Speaker: Professor Min Shu, Harvard-Yenching Visiting Scholar; Associate Professor of International Economy, Waseda University, Japan

Chair:  Professor Daniel M. Smith, Department of Government, Harvard University

In the past three decades, regional production networks played an increasingly important role in East Asian political economy. Originated from Japan’s industrial policy to ‘export’ its sunset industries, the flow of foreign direct investments (FDIs) from advanced regional economies to the rest of East Asia accelerated after the Plaza Accord in 1985. The participation of non-Asian multinationals, the exodus of SMEs in the same value/supply chains, the modularization of modern production (esp. in electronics), and the host countries’ FDI-friendly policies all contributed to their rapid development in the 1990s. However, it was the rise of China as the center of regional assemblies that has transformed the dynamics of regional production networks from capital flow and cross-country production to spatial politics. The talk will examine the implications of regional production networks in relations to labor market regulation, trade protectionism, and the politico-economic

https://asiaevents.harvard.edu/event/regional-production-networks-east-asia-origin-evolution-and-implications