State-led Catching up Strategies and Inherited Conflicts in Developing the ICT Industry: Behind the US - East Asia Semiconductor Disputes

Abstract

Moving from labour to some capital and knowledge intensive sectors, East Asian countries have actively pursued strategic industrial policies and successfully promoted targeted sectors. However, their growth in high tech sectors challenged the US leadership and the World Trade Organization (WTO)-supported neo-liberal development “wisdom”. Tensions over trade and technology issues eventually exploded into fierce policy conflicts. This study explores the role of the state in a single information and communication technology (ICT) sector, the semiconductor industry, over the course of its evolution in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. It is hoped to tackle the issues surrounding the conflicts between the Western economic orthodoxy and East Asian development policies through explaining the ICT development pathway of these countries. The finding shows that the international frictions in both ICT trade and technology were inevitable and reflect the divergence of development visions held by latecomers and developed countries.