ICT and Growth: The Role of Rates of Return and Capital Prices

We revisit the widely discussed contribution of investment in ICT to economic growth, focusing on differences in productivity and quality of ICT across countries and time. In a growth accounting approach, we look at the way rates of return and rates of asset price decline measure these aspects. Conducting a sensitivity analysis with data from the EU KLEMS database for the years 1990–2007, we introduce a constant rate of return and a constant rate of ICT price decline. Both alternative measurements somewhat downplay the role investment played relative to growth in multifactor productivity in the U.K. and the U.S. during 1995–2000. Moreover, we show that more than half of the ICT contribution to labor productivity growth results from changes in capital quality and composition rather than from quantity.     

The driving forces behind China’s growth1

The main objective of this article is to disentangle the determinants of the Chinese economic growth that occurred from 1965 to 2000. We have explored, first, the time series properties of the growth rates of gross domestic product and labour productivity with an extended battery of unit‐root tests. Then, in a multivariate setting, we use the VAR model methodology to provide evidence that physical and human capital accumulation, R&D expenditure, openness and competitiveness are the main drivers of output, labour productivity and total factor productivity growth in the long run. Additionally, we also show that although China has not yet converged to its long‐run equilibrium, it is in the process of catching up. These results are more consistent with some versions of the endogenous growth models than with Solow‐type models of growth, since they support active strategies of economic policy to stimulate economic growth and catching up with more advanced economies.     

The impacts of imports and trade liberalization in Brazil: Insights from an aggregate cost function

Brazil has faced and continues to struggle with difficult economic challenges, including achieving noninflationary economic growth and a manageable external deficit. This paper presents the results of the estimation of an aggregate translog cost function with inputs of domestic capital and labor and imports and outputs of consumption and investment goods. The resulting calculated elasticities give insights into the relationships among the inputs, as well as the possible impacts of further reducing international trade barriers. The findings suggest that all of the inputs are substitutes for one another and that an increase in imports may have at least short-run negative effects on the demand for domestic capital and labor. However, imports appear to be particularly important in the production of investment goods, so an increase in imports may result in a more than proportionate increase in the output of those products and enhance the long-term growth of the economy. The responses to current challenges facing Brazil will affect its future economic growth as well as have a broader impact on the international scene. The results described here may help to inform policy makers as they address these issues, particularly with respect to international trade policies.     

Effect of total resource allocation effect and economic growth：Chinese experience of 1978-2004

The analytical method of total resource reallocation effect is an evolution of the analytical method of the factors of economic growth. Since the marketization reform in China in 1978, market mechanism has played a more and more important role in resource allocation, and Chinese economy has developed greatly, which is called ＂the Chinese Miracle＂. This paper analyzes the economic growth in China from 1978 to 2004 with the analytical method of total resource reallocation effect. The result shows that the annual growth rate of total resource reallocation effect was 0.2%, which was 5.1% of the comprehensive productivity and 0.21% of the gross output growth, i.e. the total resource allocation played a weak role in the economic growth in China. When analyzing it in Chenery＇s multinational model, we find that Chinese comprehensive productivity growth rate was higher than that in all the income phases of the model, but the total resource allocation effect was obviously lower than that in all the income phases of the model. It indicates that the total resource allocation in China has a great potential, and that to accelerate marketization reform is one of the important issues for Chinese economic development.     

Equipment investment, output and productivity in China

At the beginning of the 1990s, J. Bradford De Long and Lawrence H. Summers highlighted in a series of influential articles that there were good reasons and quantitative evidence to support the point of view that machinery and equipment investment might be strongly associated with economic growth. China along with its enormous investment effort over recent decades constitutes an interesting case study with which to analyse the role played by equipment investment in its recent economic performance and its interaction with other sources of growth, i.e. openness, R&D, human capital and infrastructure. Our results provide evidence that equipment investment and exports are two of the most important determinants of both labour productivity and output in the long run even after controlling for other sources of growth in China. Furthermore, when human capital and infrastructure are included, the authors find that they have a positive effect on economic activity in the long run.     

Economic Impact of Internet in China

This paper examines the current status of Internet development in China; analyzes its contributions to Chinese economy from the perspective of economic structural changes, IT industry development, E-commerce, productivity growth, foreign investment, and labor market, etc.; suggests its direction in terms of government policy orientations; and proposes strategies toward greater success of Internet in China. To promote economic growth, it is important for Chinese government to establish sturdy e-environments to enable its industries to compete in the global economy and to bring about a greater cohesion within its societies.     

