export-oriented industrialization


export-oriented industrialization

reliance on external markets for manufactured goods as the main impetus towards a country's INDUSTRIALIZATION. It is a term usually applied to those THIRD WORLD countries which have attempted to find niches in the world market where advantages of low labour costs may make their goods cheaper than those produced in industrial countries. In Third World countries low incomes may mean a limited internal market, initially, for mass consumption goods which, nevertheless, can be produced relatively cheaply The strategy has been successful for some countries, such as South Korea which exports a wide range of manufactured goods (from clothing to ships), and less successful for others which have been unable to increase the range of manufactured goods exported. The success of this strategy will depend on the opportunities in the world market at any particular time, the success of state investment and general economic policies, the nature of organized labour and whether it is successful in raising wage levels, and the degree of political and social stability within a country See also DEPENDENT INDUSTRIALIZATION, NEW INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF LABOUR, NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZING COUNTRIES.