For decades, East Asia has been a paragon of economic dynamism. But today, in an era of rapid global technological advances, productivity growth in the region is slowing. This column uses harmonised firm-level data from five countries – China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam – to reveal a key piece of the puzzle: the most productive firms in the region are no longer leading the charge. In fact, they are falling behind their global counterparts, especially in digital-intensive