Productivity and Economic Growth in East Asia: Innovation, Efficiency and Accumulation

Abstract

Sources of growth in East Asia have been a controversial subject in the literature. This necessitates more empirical studies to see whether there is more convergence to a particular view of the sources of growth. This study provides a comprehensive examination of sources of growth that allows one to decompose total factor productivity growth, separating out technical efficiency changes from technological progress. This paper applies a varying coefficients frontier production function model to data from 20 manufacturing sectors at the 3-digit SIC level to examine the sources of growth in four East Asian economies. The economies are Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, and the period covered is 1987-93. We find that while there is ample evidence of the importance of increasing inputs in growth, and there is some support for technical efficiency change, or catching up to the frontier over this period, there is weak or even negative evidence for the role of technological progress, measured as a shift in the estimated production frontier.3

The Country's Economic Growth Models and the Potential for Budgetary, Monetary and Private Financing of Gross Domestic Product Growth

“…However, their use is more aimed at maintaining a high standard of living, and as a result, the country's technological capacity is limited by individual "growth points". In countries with a dynamic model, qualitative changes in the structure of the economy are systematically supported, financed at the expense of the economic agents themselves, with the guiding role of the state (Han, Kalirajan and Singh, 2001).…”

Productivity growth of East Asia economies' manufacturing: A decomposition analysis

“…16. For example, see Leung (1997Leung ( , 1998, Wu (1995), Liang and Jorgenson (1999), Han et al (2001), Kim and Han (2001), Mahadeven and Kalirajan (2000). 17.…”

A cross-country comparison of productivity growth using the generalised metafrontier Malmquist productivity index: with application to banking industries in Taiwan and China

“…3 Relative to O'Donnell et al (2008), who adopted the non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, this is the first study measuring the MMPI using the parametric stochastic frontier analysis model. Apart from the framework of the metafrontier, there are also studies measuring TFP growth at a country level; for instance, Wu (2004), Kumbhakar and Wang (2005) and Huang et al (2009) adopted the SFA model; Färe et al (1994), Chang and Luh (2000), Cook and Uchida (2002), Krüger (2003), Jeon and Sickles (2004) and Färe et al (2006) adopted the DEA approach; Young (1992Young ( , 1995, Fischer (1993), Collins and Bosworth (1996), Marti (1996) and Hsieh (1999Hsieh ( , 2002 adopted the growth accounting model; and Han et al (2002) adopted the varying coefficient production frontier approach. stochastic frontier analysis model in Sect.…”