Institute of Economic Research, Seoul National University
Abstract
Young (1994) and Kim and Lau (1994), among others, argue
that the Asian Miracle of relatively high growth was largely due
to increases in factor inputs. Productivity growth would eventually
slow because of diminishing returns to factors. Thus total factor
productivity growth was not the reason for the Asian Miracle.
Krugman (1994) summarized this research, comparing the growth
experience of Singapore, among the other Asian Tigers, to that of
the Soviet Union and argued that there was reason to expect a
similar outcome, namely a collapse of the political institutions due
to economic stagnation. Interestingly, Krugman consistently refers
to efficiency growth and technical progress as equivalent terms. In
this paper and survey we discuss alternative explanations for
economic growth in Asia as well as elsewhere in the world in the
post WWII years. The alternative explanation is explicit in Krugman's
treatise. It is economic growth due to a world with less constraints
