Open Access Article

Title: Towards a new division of labour in Southeast Asia: Indonesian and Thai Industrial policy and the electric vehicle value chain in ASEAN

Authors: Martin Schröder

Addresses: College of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University, 2-150 Iwakura-cho, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka, 567-8570, Japan

Abstract: Amidst changes that signify a transition in the automotive industry's dominant design, vehicle manufacturing nations seek to secure their positions within the industry's global value chain for the post-transition era. This investigation will focus on Thailand and Indonesia, ASEAN's two leading vehicle producers. While both countries have a shared objective, they employ different policies towards this objective. Thus, their cases are relevant cases to understand the role of industrial policy in this transition process. This investigation aims to understand how developing countries, which are significant vehicle producers, seek to manage this transition, which is directed by lead firms located in developed countries and China. This research question is relevant as developing countries (including China) today account for the lion's share of global vehicle output, but apart from China, there is little scholarly attention to the question how a complex socio-economic and socio-technical transition is managed via public policies in Asia.

Keywords: industrial policy; global value chain; division of labour; automotive industry; ASEAN.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2024.142126

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2024 Vol.24 No.5, pp.73 - 99

Received: 24 Aug 2023
Accepted: 10 Jan 2024

Published online: 08 Oct 2024 *