Sectoral development, structural adjustment and international business activities: A case study of Taiwan's experienc

The main purpose of this study is to examine the interaction among the development of an economy's economic sectors, structural adjustment and the economy's international business activities. In order to understand the possible causal relationships involved, three major questions were formulated to serve as the guideline for the study: (1) What theoretical aspects do we need to consider when we examine the development of a country's economic sectors and its structural adjustment? (2) What are the determinants for the development of a country's economic sectors and its structural adjustment? (3) How international business activities may affect the development of a country's economic sectors and its structural adjustment?;From the literature review, it shows that the main theoretical aspects of a country's structural adjustment are "what to produce" and "how to produce." Both aspects are dynamically adjusted over time and the adjustment process of both aspects starts from the transformation of both country-level resources and firm-level resources.;Moreover, based upon the overview of Taiwan's economic development, econometric analyses, and case study of Taiwan's electronics sector, this study finds: (1) international business activities do have positive impacts upon an economy's sectoral development and adjustment process; (2) the impacts from international business activities may differ depending upon the nature of economic sectors and the development stage of an economy; (3) for the impacts upon structural adjustment, inward IDIs from less CA sectors have positive impacts upon the adjustment from primary sectors to less CA sectors. IDIs and ODIs of CA sectors also have positive impacts upon the adjustment from less CA sectors to CA sectors; (4) through international business activities from and to developed countries, developed countries may provide significant assistance to the development of CA sectors in less developed countries.