Benchmarking developing Asia's manufacturing sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to document the transformation of developing Asia's manufacturing sector during the last three decades. Design/methodology/approach – The paper briefly discusses the transformation during the last 30 years and benchmarks the sector by estimating a regression based on the logistic pattern of growth. It then summarizes the main findings. Findings – It is found that: the share of developing Asia in world manufacturing output has increased significantly since the 1970s; the increase is concentrated in a number a countries, mostly the NIES, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand; and there has been an important technological upgrading as the share of more technologically advanced manufacturers has increased. However, the increase is also concentrated in a reduced group of countries. Originality/value – The findings in the paper should be of value to both other researchers and policy makers trying to understand industrialization.