Nabeshima, Kaoru

Person:
Nabeshima, Kaoru

Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization

Fields of Specialization

Chinese Economy; Malaysian Economy; Development Economics; Industrial Development; Innovation

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IDE

Departments

Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization

Last updated: February 1, 2023

Biography

Kaoru Nabeshima, Director, Technological Innovation and Economic Growth Studies Group, Institute of Developing Economies - Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO), holds a Ph.D. in Economics from University of California-Davis, and a BA in Economics from Ohio Wesleyan University. Prior to joining IDE-JETRO in 2010, he was a staff and consultant to the World Bank since 2001. He was a team member for the World Bank-Japan project on East Asia’s Future Economy. His recent publications include Tiger Economies under Threat (co-authored with Shahid Yusuf, 2009); Changing the Industrial Geography in Asia: The Impact of China and India (co-authored with Shahid Yusuf, 2010); Some Small Countries Do It Better: Rapid Growth and Its Causes in Singapore, Finland, and Ireland (co-authored with Shahid Yusuf, 2012). His research interests lie in the East Asia’s economic development, especially in the innovation capabilities of firms.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 18

Some Small Countries Do It Better : Rapid Growth and Its Causes in Singapore, Finland, and Ireland
(World Bank, 2012) Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
This book is an outcome of a series of study visits to Singapore for African policy makers initiated by Jee-Peng Tan in 2005 with support from Tommy Koh in Singapore and Birger Fredriksen, Yaw Ansu, and Dzingai Mutumbuka at the World Bank. Starting in the 1960s-earlier if Japan is included-a number of East Asian economies began achieving growth rates well above the average and were able to maintain that pace until nearly the end of the 1990s. Countries, large and small, have struggled to imitate the industrial prowess of the East Asian pacesetters and to exploit the opportunities presented by globalization to expand exports. But approximating the East Asian benchmarks has proven difficult, and growth accelerations have tended to be remarkably transient.
Two Dragon Heads : Contrasting Development Paths for Beijing and Shanghai
(World Bank, 2010) Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
In broad terms, the sources of economic growth are well understood, but relatively few countries have succeeded in effectively harnessing this knowledge for policy purposes so as to sustain high rates of growth over an extended period of time. Among the ones that have done so, China stands out. Its gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, which averaged almost 10 percent between 1978 and 2008, is unmatched. Even more remarkable is the performance of China's three leading industrial regions: the Bohai region, the Pearl River Delta, and the Yangtze River (Changjiang) delta area. These regions have averaged growth rates well above 11 percent since 1985. Shanghai is the urban axis of the Yangtze River Delta's thriving economy; Beijing is the hinge of the Bohai region. Their performance and that of a handful of other urban regions will determine China's economic fortunes and innovativeness in the coming decades. The balance of this volume is divided into five chapters. Chapter two encapsulates the sources of China's growth and the current and future role of urban regions in China. The case for the continuing substantial presence of manufacturing industry for growth and innovation in the two urban centers is made in chapter three. Chapter four briefly examines the economic transformation of four global cities and distills stylized trends that can inform future development in Beijing and Shanghai. Chapter five describes the industrial structure of the two cities, identifies promising industrial areas, and analyzes the resource base that would underpin growth fueled by innovation. Finally, chapter six suggests how strategy could be reoriented on the basis of the lessons delineated in chapter four and the economic capabilities presented in chapter five.
Changing the Industrial Geography in Asia : The Impact of China and India
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010) Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
The focus of this volume is on China and India. The authors see them as the principal beneficiaries of the first upheaval, roughly bookended by the crises of 1997-98 and of 2008-09, and as being among the prime movers whose economic footprints will expand most rapidly in the coming decades. If these two countries do come close to realizing their considerable ambitions, their neighbors in Asia and their trading partners throughout the world must be ready for major adjustments. The changes in industrial geography and in the pattern of trade since the mid-1990s have already been far-reaching. Nothing on a comparable scale occurred during the preceding two decades of the 20th century. These developments offer instructive clues concerning the possible direction of changes in the future. However, in the interest of manageability, the author analysis is centered on the dynamics of industrialization, as these have a large bearing on the course of development. Within this context, reference is made to trade, foreign direct investment, and the building of technological capabilities, which together constitute a major subset of the factors responsible for the shape not only of the industrial geography of the past but also of the industrial geography yet to come. The striking feature of development in South and East Asia in the second half of the 20th century is the degree to which Japan dominated the industrial landscape and how the Japanese model triggered the first wave of industrialization in four East Asian economies-the Republic of Korea; Taiwan, China; Hong Kong, China; and Singapore. These four so-called tiger economies were the early starters, and each has become a mature industrial economy. Indeed, Hong Kong, having transferred almost all of its manufacturing activities to the Pearl River Delta, has morphed into a postindustrial economy.
