Gains from Indonesian Export Growth: Do Linkages Matter?

Intersectoral input linkages are often used as a criterion for assessing the developmental impact of export-led industrialisation, and for determining export development policy priorities. The authors argue, in the light of recent Indonesian experience, that this closed-economy planning tool is fundamentally flawed as a criterion for evaluating policy and performance in an export-oriented growth strategy For the period 1985 to 1995 we examine the relationship of sectoral input linkages both to the employment impact of Indonesian manufactured exports and to the contribution of these exports to net foreign exchange earnings. We find that linkages have no significant correlation—and indeed sometimes a negative one—with employment and net export growth