect formation, impurity enrichment and potential consequences at solar cell level. The previously mentioned technological drawbacks are directly addressed, proposing industrial actions to pave the way of this new wafer technology to high efficiency solar cells.