Abstract
In the last two decades, large companies have made greater contribution to Taiwan and South Korea’s export-oriented economic growth whereas SMEs’ importance has been declining. This is especially a big contrast in Taiwan’s case as SMEs were dominant player in its post-war economic growth. Most of large firms’ exports are promoted by its growing ODI in developing countries, particularly in China. While both countries have been relying on large firms’ exports for its economic growth during the post-industrial development period, wage dispersion between large companies and SMEs with a bigger workforce has enlarged the income inequality. The government policy measures so far do not seem to reverse the gradually polarized economic structure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bloomberg. (2012, December 21). Park presidency gives fighting chance to Korea’s chaebols. Retrieved April 18, 2013, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-20/park-presidency-gives-fighting-chance-to-south-korea-s-chaebols.html
Chen, J., & Parker, D. (2007). Taiwan’s textile and clothing SME response to globalization. Journal of Asia-Pacific Business, 8(2), 89–111.
Chen, C.-Y., Lin, Y.-L., & Chu, P.-Y. (2013). Facilitators of national innovation policy in a SME-dominated country: A case study of Taiwan. Innovation: Management, Policy and Practice, 15(4), 405–415.
Cheong, I. (2014). Korea’s policy package for enhancing its FTA utilization and implications for Korea’s policy. ERIA Discussion Paper Series. Retrieved July 10, 2017, from http://www.eria.org/ERIA-DP-2014-11.pdf
CSD Review. (2014). The corporate synergy development in Taiwan (zhong wei ti xi zai tai wan). No. 29, July 15. Retrieved February 28, 2018, from http://www.csd.org.tw/report/preview/84.html
Feenstra, R. C., & Hamilton, G. G. (2006). Emergent economies, divergent paths: Economic organization and International Trade in South Korea and Taiwan. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University and the Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment at the Columbia University. (2015). The top 20 Korean multinationals: Changes and continued growth of foreign investment. Retrieved March 7, 2016, from http://ccsi.columbia.edu/files/2015/04/EMGP-Korea-Report-2015-report-on-2013-FINAL.pdf
Gregory, G., Harvie, C., & Lee, H.-H. (2002). Korean SMEs in the 21th century: Strategies, constraints and performance in a global economy. Economic Papers, 21(3), 64–79.
Hu, M.-H., & Schive, C. (1998). The changing competitiveness of Taiwan’s manufacturing SMEs. Small Business Economics, 11(4), 315–326.
Jones, R. S., & Kim, M. (2014). Promoting the financial of SMEs and start-ups in Korea. OECD Economics Department Working Paper. No. 1162, 1–37.
Kang, T.-J. (2014). South Korea’s SMEs struggle to compete. Financial Times, 25 November. Accessed 24 February 2016, from http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2014/11/25/south-koreas-smes-struggle-to-compete
Kang, H., & Mah, J. S. (2015). R&D policy for small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea. Science, Technology & Society, 20(1), 1–20.
Kim, S.-H. (2012). Korea’s chaebol scion slammed for running coffee shops, Import Business. The Korea Herald, January 28. Retrieved February 23, 2016, from http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story 20120128-324406.html
Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS). Statistics Korea. Retrieved March 2, 2018., from http://kosis.kr/eng/
Kwak, J.-S. (2014). Chaebol getting more power as they contribute less to the economy. The Hankyoreh, July 9. Retrieved February 29, 2016, from http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/646183.html
Lee, K., & Mathews, J. A. (2012). South Korea and Taiwan. In E. Amann & J. Cantwell (Eds.), Innovative firms in emerging market countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lee, Z.-r., & Hsiao, H.-H. M. (2014). Taiwan: SME-oriented capitalism in transition. In M. Witt & G. Redding (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Asian business system. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
OECD. (2016). Korea. Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2016: An OECD Scoreboard. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Reuters (2015a, January 6). Hyundai Motor Group says to invest $73 billion by 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hyundai-motor-investment-idUSKBN0KF0AS20150106
Reuters. (2015b, November 26). South Korea’s LG display to invest $8.7 in new OLED plant. Retrieved November 26, 2015, from http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lg-display-investment-idUSKBN0TF2JY20151127
Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (Taiwan). (1999). White Paper on small and medium enterprises (zhong xiao qi ye bai pi shu). Taipei: Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan).
Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (Taiwan). (2013). White Paper on small and medium enterprises (zhong xiao qi ye bai pi shu). Taipei: Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan).
Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (Taiwan). (2015). White Paper on small and medium enterprises (zhong xiao qi ye bai pi shu). Taipei: Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan).
Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (Taiwan). (2016). Start-up and incubation (zhong xiao qi ye chuang xin yu cheng zhong xin). 29 April. Retrieved April 24, 2017, from http://www.moeasmea.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=625&ctNode=613&mp=1
Suh, J. (2014). Korean Small Business: Development, current situation and priority for the future. Seoul: Korea University Press.
The Hankyoreh (2013, August 4). Park administration bowing to chaebol pressure on reform measures. Retrieved February 22, 2016, from http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/598200.html
The Wall Street Journal. (2015, December 17). Samsung’s bet on biotechnology is test for heir apparent. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/samsungs-bet-on-biotechnology-is-test-for-heir-apparent-1450386875
The Washington Post. (2012, December 9). In South Korea, the Republic of Samsung. Retrieved April 18, 2013, from http://www.wpost.com/world/in-s-korea-the-republic-of-samsung/2012/12/09/71215420-3de1-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_story_2.html
Yu, T.-s. (2002). In J. S. Lee & C. Schieve (Eds.), Taiwan’s economic development and the role of SMEs. Taipei: The Chung-Hua Institute for Economic Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chiang, MH. (2018). The Changing Role of SMEs in Taiwan’s and South Korea’s Economies. In: Post-Industrial Development in East Asia. Palgrave Pivot, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0274-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0274-9_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0273-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0274-9
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)