Sources of the German Productivity Demise: Tracing the Effects of Industry-Level Information and Communication Technology Investment

Abstract. While the United States experienced two successive labor productivity surges in 1995 and 2000, Germany's productivity declined dramatically during the same period. We examine the sources of Germany's productivity demise using the ifo industry growth accounting database that provides detailed industry-level investment information. While much attention has focused on the reduction in German labor hours, our data show that information and communication technology (ICT) investment in Germany was deeply lacking in the mid-1990s as compared with the United States. The transition to the new economy mitigated the German productivity slowdown, but did not reverse it. After 2000, we find that a recovery in Non-ICT investment was offset by a widespread collapse in German total factor productivity. Over half of the German industries (accounting for almost 50 per cent of German output) experienced negative total factor productivity growth. This second major difference between the United States and German industry performance explains Germany's secular departure from the technological frontier.     

Intangible Capital and Labor Productivity Growth: Panel Evidence for the EU from 1998–2005

Using new international comparable data on intangible capital investment by business within a panel analysis between 1998 and 2005 in an EU country sample, a positive and significant relationship between intangible capital investment and labor productivity growth is detected. This relationship proves to be robust to a range of alterations. The empirical analysis confirms previous findings that the inclusion of business intangible capital investment in the asset boundary of the national accounting framework increases the rate of change of output per hour worked more rapidly. In addition, intangible capital is able to explain a significant portion of the unexplained international variance in labor productivity growth, and becomes a dominant source of growth.     

Structural transformation in China and India: A note on macroeconomic policies

This paper explores macroeconomic policies that can sustain structural change in China and India. A two-sector open-economy model with endogenous productivity growth, demand driven output and income distribution as an important determinant of economic activity is calibrated to a 2000 SAM for China and a 1999/2000 SAM for India. Short-run analysis concerns temporary equilibria for output, productivity and employment growth rates in the formal sector. In the long-run, the model allows for multiple equilibria which can describe cases of (a) underdevelopment and structural heterogeneity or (b) sustained growth and development. Several simulation exercises are conducted. Specifically, we consider how changes in investment, wages, labor productivity trend and a depreciation of currency affect the macroeconomy and job creation in the formal sector.     

Import competition,fast-track authority and U.S. policy toward China

Has the rise of China influenced U.S. legislation? China’s economic rise in the past 30 years has largely been driven by its exports of labor intensive products. Taking advantage of this supply shock in the United States and cross-district variation in the composition of industries, we investigate the potential role of Chinese imports in U.S. legislators’ decision on granting Fast-Track Authority to the president. Consistent with Conconi et al. (2012), our empirical analyses indicate that in districts with more industries that are exposed to Chinese import competition, legislators are less likely to give up the power to amend international trade agreements. Interestingly, Chinese imports may distort the view of constituents toward China which render legislators in districts subject to large Chinese import competition to take an affirmative position on foreign policy that may hurt China.     

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Singapore’s economic growth

Singapore’s remarkable success in economic development has been strongly associated with the country’s vigorous efforts to embrace the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution to promote economic growth. This study provides a comprehensive investigation of the contributions of ICT to Singapore’s economic growth during the 1990–2008 period. It documents three key findings. First, there is a strong positive association between the intensity of ICT use and value-added and labor productivity growth at the sector level. Second, ICT investment contributed approximately 1 percentage point to Singapore’s GDP during 1990–2008, and its role in driving economic growth has become increasingly important over time. Third, the contribution of the ICT manufacturing sector to Singapore’s growth was notable, but it was on the decline and faced difficult restructuring challenges. This paper also provides valuable policy lessons and strategic insights for governments in both developed and developing countries that aspire to embrace ICT to promote economic growth.     

The impact of coal price fluctuations on China’s economic output

Due to the important role of coal in China’s macroeconomic growth, the price of coal significantly influences its economic output. Employing a VAR model, a cointegration test and a state-space model of time-varying variables, this article analyses the influence of coal price fluctuations on the volume and structure of China’s economic output, including both the strength and the time delay of such influence. This article further explores the corresponding relationships between coal price fluctuations and variations in the effects of these fluctuations to analyse the asymmetric influence of coal price fluctuations on China’s macroeconomy. Coal price fluctuations exerted significant long-term positive effects and short-term negative effects on China’s output variables, with an average delay of 11 months; they had positive effects on investment and consumption over the long term and an increasingly negative effect on imports and exports. The average delays were 9 months for investment, 6.5 months for consumption and 10 months for imports and exports. There was an asymmetric correlation between coal price fluctuations and the time-varying elasticity of their impact on GDP. The results in this study are consistent with the actual operating circumstances of the Chinese economy.     

A two-sector Kaleckian model of growth and distribution with endogenous productivity dynamics

This study extends a two-sector Kaleckian model of output growth and income distribution by incorporating endogenous labour productivity growth. The model is composed of investment goods and consumption goods production sectors. The impact of a change in wage and profit shares on capacity utilisation and output growth rates at the sectoral and aggregate levels are identified. The study reveals short-run cyclical capacity utilisation rates and productivity growth dynamics. Even if the short-run steady state is stable, the capital accumulation rate in the consumption goods sector must decrease more than that in the investment sector for long-run stability. When simultaneous rises in profit shares in both the sectors affect long-run aggregate economic growth differently at a steady state, the distributional interests between the same class in different sectors may hamper the long-run economic growth. A policy message is that the effect of income distribution on industrial output growth is not always beneficial. These phenomena are specific to two-sector models and cannot be observed when using conventional aggregate growth models.     

PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN LATIN AMERICA OVER THE LONG RUN

The low pace of Latin American productivity growth in recent decades, despite extensive economic reforms, has yet to be understood in a longer‐run context where factors such as demographic changes, structural shifts, and investment levels can be taken fully into account. The OxLAD database provides comparable sectoral output and workforce series over 1900–2000 for the six leading economies in the region for the first time. Our analysis of this new dataset shows that: intersectoral resource reallocation reduced aggregate productivity growth in all three periods; total factor productivity growth was low throughout the century, and even negative in the closing three decades; and thus factor accumulation—investment in fixed capital and skilled labor—was the main source of productivity growth in Latin America during the twentieth century.     

产业结构变迁、劳动力市场扭曲 和中国劳动生产率增长放缓*

自2007年以来,中国的劳动生产率呈现出增长放缓的趋势。本文建立了包含劳动力市场扭曲和部门效率差异的三部门一般均衡模型,对劳动生产率增长放缓的原因进行了分析。本文的模型可以较好地拟合劳动力部门间再配置和劳动生产率增长放缓的特征事实。数值模拟结果表明,第三产业劳动生产率低速增长是导致中国总劳动生产率增长放缓的主要原因,而劳动力市场扭曲的减弱和第一产业劳动生产率的加速增长则对总劳动生产率增长放缓起到了遏制作用。这些结果证明,劳动生产率的增长放缓在很大程度上是产业结构变迁带来的。政府可以实施放松服务业进入规制和消除劳动力市场扭曲等政策,提高总劳动生产率的增长率。     

A GROWTH MODEL FOR CHINA'S SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE

Abstract.  We employ a general macroeconomic analysis to describe the economic growth and performance of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ). It is shown that not only does foreign investment make a significant contribution to the economic growth of the Zone, but also, the rapid response of foreign investment to the output level is important for maintaining steady-state growth. The open door policy and the policy of encouraging foreign investment have thereby played an important role in the recent development of the Chinese economy.     

进口贸易技术溢出效应和经济增长效应再检验——基于中国省际面板数据和一阶差分广义矩方法的研究

本文采用动态面板数据一阶差分广义距方法结合1985至2005年我国28个省区市的面板数据检验了进口贸易对我国的技术溢出效应和经济增长效应。结果发现：进口贸易不但提高了我国的全要素生产率（TFP）水平,还促进了我国经济增长;在吸收能力变量中,只有作为综合技术水平的TFP促进了进口贸易的技术溢出;此外还发现,人力资本构成中只有高等教育人力资本与TFP及收入水平显著正相关。     

Information Technology and the World Growth Resurgence

Abstract. This paper analyzes the impact of investment in information technology (IT) on the recent resurgence of world economic growth. We describe the growth of the world economy, seven regions, and 14 major economies during the period 1989–2004. We allocate the growth of world output between input growth and productivity and find, surprisingly, that input growth greatly predominates! Moreover, differences in per capita output levels are explained by differences in per capita input, rather than variations in productivity. The contributions of IT investment have increased in all regions, but especially in industrialized economies and Developing Asia.     

人民币升值对两岸经贸关系影响的实证研究

本文利用1999年7月至2008年4月的月度数据,运用协整检验以及基于VECM的Granger因果检验等计量方法,封人民币升值封两岸经贸关系的影响进行探讨。结果表明,人民币汇率与两岸经贸关系的三个核心指标都存在长期稳定的均衡关系。从长期来看,两岸经贸关系的三个核心指标都是人民币名义汇率的单向Granger原因;而从短期来看,不存在Granger因果关系。至于人民币升值封大陆封台出口、大陆自台进口以及台商对大陆投资的影响,无论是长期还是短期,都不明显。简言之,人民币升值封两岸经贸发展的负面影响不明显,而且从长远来看,两岸经贸关系的发展将有利于人民币汇率的稳定。     

外商直接投资与中国技术进步的实证分析

在不同的阶段外商直接投资的作用是不同的。从1991—1994年的4年间,外商直接投资对中国技术进步的直接效应和间接效应都是不明显的。从1996—2003年的8年间,外商直接投资对中国经济增长做出了直接贡献,但外商直接投资所带来的技术进步而产生的技术外溢是有限的,因而外商直接投资的间接效应是不明显的。外商投资参与度对劳动生产率提高的影响越来越大,外商直接投资在劳动生产率提高中的作用越来越重要。