Neither mechanical nor premature: deindustrialization and the New International Division of Labour (1970-2019)

This article studies the economic determinants – wage and productivity levels – behind the deindustrialization trends of 24 countries divided into three groups (“Developed”, “East Asia”, “Latin America”) for the period 1970–2019. The data shows that deindustrialization, regardless of the country’s level of income, is linked to lower wages in other countries. These determinants explain the origin of this worldwide phenomenon since the new international division of labour, the impact on both developed and developing countries in Latin America, and also the successive waves of industrializing countries in East Asia.