The time-varying factor share runs through the entire process of
the Chinese economic miracle, unlike the ‘Kaldor Facts’ in developed
countries. Following the new structural economics theory,
we construct a time-varying elastic production function model
that characterises the structural changes of China’s economic
element, and decompose the driving force of economic growth
to measure the contribution of factor structure. We found that,
from 1978–2017, the average contribution of capital, labour,
technological progress, and factor structure change to the GDP
was 67.01%, 10.38%, 23.08%, and 0.47%, respectively. The measurement
results can aptly portray the impact of policy changes in
China’s unique gradual reform process, such as the economic
market reforms in 1992, the global financial crisis in 2008, and the
policy changes of the new economic normal in 2014. Meanwhile,
the results reveal that improving factor allocation can accelerate
the total factor productivity and promote high-quality development
of China’s economy
