Total Factor Productivity Growth in Chinese Industry: 1952-2005

This paper presents a timely assessment of Chinese industrial productivity performances over the period 1952-2005. The total factor productivity (TFP) growth analysis is based on a Cobb-Douglas specification with aggregated annual data set. This study tackles some theoretical and methodological issues raised by critics of previous studies. First of all, the use of economic tools allows us to relax some restrictive hypothesis of the neoclassical growth framework such as competitive market behaviour, constant returns to scale production technology and Hicks neutral technological change. In addition, our TFP growth estimates are adjusted for business fluctuations. The paper also deals with the autocorrelation issue prevailing in most previous studies. Our major findings are: (i) In Chinese industry, between 1952 and 2005 capital accumulation has been the main engine of economic takeoff. (ii) During the post-reform period, TFP growth contributed significantly to economic growth. (iii) TFP gains have exhibited a sharply increasing pattern since the late 1980’s, along with the accelerated integration of China into the world economy.

Regional dynamics of economic performance in the EU: To what extent do spatial spillovers matter?

This paper investigates the main determinants of economic perfor- mance in the EU from a regional perspective, covering 253 regions over the period 2001-2008. In addition to the traditional determinants of eco- nomic performance, measured by GDP per capita, the analysis accounts for spatial e¤ects related to externalities from neighbouring regions. The spatial Durbin random-e¤ect panel specication captures spatial feedback e¤ects from the neighbours through spatially lagged dependent and inde- pendent variables. Social-economic environment and traditional determi- nants of GDP per capita (distance from innovation frontier, physical and human capital and innovation) are found to be signicant. Overall, our ndings conrm the signicance of spatial spillovers, as business invest- ment and human capital of neighbouring regions have a positive impact both direct and indirect on economic performance of a given region

The Impact of International Trade Flows on the Growth of Brazilian States

The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of Brazil’s trade openness on regional inequalities by estimating the effect of international trade flows on growth of Brazilian states, depending on their income level. For this purpose, we run dynamic growth regressions, using the system GMM estimator, on a panel data set including 26 Brazilian states for the 1989 - 2002 period. Growth rates of Brazilian states are regressed on control variables and on Brazilian states’ trade openness variables. All variables vary across both states and year. The results indicate that trade openness benefits more the Brazilian states with higher levels of per capita income, thereby tending to increase regional inequalities in Brazil. Besides, we find that trade openness advantages more the states with a good level of human capital as well as the industrialized states rather than the states whose main activity is agriculture. The problem that this study reveals is that international trade seems to provide additional advantages to already well developed Brazilian states while one of the priorities of the Brazilian federal government is to achieve a better territorial balance in Brazil. _________________________________ Ce travail a pour objectif d’estimer l’impact des flux de commerce international sur la croissance des Etats brésiliens. A l’aide de l’estimateur GMM, le taux de croissance des Etats brésiliens est régressé sur divers déterminants de la croissance et sur leur taux d’ouverture commerciale. La base de données en panel contient les 26 Etats brésiliens sur la période 1989 - 2002. Les estimations de l’équation de croissance montrent que les flux de commerce international des Etats favorisent davantage la croissance des Etats riches que celle des Etats les moins développés. Nous montrons également qu’il existe au Brésil une convergence conditionnelle. Les Etats pauvres ont un taux de croissance plus élevé que les Etats riches mais il semble que leurs états stationnaires soient très différents les uns des autres, ce qui nous amène à penser que les inégalités régionales resteront importantes dans l’avenir.International trade, growth equation, GMM estimator, Brazilian states, Commerce international, équation de croissance, estimateur GMM, Etats brésiliens.

Total Factor Productivity Growth in Chinese Industry: 1952-2005

This paper presents new estimates of total factor productivity (TFP) growth in Chinese industry over the past half century that seek to improve on earlier estimates in several respects: better data series are developed for capital and labour; the production function is estimated with fewer restrictive assumptions and corrected for serial correlation; and the TFP estimates are adjusted for cyclical fluctuations. The paper also offers a broader than usual interpretation of TFP growth. Its main findings are: (i) that over the whole period 1952-2005 the main source of industrial output growth was capital accumulation; (ii) that during the period since 1980 TFP growth also contributed significantly to industrial output growth; and (iii) that TFP growth in Chinese industry accelerated from the late 1980s, probably as a result of changes in the pattern of ownership and increased integration into the world economy.