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Trajectories to High Income: Growth Dynamics in Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Murach , Michael

    (FernUniversität in Hagen)

  • Wagner , Helmut

    (FernUniversität in Hagen)

  • Kim , Jungsuk

    (Sejong University)

  • Park , Donghyun

    (Asian Development Bank)

Abstract

We analyze and compare the patterns of economic growth and development in the Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea in the postwar period. The geographical proximity and cultural affinity between the three countries, as well as the key role of the development state in the economies, suggest that an analytical comparison would be a meaningful and valuable exercise. Furthermore, Japan and the Republic of Korea are two of the few economies that have jumped from middle income to high income in a short period and thus offer potentially valuable lessons for the PRC. We use Cobb–Douglas production functions to assess the long-run equilibrium relationships between per capita gross domestic product, capital, and labor by means of cointegrated vector autoregressive models. We show that such equilibrium relationships cannot be rejected for all three countries, while the evidence is stronger for the PRC and the Republic of Korea than for Japan. Our hypothesis tests show that the estimated Cobb–Douglas production functions display coefficients of capital and employment that sum up to 1 and broken linear trends that can be attributed to structural breaks and (changes in) total factor productivity growth. We observe a striking similarity between the experience in the Republic of Korea and the PRC, which gives some optimism that the PRC may be capable of graduating to high income, like the Republic of Korea.

Suggested Citation

  • Murach , Michael & Wagner , Helmut & Kim , Jungsuk & Park , Donghyun, 2020. "Trajectories to High Income: Growth Dynamics in Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 622, Asian Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:adbewp:0622
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    aggregate production function; comparative economic growth; economic development; Japan; People’s Republic of China; Republic of Korea;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies

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