| Abstract: | This article attempts to identify the emerging pattern of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and/or international production in the Asian Pacific region. The internationalisation of production has accelerated in the Asian Pacific region as competitive advantage has shifted and as protectionist measures have changed traditional source patterns. The Asian Pacific region has evolved into an interactive international production system comprising three tiers of countries: Japan, the four Asian Newly Industrialized Countries (ANICs), and the four developing countries of the Asian Pacific region (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand). The fundamental economic reality which has molded this system is the dynamic complementarity in location advantages of the three tiers.The authors are in the Department of International Business at The University of Michigan. W. Chan Kim is the author of a forthcoming book on Asian Business. Vern Terpstra is a former president of the Academy of International Business and the author of books on international business. |
