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The Internationalization of Small and Medium Enterprises in Regional and Global Value Chains

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  • Hank Lim

    (Asian Development Bank Institute)

  • Fukunari Kimura

Abstract

Production networks and the regional division of labor have been established in East Asia resulting in massive vertical intra-industry trade in parts and components within the region. This phenomenon is known as cross-border production sharing or the fragmentation of production processes into many stages across different countries. New development strategies claim that participation in international production and distribution networks is the key to accelerating economic development in the era of globalization. This process suggests that vertical input-output linkages between local firms and multinational corporations are the most powerful channels to accelerate technology transfers and spillovers. Given the trends of globalization and economic integration in East Asia, there is significant potential for the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector to increase its contribution to the regions development through greater participation in global value chains. However, multiple market failures exist with regard to the development of SMEs and local entrepreneurship. These risks can be mitigated by proper policy measures such as strengthening technological and human resource capabilities through better networking and facilitating access to financing for SMEs. Despite many distortions and inefficiencies in implementing regional economic integration schemes in East Asia, there are many cumulative positive effects contributing to the emerging trend internationalization of SMEs in the region. This process can be significantly strengthened by creating a positive business environment through the standardization of products and services, rules and regulations, and a seamless market infrastructure in the region.

Suggested Citation

  • Hank Lim & Fukunari Kimura, 2010. "The Internationalization of Small and Medium Enterprises in Regional and Global Value Chains," Microeconomics Working Papers 22812, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:eab:microe:22812
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    Cited by:

    1. THORBECKE William, 2016. "Increasing the Resilience of Asian Supply Chains to Natural Disasters: The Role of the Financial Sector," Working Papers DP-2016-08, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    2. Alessandro Nicita & Victor Ognivtsev & Miho Shirotori, 2013. "Global Supply Chains: Trade And Economic Policies For Developing Countries," UNCTAD Blue Series Papers 55, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    3. Willem THORBECKE, 2016. "Understanding the Flow of Electronic Parts and Components in East Asia," Discussion papers 16072, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    4. Banacloche, Santacruz & Cadarso, María Ángeles & Monsalve, Fabio, 2020. "Implications of measuring value added in exports with a regional input-output table. A case of study in South America," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 130-140.
    5. Yothin Jinjarak & Paulo Jose Mutuc & Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2014. "Does Finance Really Matter for the Participation of SMEs in International Trade? Evidence from 8,080 East Asian Firms," Trade Working Papers 24047, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    6. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2012. "Engaging Small and Medium Enterprises in Production Networks : Firm-level Analysis of Five ASEAN Economies," Trade Working Papers 23316, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    7. Dmitry Alexandrovich Izotov, 2012. "The Foreign Trade of Domestic and External Sectors of the Chinese Economy," Spatial Economics=Prostranstvennaya Ekonomika, Economic Research Institute, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (Khabarovsk, Russia), issue 4, pages 49-66.
    8. Arudchelvan, Menaka & Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2015. "SME Internationalization through Global Value Chains and Free Trade Agreements: Malaysian Evidence," ADBI Working Papers 515, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    9. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2015. "Factors Affecting Entry into Supply Chain Trade: An Analysis of Firms in Southeast Asia," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 623-642, September.
    10. THORBECKE, Willem, 2014. "Rebalancing Trade within East Asian Supply Chains," Discussion papers 14002, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    11. Thorbecke, Willem, 2018. "Investigating ASEAN’s electronic and labor-Intensive exports," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 58-70.
    12. Ganeshan Wignaraja, 2014. "Joining the supply chain: a firm-level perspective," Chapters, in: Richard Baldwin & Masahiro Kawai & Ganeshan Wignaraja (ed.), A World Trade Organization for the 21st Century, chapter 4, pages 71-109, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Willem Thorbecke, 2021. "The weak rupiah: catching the tailwinds and avoiding the shoals," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 23(3), pages 521-539, December.
    14. Lanz, Rainer & Lundquist, Kathryn & Mansio, Grégoire & Maurer, Andreas & Teh, Robert, 2018. "E-commerce and developing country-SME participation in global value chains," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2018-13, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    15. -, 2014. "Regional integration: towards an inclusive value chain strategy," Libros y Documentos Institucionales, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 36734 edited by Eclac.
    16. Calabrese, Giuseppe Giulio & Manello, Alessandro, 2018. "Firm internationalization and performance: Evidence for designing policies," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1221-1242.
    17. Blagica Petreski & Despina Tumanoska & Tereza KÐ¾Ñ ovska & Simon Miloseski & Besnik Mustafa, 2019. "Impact evaluation of the program for training and mentoring of domestic small and medium-sized enterprises to include in the value chains of multinational companies operating in North Macedonia," Finance Think Policy Studies 2019-11/25, Finance Think - Economic Research and Policy Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    East Asia; Production Networks; input-output linkages; SME;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General

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