Productivity, Growth and Economic Integration in the Southern China Region

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, the economies of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Guangdong and Fujian together have formed one of the fastest growing regions in the world. Rapid growth in trade and investment flows among these economies has led to anincreasingly integrated sub‐regional economic bloc. How has economic integration affected productivity performance among the economies involved? Has regionalintegration led to convergence in growth and efficiency? These are some of the questions that this paper attempts to deal with. Both time‐series and panel‐data models have been employed to examine productivity, technological progress and efficiency in the four economies.