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This article empirically investigates the effect of structural transformation on wage inequality in Asia, using industry-level data for three skill groups of workers. While structural transformation, associated with technological progress, productivity catching-up, and capital deepening, has contributed to Asia's sustained growth, its effect on income inequality remains uncertain. Our results show that the process of economic transformation has exacerbated inequality in the region by increasing the relative share of high-skilled workers in total compensation. This is mainly due to a shift toward more productive--and more intensive in the use of skilled labor--activities both within and between industries. However, we also find that policy responses, especially investments in education, mitigate the increase in inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study examines the effect of financial integration on growth, total factor productivity, and capital accumulation using a dynamic panel system‐GMM for a dataset consisting of 43 Asian economies from 1995 to 2015. The impact of de jure financial openness on output, productivity, and capital stock growth is significant, while the effect of de facto financial integration is fuzzy. The disaggregate asset classes (namely, inflows of foreign direct investment and debt) are found to facilitate higher output while derivative inflows yield an undesirable effect. For developing countries, financial openness significantly boosts productivity and capital accumulation while for less developed countries it only enhances productivity. The negative impact of the currency crisis on growth and capital accumulation is found to be significant for more open economies. The currency crisis is more prominent for developed economies, partially effective for less developed countries, and partially ineffective for developing economies in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of 28 emerging market economies from Asia and Latin America spanning 1990–2013, we show that the marginal effect of capital flows on growth is positive and contingent on the threshold level of institutional quality (IQ). The conditional effect of capital flows holds for both the income per capita growth and total factor productivity (TFP) growth. We also determine the different threshold levels of IQ at which the marginal effect of capital flows is positive. The overall level of IQ in the Asian countries is superior to the Latin American countries and requires a lower threshold level to exert any positive effect. While the same conditional effect of IQ holds in Latin America for TFP growth, this effect is reversed in Asia. For very high levels of IQ (91st percentile), the marginal effect of capital flows on TFP growth in Asia is almost negligible. The marginal effects also vary based on the composition of capital flows in each region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present three conditions for a demography-driven middle-income trap and show that many economies in East, South, and Southeast Asia satisfy all of them. The conditions involve (1) the support ratio of workers to consumers has an impact on economic growth, (2) economic development accompanies more investment in human capital and lower fertility due to the quantity-quality trade-off, and (3) a current low level of fertility corresponds to very low support ratios for keeping up with frontier economies in the long run. Panel analysis for 178 countries shows that (1) and (2) are satisfied for Asia with higher elasticity than others. As for (3), we set up a dynamic model for simulations, showing that approximately two-third of Asia’s developing countries have an unsustainable level of support ratios, implying possibility of a middle-income trap due to future demographic headwinds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural rubber (NR) processing industry plays a critical role in the economies of many developing countries, particularly in Asia. Among the different types of NR, crepe rubber holds a significant position, as it is used to produce pharmaceutical and surgical rubber items, and also articles that are in contact with foods. At present, the crepe rubber manufacturing has been challenged by low productivity, rising cost of production, and environmental issues. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the feasibility in the adoption of sustainable manufacturing practices in the crepe rubber production as a case study in Sri Lanka. This study consisted of three steps: 1) quantification of material and economic losses and global warming potential (GWP) via material flow analysis (MFA), material flow cost accounting (MFCA), and life cycle assessment (LCA) on a gate-to-gate basis, 2) developing proposals of improvement options with the help of Pareto and What-if analyses, field interviews, and the existing literature; and 3) validation of suggested improvement options through the re-execution of MFA, MFCA, and LCA. For 1 MT of rubber input, the underlying economic losses and GWP impact in the current manufacturing process were identified as LKR 19,585 and 279.3 kg CO2e with the values of 7% and 13% for Relative Standard Deviation, respectively. As improvement options, reduction options of water, chemicals, electricity, milling duration were proposed. It revealed that adoption of these reduction options could mainly reduce 32,064 kg of water and 30.1 kWh of electricity resulting in 5.3% of cost savings and a 4.3% of GWP impact reduction. Other implications associated with improvement options and their limitations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the competitiveness of industries in six Asian countries—China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan—using the World Input–Output Database tables from 1995 to 2011. Competitiveness is measured by the value-added that industries contribute to the production of final goods, which we refer to as global value chain (GVC) income, rather than by gross exports. We find that, unlike EU countries,Asian countries have generally been able to combine increasing GVC job opportunities with a rise in real income. The GVC income in Asian countries presents a different picture to that in European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the paper "Financial Conditions Indexes and Monetary Policy in Asia" by Margarita Debuque-Gonzales and Maria Socorro Gochoco-Bautista. He discusses the use of the common factor analysis in the creation of quarterly financial conditions indexes (FCIs) for eight Asian economies, including Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines. He explores the use of FCIs in forecasting measures of inflation and output.

