Globalisation of US, European and Japanese production networks and the growth of Singapore's electronics industry

Abstract

Over the last 15 years, Singapore has emerged as a major regional production hub for the global electronics industry, accounting for over 4% of global production and ranking within the top five countries in the world in terms of electronics manufacturing output. This paper traces the growth and transformation of electronics manufacturing activities by foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) in Singapore, and highlights significant differences in the nature of the production networks among global US, Japanese and European MNCs. The paper argues that the success of Singapore owes largely to her ability to leverage the competing but overlapping production networks of these major US, European and Japanese electronics firms to achieve rapid technological learning and industry upgrading.