Can Malaysia Escape the Middle-Income Trap? A Strategy for Penang
(2009-06-01) Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
How can Penang upgrade and diversify its economy? This paper addresses this question using a number of methodologies that have been developed for assessing competitiveness and identifying the direction of future industrial evolution. The results show that although Penang was successful in attracting foreign direct investment to the electronics industry, this has not translated into a deepening of industrial capabilities or the nurturing of innovation capacity in Penang. No large Malaysian firms in Penang have taken the lead in innovation and there is little new entry by local firms, despite incentives provided by local and national governments are generous. Universiti Sains Malaysia, the principal university in Penang, is contributing through provision of skills, and it is beginning to multiply university industry linkages. However, the university s research activities are too limited and too diffuse to significantly initiate innovation by local industry. Under the current circumstances, and given its relatively small size, Penang will have to try much harder to strengthen its competitive advantage in its most important industry -electronics- through actions that build research capital. It will also have to increase its efforts to develop the potential of other value-adding activities, such as medical services and tourism. A strategy focused on localization economies is likely to be the most feasible option.
Growth through Innovation : An Industrial Strategy for Shanghai
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-04-22) Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
In broad terms, the sources of economic growth are well understood but relatively few countries have succeeded in effectively harnessing this knowledge for policy purposes so as to sustain high rates of growth over an extended period of time (commission on growth and development 2008; Yusuf 2009a). This study argues, however, that a high growth strategy which puts technology upgrading and innovation at the center might warrant a different approach from the one currently favored. It derives from the experience of global cities such as New York and London and the empirical research on industrial performance and on innovation. This has yielded four significant findings: first, monosectoral services based economies grow slowly because they benefit less from increases in productivity and from innovation. Second, manufacturing industries producing complex capital goods, electronic equipment, and sophisticated components are more Research and Development (R&D) intensive, generate many more innovations, are more export oriented, have a solid track record of rising productivity, and having achieved competitiveness, are in a better position to sustain it because the entry barriers to these industries tend to be higher. By giving rise to dense backward and forward linkages these industries can serve as the nuclei of urban clusters and maximize employment generation. Third, industrial cities create many more jobs for a middle class and tend to have a more equal distribution of income than cities which are dominated by services. Fourth, and finally, cities with a world class tertiary education and research infrastructure linked to industry, are more resilient in the face of shocks, more innovative, and better able to reinvent themselves.
Tiger Economies Under Threat : A Comparative Analysis of Malaysia's Industrial Prospects and Policy Options
(World Bank, 2009) Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
The Southeast Asian Tigers feel threatened. Even though their growth rates have remained above the average for the world and also above the average for developing countries, their economic performance falls short of that in the first half of the 1990s. The underlying worry is that it presages the beginning of a downward trend, the harbingers of which are lower rates of investment, persistently low rates of total factor productivity, and low levels of innovativeness. The Southeast Asian Tigers' worries motivate three questions, which this book attempts to answer. First, are the Tigers rightly threatened by a creeping economic sclerosis or what some observers are calling the middle-income trap? Second, if the threat is real, what are the underlying causes? Third, are there ways of neutralizing the problems and at least maintaining if not raising the growth rates of the recent past? This book will respond to these questions by means of a comparative analysis of the Tiger economies that is centered on Malaysia. This analysis draws on a comprehensive set of techniques and indicators to assess competitive pressures, to gauge industrial and technological capabilities, and to indicate some of the directions industrial change in Southeast Asia could take. Thus, the book seeks not only to view industrial evolution in the region from a comparative perspective taking account also of what is happening and has happened in other parts of East Asia but also to illuminate this ongoing and uncertain process using some of the latest empirical techniques devised for this purpose. The balance of this chapter provides the developmental and international contexts with reference to which these questions will be addressed. It explains the book's preferred angles to tackling them. The chapter also outlines the contents of the volume and foreshadows the principal findings and conclusions.
