Firm Adjustment to Trade Policy Changes in East Asia

Trade and investment liberalization has been one of the key features of economic policy in many developing countries since the 1990s. A new understanding of the benefits of international trade triggered unilateral tariff reductions from countries throughout the world. As a result, the global economy in the early 21st century has seen significantly reduced barriers, creating much larger trade volumes between countries. This has promoted globalization, as the increasingly borderless countries have nurtured the growth of production networks between countries. It has also made exports an engine of growth and a strategy to foster industrialization.