This paper constructs quarterly financial conditions indexes (FCIs) for eight Asian economies--namely, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand--using a common factor methodology based on Hatzius et al. (2010). A wide array of financial data is included in the indexes based on identified monetary transmission channels in the literature. Bank-related indicators, various measures of financial stress and risk, and credit surveys, where available, are incorporated to fully reflect the state of the financing environment. The FCIs for Asia successfully capture important episodes in each economy's financial history, but only the indexes of financially advanced economies Japan and Singapore have sufficient forecasting power to predict output growth and inflation. High co-movement of Asian FCIs suggests highly similar monetary policies in the region that are strongly linked with monetary policy in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper advances our understanding of complex interdependence among countries. Existing research has found that total factor productivity (TFP), the residual from the economic growth function, is hindered in the absence of a country's strong political and legal institutions or if a country does not already have a sufficiently high level of TFP. We also know that regional efforts to eliminate pollution are complex. Bridging these two areas while focusing on a high polluting yet high innovating region, the following research questions are posed: Are Northeast Asian countries key collaborators in pursuit of green R&D? Are Northeast Asian countries collaborating extensively with each other? What are the implications for other regions 'attempts to establish these kinds of relations? To answer the above questions, biofuels-related technology as defined in the International Patent Classification's "green inventory" of environmentally sound technologies is examined. Patent data is drawn from the USPTO and inventors' country origin as the unit of analysis. For the 1990-2013 period, the Northeast Asian countries are in the core of a small set of collaborating countries. There is evidence that their centrality has increased in recent years. Most importantly, East Asia is becoming a singular research hub in terms of biofuels-related R&D, offering a counter in the foreseeable future to the dominance of the American and European research network hubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides, for the first time, empirical evidence on the impact of economic globalisation on bank total factor productivity in a developing economy. By employing the Malmquist Productivity Index method, we compute the total factor productivity of the Malaysian banking sector during 1998–2007. Examining different dimensions of economic globalisation, we find evidence supporting for greater trade and capital account restrictions and cultural proximity. On the other hand, personal contacts, information flows, and political globalisation seem to exert significant (negative) influence on banks’ total factor productivity levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances a model to explain the total factor productivity in Asian countries, most of which are labor surplus and are endowed with substantial human capital. Such promising demographic potentials are considered as complementary factors to use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Population with such favorable demographic traits and access to ICT results in higher Total factor productivity (TFP). We call this as Demo-Tech-TFP Model and is tested by using data for 2000-2010 of 24 Asian countries. Econometric concerns like presence of endogenous and/or predetermined covariates and small time-series and cross-sectional dimensions of panel dataset are tackled by using System Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM). Results show considerable support for the Demo-Tech-TFP hypothesis. Need is to design such models that suit the local demography and patterns of technological diffusion currently taking place in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid expansion of international trade, a distinctive feature of the contemporary container terminal industry is that competition has become more intense, If container terminal managers can gain a proper appreciation of their various productivity factors, they may be able to identify which factors have a more positive influence on productivity. The core of sensitivity analysis for evaluating terminal productivity is to remove input variables one by one, then re-estimate the correlation between productivity and investment. From this perspective, sensitivity analysis provides a more appropriate benchmark for identifying which factors are more critical for productivity improvement. This analysis has been variously studied utilizing either Data Envelopment Analysis or Regression Analysis. Given the strengths associated with these two analyses, this paper applies both approaches to the same set of data for 28 major East Asian container terminals and compares the results of the efficiency. The results of this study can provide a useful reference to port managers for developing improvement strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Special Economic Zones (SEZ) have been proven to help countries in fostering economic growth. The aim of this research is to try to help the government to improve SEZ policies in Indonesia by providing a benchmark with other SEZ countries in China, Malaysia, and Thailand. While China has the most established SEZ program, Malaysia