Growing Industrial Clusters in Asia : Serendipity and Science
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2008) Yamashita, Shoichi; Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
Can clusters be made to order? By Shahid Yusuf. Lessons from the development of silicon valley and its entrepreneurial support network for Japan by Martin Kenney. The emergence of Hsinchu science park as an IT cluster by Tain-Jy Chen. Coping with globalization of production networks and digital convergence: the challenge of ICT cluster development in Singapore by Poh-Kam Wong. Bangalore cluster: evolution, growth, and challenges by Rakesh Basant. ICT clusters and industrial restructuring in the Republic of Korea: the case of Seoul by Sam Ock Park. Constructing jurisdictional advantage in a mature economy: the case of Kitakyushu, Japan by Maryann P. Feldman. Kitakyushu: desperately seeking clusters by Kaoru Nabeshima and Shoichi Yamashita.
Strengthening China's Technological Capability
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-08) Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
China is increasing its outlay on research and development and seeking to build an innovation system that will deliver quick results not just in absorbing technology but also in pushing the technological envelope. China's spending on R&D rose from 1.1 percent of GDP in 2000 to 1.3 percent of GDP in 2005. On a purchasing power parity basis, China's research outlay was among the world's highest, far greater than that of Brazil, India, or Mexico. Chinese firms are active in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, alternative energy sources, and nanotechnology. This surge in spending has been parallel by a sharp increase in patent applications in China, with the bulk of the patents registered in the areas of electronics, information technology, and telecoms. However, of the almost 50,000 patents granted in China, nearly two-thirds were to nonresidents. This paper considers two questions that are especially important for China. First, how might China go about accelerating technology development? Second, what measures could most cost-effectively deliver the desired outcomes? It concludes that although the level of financing for R&D is certainly important, technological advance is closely keyed to absorptive capacity which is a function of the volume and quality of talent and the depth as well as the heterogeneity of research experience. It is also a function of how companies maximize the commercial benefits of research and development, and the coordination of research with production and marketing.
What Makes Cities Healthy?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-01) Ha, Wei; Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
The benefits of good health to individuals and to society are strongly positive and improving the health of the poor is a key Millennium Development Goal. A typical health strategy advocated by some is increased public spending on health targeted to favor the poor and backed by foreign assistance, as well as by an international effort to perfect drugs and vaccines to ameliorate infectious diseases bedeviling the developing nations. But if the objective is better health outcomes at the least cost and a reduction in urban health inequity, the authors' research suggests that the four most potent policy interventions are: water and sanitation systems; urban land use and transport planning; effective primary care and health programs aimed at influencing diets and lifestyles; and education. The payoff from these four in terms of health outcomes dwarf the returns from new drugs and curative hospital-based medicine, although these certainly have their place in a modern urban health system. And the authors find that the resource requirements for successful health care policies are likely to depend on an acceleration of economic growth rates which increase household purchasing power and enlarge the pool of resources available to national and subnational governments to invest in health-related infrastructure and services. Thus, an acceleration of growth rates may be necessary to sustain a viable urban health strategy which is equitable and to ensure steady gains in health outcomes.
How Universities Promote Economic Growth
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2007) Yusuf, Shahid; Nabeshima, Kaoru
This study was initiated in 1999 with the objective of identifying the most promising path to development in light of emerging global and regional changes. The purpose of this volume is to examine the role of universities in enhancing technological capability in Asian as well as other industrial countries. This volume also discusses the University-Industry Links (UIL) policies of national governments, corporations and sub national governments. Case studies, policies, strategies and conclusions for Switzerland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, United States, China, Singapore, and India are all individually examined. The volume also covers topics such as knowledge transmission, knowledge production, knowledge sharing, research and development, lessons learned, best practices and innovation initiatives and their roles for economic growth in relation to UIL.