Global Value Chains and their Roles in Asian Economic Integration and Economic Growth

Lecture Abstract:

East Asia has been achieving high economic growth for several decades. Various factors have been identified behind such favourable economic performance. They include high savings and investment rates, presence of well-disciplined workers, relatively well-developed infrastructure and others. Among them, rapid expansion of foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) appear most important. Multinational corporations (MNCs) have constructed global value chains, or production networks, in East Asia by undertaking FDI and using these chains to export and import materials, parts and components, and final products between and among East Asian countries and to sell products and services to consumers around the world. Construction and utilization of global value chains by MNCs have contributed to the promotion of regional economic integration and the achievement of economic growth in East Asia. This presentation examines the evolution and the current situation of global value chains and their roles in Asian economic integration and economic growth. It also discusses the challenges for East Asian countries in participating and actively engaging in global value chains.

About the Speaker

Shujiro Urata is Professor of Economics at Graduate School Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University. He is also Specially Appointed Fellow at the Japanese Centre for Economic Research (JCER), Faculty Fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade & Industry (RIETI), and Senior Research Adviser for the Executive Director of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) in Jakarta. Professor Urata received his B.A. in Economics from Keio University in 1973 and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics at Stanford University in 1976 and 1978. He is a former Research Associate at the Brookings Institution, an Economist at the World Bank. He specializes in International Economics and Economics of Development. He has held a number of research and advisory positions including senior advisor to the Government of Indonesia, consultant to the World Bank, OECD, the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Japan. He published and edited a number of books on international economic issues and is an author and co-author of numerous articles in professional journals. His book publications in English include Multinationals and Economic Growth in East Asia, co-editor, Routledge, 2006, Free Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific, co-editor, World Scientific, 2010, Economic Consequences of Globalization: Evidence from East Asia, co-editor, Routledge,2012, and others.