and Thailand also have highly-regarded SEZs and investment incentives. These neighboring countries have developed SEZs in significant quantities but the greatest returns have come from a subsection of large-scale zones with favorable locations, good planning and access to resources. Thailand has a smaller number of zones, but a higher rate of successful zones, such as the automobile cluster which became the anchor of automotive production in Asia. How Indonesia's position compares to these three Asian countries is the main question of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To continue Asia's economic growth the focus for expansion and improvement must move from export manufacturing to the services sector -- primarily to cross-border trade in such modern services as finance, information and communication, and professional business services. As the Asian services-sector economies have historically been dominated by personal services rather than by more information-intensive services, serious concerns exist about their ability to rapidly and successfully grow these modern services. While Asia does have some well-known services-sector success stories -- such as in India and the Philippines -- most Asian services economies have a history of relatively slow developmental change. Removing internal and external policy and structural constraints will be key to productivity growth in modern crossborder services trade. Improving educational opportunities and strengthening infrastructure and capital and labor markets will all be needed complements to regulatory reform if Asia is to grow new and innovative service providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the importance of the domestic research and development stock and foreign knowledge spillovers on total factor productivity for six Asian miracle economies over the period from 1955 to 2006. The productivity effects of international knowledge spillovers through the following channels are considered: imports, exports, inward foreign direct investment, patents, geographical proximity, and the general channel. The general channel is a transmission mechanism where knowledge spillovers occur automatically and do not pass through any specific channel. The estimates show that knowledge has been transmitted through all the channels considered but that the import channel and the general channel have probably been the most important ones for the Asian miracle economies. ( JEL O10, O30, O40) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining a sustained level of productivity growth is an important aspect of the economic development process, particularly in periods of economic turbulence. This paper examines the determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) growth and their behavior in five middle-income ASEAN countries during events such as the Asian Contagion and the Global Financial Crisis. In particular, this paper examines the effects on TFP of foreign direct investment (FDI), trade, the agricultural sector, government spending, human capital, and dummy variables representing the financial crises. The results show that trade, government spending, the scale of the agricultural sector, and the dummy variables have significantly influenced productivity growth. Government spending affects it positively, and the scale of the agricultural sector and the dummy variables representing the Asian Contagion influence it negatively. These empirical findings support the popular belief that trade significantly influences TFP growth, but the trend is not consistent with expectations. Despite strongly supportive theoretical arguments, this study does not find the human capital and FDI variables to be significant. Notably, there is no evidence to suggest that the Global Financial Crisis has had a significant influence when compared with the Asian Contagion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that trade and FDI are beneficial to countries' economic development. This paper builds on the literature, and analyzes the ef fects on total factor productivity (TFP) through three channels of openness-imports, inward FDI and international call traf fic (ICT) for a set of developing countries in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Using data from the period of 1980 to 2000, I find that imports, FDI and international call traf fic all significantly promote TFP growth in developing countries, and that human capital enhances the ef fects of imports on TFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a productivity-based explanation of the long-run real exchange rate movements of six Asian economies. Using industry level data, we construct total factor productivities (TFPs) for the tradable and nontradable sectors. We find that (i) within each country the relative price of nontradable goods is cointegrated with the sectoral TFP differential, and (ii) the real exchange rates are cointegrated with the home and foreign sectoral TFP differentials. Using the predicted real exchange rate as a measure of the 'long-run equilibrium,' we find that most Asian economies' real exchange rates were overvalued before the Asian Financial Crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the efficiency of Malaysian commercial banks between 1996 and 2002 and finds that while the East Asian financial crisis caused a short-term increase in efficiency in 1998 primarily due to cost-cutting, increases in non-performing loans after the crisis caused a more sustained decline in bank efficiency. It is also found that mergers, fully Islamic banks, and