The Challenges of Late Industrialization: The Global Economy and the Japanese Commercial Aircraft Industry

Globalization has created a new set of opportunities and challenges for late industrialization. This book identifies the underlying factors for latecomer firms to catch up as system integrators or to upgrade as suppliers in fast-globalizing industries. Several perspectives on firm growth, from resource-based view to global value chains, are integrated into a comprehensive framework. The in-depth case study illustrates how/why the post-war Japanese commercial aircraft firms have upgraded yet failed to catch up, and draws lessons for current latecomers.