Global production networking and technological change in East Asia. Which strategies in order to cope with the IU challenge?

The aim of the paper is to analyse how the East Asian economies are responding to the challenge posed by the emergence of GNPs, with specific regard to the technological deepening process wich is required. In particular, this work is an attempt to understand whether these countries are undertaking a strategy aimed at achieving Industrial Upgrading (IU), or - more simply - they are keeping on competing on less techonology and knowledge-intensive basis, until they will be swept away by the changing parameters of the global market arena