conventional banks operating Islamic banking windows are all associated with lower efficiency. The paper estimates suggest mild decreasing returns to scale, and an average productivity change of 2.37% that is primarily attributable to technical change, which has nonetheless declined over time. Finally, while Islamic banks have been moderately successful in developing new products and technologies, the results suggest that the potential for Islamic banks to overcome their relative inefficiency is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper identifies emerging trends in the world economy during the next decade. The first is that China will overtake the U.S. in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), ending more than a century of U.S. leadership as the world''s largest economy. The second is that Developing Asia, excluding Japan, will overtake the G7, a group of the seven largest industrialized economies established in 1975–76. Finally, India will overtake Japan, Russia will overtake Germany, and Brazil will overtake the U.K., leading to a New World Economic Order: China, the U.S., India, Japan, Russia, Germany, and Brazil. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the relationship between sectoral capital-labor ratios and total factor productivity (TFP) for six Asian economies in the context of the Balassa-Samuelson model. A strong prediction of the model is that the capital-labor ratios in both the traded- and nontraded-goods sectors depend on the TFP in the traded-goods sector. Both single-equation and panel cointegration tests support this implication of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturing productivity has been increasing faster relative to agricultural productivity in a number of Asian countries in recent years. The literature provides two hypotheses for this phenomenon. First, increases in physical capital investment led to manufacturing productivity growth in many Asian countries (Tinakorn and Sussangkarn 1994). Second, greater exposure to trade and foreign direct investment contributed to improvements in manufacturing productivity (Pack and Westphal 1998). Using data from several Asian countries between 1970 and 2005, we find that OLS regressions only support the first hypothesis. However, after we account for the endogeneity between openness and FDI inflows, we find evidence supporting the second hypothesis. These results have various implications for trade and FDI policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the dynamic pattern of Japanese manufacturing foreign direct investment (FDI) in Asia. Japanese electronics firms shifted manufacturing operations abroad in the 1990s. We focus on the timing of the surge in FDI: why in this period did Japanese electronics firms increase manufacturing FDI in Asia? The empirical findings indicate that, in addition to productivity improvements, learning experiences from FDI were the primary determinants of the FDI wave. Firms' own past FDI experiences, the experiences of other firms (spillovers), and the presence of own distribution services encourage manufacturing FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We ask how export demand shocks associated with the Asian financial crisis affected Chinese exporters. We construct firm-specific exchange rate shocks based on the precrisis destinations of firms' exports. Because the shocks were unanticipated and large, they are a plausible instrument for identifying the impact of exporting on firm productivity and other outcomes. We find that firms whose export destinations experience greater currency depreciation have slower export growth and that export growth leads to increases in firm productivity and other firm performance measures. Consistent with "learning-by-exporting," the productivity impact of export growth is greater when firms export to more developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing airport capacity constraint, airports' increasing attention to profits, and regional hub formation in Northeast Asia suggest a need to study efficiency performance of the region's major airports. This article empirically evaluates the level and change of efficiency (productivity) of Tokyo (Narita), Osaka (Kansai), Seoul (Incheon and Gimpo), Beijing Capital, Shanghai Hongqiao, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong airports. We apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) to new panel data covering the 1994-2007 time period. We find that all the sample airports have recorded an increase in productivity over the period. Given the initial low productivity level of Chinese airports, this finding suggests that a series of deregulatory measures adopted by the Chinese government may have worked in improving airport productivity. On the other hand, no sample airports have experienced consistent growth in productivity. To improve productivity, the airports in Northeast Asia need not only technological revolutions at the industry level, but also technical improvements, such as better airport management, operations, and investment, at an airport level. Alternatively, the region may need to adopt more aggressive liberalization measures to stimulate further traffic growth. A number of future research areas are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Using panel data from the Indonesian manufacturing industry during the Suharto era (1975–95), we assess the impact of plant-level corruption on output and productivity growth. In support of the “grease the wheels” hypothesis and the view of an Asian paradox, we find that corruption, measured as bribes and indirect tax payments, has a positive and statistically significant effect on individual plant growth. This effect persists over the entire period, which suggests improvements in the efficacy of the bribe system and a strengthening of the long-term contract between firms and the government. