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Hybridized industrial ecosystems and the makings of a new developmental infrastructure in East Asia’s green energy sector

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  • Sung-Young Kim

Abstract

In the midst of intensifying global competition over green energy systems, Korean and Taiwanese companies are rapidly rising as serious exporters of smart microgrids. What explains the emergence of an East Asian presence in the global green energy sector? My core argument is that policymakers in Korea and Taiwan view smart microgrids strategically as a new developmental infrastructure, which will help position domestic firms onto a new competitive footing. I show that in Korea, this is taking place through the state’s leveraging of the nation’s innovation champions – globally leading chaebol or conglomerates and their networks of small and medium enterprise (SME) suppliers in the domestic market. In Taiwan, the state has leveraged government research institutes and their rich networks with internationally competitive SMEs and with large domestic firms. These efforts reflect the creation of a new form of public and private cooperation, which I refer to as ‘hybridized industrial ecosystems’. These institutional mutations in the green energy sector suggest that the state’s transformative capacity has been expanding, not shrinking as many recent writers on the developmental state conclude. Overall, the findings from this fresh new sector represents the unfolding of a new chapter of developmental thinking in East Asia.

Suggested Citation

  • Sung-Young Kim, 2019. "Hybridized industrial ecosystems and the makings of a new developmental infrastructure in East Asia’s green energy sector," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 158-182, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rripxx:v:26:y:2019:i:1:p:158-182
    DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2018.1554540
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    Cited by:

    1. Ayodele Asekomeh & Obindah Gershon & Smith I. Azubuike, 2021. "Optimally Clocking the Low Carbon Energy Mile to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from Dundee’s Electric Vehicle Strategy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-23, February.
    2. repec:agg:journl:3392 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Wenying Fu, 2024. "State infrastructural power through scalar practices: On China’s decarbonization endeavors," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(3), pages 784-801, May.
    4. Fleckenstein, Timo & Lee, Soohyun Christine & Park, Jae Hyoung, 2023. "Skills and training in hierarchical capitalism: the rise and fall of vocational training in South Korea," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 124872, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Warneryd, Martin & Håkansson, Maria & Karltorp, Kersti, 2020. "Unpacking the complexity of community microgrids: A review of institutions’ roles for development of microgrids," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    6. repec:agg:journl:3393 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Rajiv Kumar, 2023. "Taking the developmental state seriously: Why South Korea outperformed neoliberal regulatory states in rapid coronavirus disease 2019 vaccinations and saving lives," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 26(4), pages 319-340, December.
    8. John Mathews & Elizabeth Thurbon & Sung-Young Kim & Hao Tan, 2023. "Gone with the wind: how state power and industrial policy in the offshore wind power sector are blowing away the obstacles to East Asia’s green energy transition," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 27-48, April.
    9. Gil, Olga, 2024. "Inteligencia Artificial: Gobernanza y Legitimidad," SocArXiv rs7d8, Center for Open Science.

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