Productivity in Asia

Book excerpt: In recent years there have been huge improvements in the methods and data to measure and analyze the sources of economic growth around the world. This volume on the growth accounts for four core economies in East Asia is a vital contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of growth. Bart van Ark, University of Groningen, The Netherlands The outstanding economic performance of East Asian countries has been investigated in numerous studies. However, most comparative studies analyze macro-level productivity. In this book, the productivity performance of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United States are compared at industry level. The work is a result of an international collaborative research project by RIETI (Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry), Japan. The total factor productivity growth and level amongst these five countries sheds new light on the industrial competitiveness of growing Asian economies compared to Japan and the United States. In addition, this book provides detailed information on productivity datasets for these five countries. Productivity in Asia will strongly appeal to scholars of Asian studies, industrial organization and economics as well as those interested in productivity statistics.