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Asia is becoming a centre of gravity for global business. As a result of this, there is a growing interest in investment in this area, and pharmaceutical companies are not an exception. The old research and development investment model of the Western Big Pharma companies is starting to fall apart with the well-publicised reduction of new chemical entities productivity. Big Pharma is rethinking its business opportunities. Today, 88 per cent of the world's pharmaceuticals are shared between only 18 per cent of the world's population, which means that 82 per cent of the world's population has access to only 12 per cent of the world's pharmaceuticals. This presents a unique business opportunity for those that can seize the moment. Within this context, we are witnessing the use of different strategies by pharmaceutical companies. Some Big Pharma companies have a generic strategy, some have a developing world strategy, some have an outsource strategy and others have all three. The current mergers and acquisitions of pharmaceutical companies in India portray these structural profound changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies the business cycle accounting method a la Chari, Kehoe and McGrattan (2007) to a standard neoclassical small open economy model and assesses the economic crises in Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand. Quantitative results show that distortions in production efficiency are important in all countries in accounting for the sudden output collapses while distortions in the investment and international financial markets are not. If domestic or international financial frictions are the main source of the Asian crisis, they must have operated through total factor productivity (TFP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, parametric and non-parametric methods are employed to measure the total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the Korean manufacturing industry from 1993 to 2003. The analysis period contains both periods before and after the Asian financial crisis. The TFP growth rate is decomposed into different components. Also different elasticities are reported. By classifying the results by period and classifying a number of time invariant firm characteristics, such as sector, size, and location of firms, we observe systematic heterogeneity for each characteristic. We discuss the underlying causal factors. The results from a non-parametric approach are also compared with those of a parametric approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competitive environment for Indonesia's manufacturing industries has changed a great deal in the years following the Asian economic crisis. The major factors in the global environment that have adversely affected Indonesia's competitiveness in its manufactured exports include increasing economic openness, shorter product cycles, and continuous technological improvements. It is vital for Indonesia to monitor regularly the productivity and international competitiveness of its industries. Other major factors that have adversely affected or may adversely affect the competitiveness of Indonesia's manufacturing industries are China's rise as a formidable competitor in the world markets for manufactured exports and as an attractive host country for foreign direct investment (FDI); the emergence of global contract manufacturers in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand; the expiry of the Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA) in early 2005; trade liberalization within the ASEAN countries; and the WTO-mandated reduction in tariff barriers. This paper discusses Indonesia's low industrial competitiveness and the steps which could be taken to remedy this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge Management (KM) has played a critical role in innovation and technology management-related fields over the past decades. Most KM studies investigate related issues from the perspectives of an organisational or firm-to-firm level. Many firms create and sustain their innovativeness and capability via their counterparts within and across the industry, and their KM activities occur at the industrial level. The members of the KM activities may include firms, research and academic institutes, governments, and even their competitors and clients. This study takes industry as the knowledge base and explores the content of Industry-based Knowledge Managements (IKM) and how it is practiced in Asia. IKM is classified as four modes — knowledge clustering, enlarging, exchanging, and initiating. Some practical IKM cases in Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan are reviewed to verify the model and to clarify the IKM contents of each mode. Suggestions and directions toward IKM practices and research for the future are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent contributions to growth theory stress the importance of localized innovation for the performance of more backward countries. In earlier papers, analyses by means of DEA techniques confirmed this intuition. In this paper, we extend this type of analysis by relaxing the macroeconomic viewpoint adopted until now. New databases on