Production networks have been at the heart of the recent growth in trade among East Asian countries. Fragmentation trade, reflected mainly in the trade in parts and components, is expanding more rapidly than the conventional trade in final goods. This is mainly due to the relatively more favorable policy setting for international production, agglomeration benefits arising from the early entry into this new form of specialization, considerable intercountry wage differentials in the region, lower trade and transport costs, and specialization in products exhibiting increasing returns to scale. The economic integration of China has deepened production fragmentation in East Asia, countering fears of crowding out other countries for international specialization. International production fragmentation in East Asia has intensified intraregional trade but has depended heavily on extraregional trade in final goods. While production networks centered on China have contributed significantly to growth in East Asia, they also breed vulnerabilities. They have not automatically led to technology spillovers and have led to an extreme interdependence across East Asian countries.

This book presents a deeper understanding of the on-going de facto economic integration in East Asia, looking at the extent of economic integration, what sort of integration has been accomplished, and comparing the level of integration reached and the path followed to that of the European Union.

This book applies a spatial economics perspective to the understanding of the recent dynamism of the global economy, with particular focus on East Asia, and examines the prospects of regional integration in East Asia.

Production networks have been at the heart of the recent growth in trade among East Asian countries. Fragmentation trade, reflected mainly in the trade in parts and components, is expanding more rapidly than the conventional trade in final goods. This is mainly due to the relatively more favorable policy setting for international production, agglomeration benefits arising from the early entry into this new form of specialization, considerable intercountry wage differentials in the region, lower trade and transport costs, and specialization in products exhibiting increasing returns to scale. The economic integration of China has deepened production fragmentation in East Asia, countering fears of crowding out other countries for international specialization. International production fragmentation in East Asia has intensified intraregional trade but has depended heavily on extraregional trade in final goods. While production networks centered on China have contributed significantly to growth in East Asia, they also breed vulnerabilities. They have not automatically led to technology spillovers and have led to an extreme interdependence across East Asian countries.

Spatial fragmentation of production is linked with two great waves of unbundling. The first one was a century and a half ago when the spatial location of production of goods was separated from their consumption. We live in the age of a second unbundling where certain operations within the same factory can be fragmented and performed elsewhere. There is trade in certain tasks and components which was made possible by cheaper and better communication and transport. This book considers production networks in East Asia, which is and will continue to be the most dynamic economic region in the decades to come. Miroslav N. Jovanovi , University of Geneva, Switzerland Intermediate input trade is regarded as an important contributory factor in explaining the increase in world trade in recent years. This timely book presents, for the first time, meticulous empirical analyses of the growth of input trade, and includes detailed studies that capture the main features and characteristics of production networks in East Asia. Intermediate input trade has grown markedly in East Asia, and at a much faster rate than in the rest of the world. Since the early 1990s, when technological developments made it possible to separate the production process into many stages, East Asia as a region has developed sophisticated production networks in the manufacture of various products. Different countries have installed production stages according to their levels of technology or factor endowments, and consequently sequential production stages are now located across various countries. In order to produce final goods, East Asian nations have therefore relied on the trade of inputs back and forth. Containing unique and important data, this book will appeal to academics, researchers and policymakers interested in trade, economic integration and Asian studies.