This paper explores structural transformation, premature deindustrialization, and industrial policy in Asia, highlighting the importance of context-specific policies.
How economies grow depends on which sectors expand and when. In Asia, manufacturing has long raised living standards, yet many economies appear to be leaving industry too soon. This paper reviews literature on structural transformation, premature deindustrialization, and industrial policy in the region, and adds new stylized facts linking sustained manufacturing to higher productivity growth. It also shows that finance, public investment, and labor market regulations reshape sectoral employment in markedly different ways across contexts.