output, labor and capital input in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors are developed for 40 countries. Using intertemporal DEA, it is found that changes in the global production frontier are localized at high levels of capital intensity. This result is stronger in agriculture than in manufacturing. Further, a decomposition of labor productivity growth in eight Asian countries for the period 1975-1992 into the effects of capital intensification, learning and innovation is made. The results suggest that there is a particular development path in which increases in capital intensity appear to be a prerequisite to benefit from international technology spillovers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to cross-country studies, the paper investigates the relationships between trade and labour productivity for nine rapidly developing Asian countries in a time-series framework using a vector error-correction model. Independent tests on the long-run and short-run relationship between trade variables of exports and imports and productivity are conducted. The results suggest that trade has an important impact on productivity and output growth in the economy, however it is imports that provide the important 'virtuous' link between trade and output growth. The results indicate that exports and imports have qualitatively different impacts on labour productivity. The long-run result shows that there is no causal effect from exports to labour productivity growth for Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand; thereby suggesting that there is no export-led productivity growth in these countries. However, significant causal effects were found from imports to productivity growth, suggesting import-led productivity growth in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. In addition, the results indicate that imports tend to have greater positive impact on productivity growth in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of high-performance work system (HPWS) techniques on organizational performance in four East and Southeast Asian economies that have been at the forefront of Asia's rapid development. All now face considerable competitive pressures from newer emerging markets (e.g. China, India, Vietnam, Eastern Europe) and thus experience many of the same sources of uncertainty from globalization as more economically developed countries, especially in the period following the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Many companies in Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand are experimenting with features of American-style high-performance work systems. We collected data from nearly 700 companies in the region, both subsidiaries of MNCs (American, Japanese and European) and locally owned firms. Statistical techniques were used to measure the effects of HPWS techniques on perceived financial performance. In general, the results indicated HPWSs worked effectively, even under tremendously variable conditions. Most interesting is the finding that use of HPWS techniques in locally owned firms apparently has at least a marginally greater impact on firm performance than when used in MNC subsidiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the impact of information technology (IT) on the level of productivity and profitability in the retail banking industry in a number of Asian and Pacific Basin countries. Reason for the move of financial institutions in the Asia Pacific region to increase their use of technology; Nature of IT investment in banking; Ways of estimating the impact of IT investment.

abstract this paper attempts to analyze the sustainability of the asian wooden furniture industry. despite booming exports, the furniture industry is besieged with stagnating productivity. the growth attributed to rising exports of low-value, contract furniture is not sustainable in the long-term as other cheaper manufacturers emerge. industry liberalization coupled with the use of skilled workers, and not industrial policy, are the strategic elements for sustainability. zusammenfassung in diesem manuskript wird versucht, die nachhaltigkeit der asiatischen holzmöbel-industrie zu analysieren. trotz boomender exporte ist die möbelindustrie durch stagnierende produktivität in bedrängnis geraten. das wachstum ist einem anstieg geringwertiger exporte zu verdanken. vertragsmobiliar ist auf lange sicht nicht erhältlich, da andere billigere hersteller auftauchen. die strategischen elemente zur nachhaltigkeit der holzmöbel-industrie sind industrielle liberalisierung, gekoppelt mit der einstellung erfahrener arbeiter und keinesfalls die anwendung industrieller taktiken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the growth in total factor productivity (TFP) of 12 Asia–Pacific telecommunications carriers for the period 1987 through 1990. Carriers are chosen to represent the stages of telecommunications liberalisation identified by the International Telecommunication Union (1995a). A model relating TFP growth to output growth, changes in output mix, technology change and market competition and private ownership is estimated on a unique data set obtained from telecommunications carrier annual reports. Empirical results show competition, private ownership, technology change and scale economies improve carrier TFP growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the growth in output and total factor productivity (TFP) of Asian newly industrialized economies. Quality of changes of inputs; Industrial structural change; Heterogeneous characteristics of inputs in TFP.

