A comparative study on industrial spillover effects among Korea, China, the USA, Germany and Japan

Purpose Starting from industry 4.0 in Germany and followed by the New Strategy for American Innovation in the USA and the smartization strategy in Japan, developed countries are pushing nation-wide innovation strategies. Similarly, China is pursuing the Made in China 2025, and Korea announced the Manufacturing Industry Innovation 3.0 strategy. However, few researchers have identified the industrial structure that establishes the foundation of the 4th Industrial Revolution or have derived strengths and weaknesses to provide implications on policy formulation through quantitative comparison with developed countries. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the spillover effect of the information and communication technology (ICT) industry (the foundation of the 4th Industrial Revolution) and machinery center dot equipment industry (the foundation of smart manufacturing through convergence with ICT industry). Design/methodology/approach This study examines the industrial spillover effects of the ICT industry and machinery center dot equipment industry in the USA, Germany, Japan, China and Korea by using the World Input-Output Table from 2000 to 2014. Findings The results showed that backward linkage effect of the ICT Industry are high in the order of Korea geometrically equal to China>Japan>the USA geometrically equal to Germany, and forward linkage effect of the ICT industry are high in the order of Japan geometrically equal to > the USA geometrically equal to Korea geometrically equal to > China geometrically equal to > Germany. Backward linkage effects of the machinery center dot equipment industry are high in the order of China>Japan geometrically equal to Korea>the USA>Germany, and forward linkage effects of the machinery center dot equipment industry are high in the order of China>Korea>Germany geometrically equal to Japan geometrically equal to the USA. Originality/value This study attempted to provide a theoretical approach to the determination of national policy strategies and provide practical implications for response to the impacts of the 4th Industrial Revolution, by comparing the inducement effects of ICT and machinery center dot equipment industries between major countries.