The role of productivity in China's growth: new estimates

Abstract

The impressive growth of the Chinese economy in the past three decades has attracted a lot of attention and hence the research interest of many scholars and policy makers. One of the focuses in the literature is the role of productivity in China's economic growth. This paper aims to revisit the debate about the role of productivity in China's growth, to provide an updated estimate of productivity growth and hence to make a contribution to the understanding of China's economic growth in recent years. Its objective is to propose and apply a growth accounting technique to assess economic performance in China, in particular the role of technological progress in China's recent growth. The findings about the latter may have important policy implications for the sustainability of China's economic growth in the future.