In recent years there has been considerable disagreement over the extent to which productivity growth has accounted for the success of the east Asian economies. Empirical evidence, based on forms of growth accounting or direct estimation of a production function, is inconclusive so that the debate appears to be at a stalemate. This article applies an alternative approach, using the Malmquist productivity indices, to investigate the contribution of productivity to the longer term growth. The results support the view that over the longer term, the east Asian economies were input driven but interesting differences arise between countries when shorter periods are analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This process of productive and organizational flexibility, as well as increased productivity for factories and their workers, have been central to the organizational learning trajectory for certain export maquiladoras. This article analyzes some Asian and U. S. Firms operating in Tijuana, to show how, in an underdeveloped country, they have been able to create companies that are highly competitive internationally. The potential and challenges for achieving more sustainable development are also examined. The first section explains the importance of the maquiladora industry in the Mexican context, emphasizing the dynamism of the main economic variables for Asian companies and their impact on Mexico. The second section discusses the evolution of technology and labor in the maquiladoras, emphasizing Asian involvement to demonstrate that these companies may reflect enormous development potential. The third section presents types of technological learning trajectories in order to show various paths and scenarios that may take shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides empirical estimates of total factor productivity (TFP) trends in a sample of 17 APEC countries over the period 1975 to 1996. TFP growth is an important measure of an economy's performance and if measured correctly it can provide valuable guidance on issues related to the assessment of sustainable growth trends. We use the Malmquist index to measure TFP growth and decompose it into an efficiency change and a technical change component. This decomposition provides extra insight on assessing sustainable growth trends. The measurement technique itself is regarded as a significant improvement over previous conventional measures of TFP growth. The results are very interesting. Japan, Thailand and primarily Indonesia and Malaysia are identified as countries exhibiting on average negative TFP growth rates in the 1975-1990 period. In all these countries as well as in South Korea and Taiwan the main cause of low TFP growth is a poor (negative) efficiency record. The average TFP growth rate for Japan and Malaysia is positive in the 1975-1996 period but the efficiency change component remains negative. In all these countries the main contributor to labour productivity growth is capital accumulation. Unlike previous studies we find no evidence of a poor TFP growth performance for Singapore. Furthermore, we estimate that most of Singapore's labour productivity growth is driven by efficiency change. Estimates of rates of convergence towards the frontier economy that is estimated (not assumed as in other studies) to be the US, are also reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threats to Asia's economic growth are looming larger in 2001, with evidence of economic deceleration in the world's major industrial economies increasingly discernible since mid-2000. Slower economic growth in the U.S. and the European Union has cast some doubt on the near-term economic growth prospects of the Asia-9 countries in 2001. By and large, economic growth is in the Asia-9 to slow down from the average 7.3% in 2000 to an average 4.5% projected for 2001. Other than a slowdown in global economic growth, a possible sharp deceleration in the global electronics cycle cannot be ignored. The Asia-9's export performance tends to move in tandem with global semiconductor sales. However, as the economic forecast shows strong growth rate in global semiconductor sales over the next few years, a deep plunge in the global electronics cycle is unlikely. Furthermore, a sharp deceleration in global electronics demand would not appear imminent, unless world economic growth were to fall so drastically as to crimp the quest for productivity growth through technological improvements.