This paper investigates how the garment industry escapes this vicious cycle and argues for the validity of labor-intensive industry as a starting point for full-fledged industrialization, even though it might at first seem to be a digression from the path to an innovation-led economy. By examining original firm-level data on garment-producing firms collected in 2002 and 2008 in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya and Madagascar, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) low wages, though still sufficient for poverty reduction, are the main source of competitiveness in low-income countries; (2) after the successful initiation of industrialization causes wages to begin to rise, there is still a possibility for productivity enhancement; and (3) skill bias in technological progress is not yet a major factor, implying that the garment industry is still a labor-intensive industry. In sum, labor-intensive industry should not be discounted as a part of the development strategy of low-income countries.
権利
Copyrights 日本貿易振興機構（ジェトロ）アジア経済研究所 / Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO) http://www.ide.go.jp
雑誌名
IDE Discussion Paper
雑誌名(英)
IDE Discussion Paper
巻
412
発行年
2013-04-01
出版者
Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO)
著者版フラグ
publisher
日本十進分類法
589.2
JEL分類
JEL:D24 - Production;
JEL:L67 - Other Consumer Nondurables:
JEL:O14 - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
JEL:O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
JEL:O53 - Asia including Middle East
JEL:O55 - Africa
JEL:F63 - Economic Development
地域/国名
カンボジア
バングラデシュ
発展途上国
ケニア
マダガスカル
キーワード(LSH)
Developing countries
Bangladesh
Cambodia
Kenya
Madagascar
Apparel industry
Textile industry
Industrialization
International competition
Competitiveness
Garment
Race to the bottom
Slow and steady wins the race : how the garment industry leads industrialization in low-income countries
本文
(495.09KB)
