Input-Output Decomposition Analysis of Sectoral Price Gaps between Japan and China

Sectoral price gaps that were observed in 1990 between Japan and China are studied in this paper by using a decomposition procedure within the input-output framework. The empirical results show that Japan exhibited producer prices that were higher than those observed in China mainly because it registered higher wages that were only partially offset by higher productivity. The effects on output cost gaps of primaryinput price differences and relative productivity levels are analysed. The effects arising from the use of direct inputs as well as the indirect effects that are incorporated into the difference of intermediate-input prices are accounted for by means of an input-output decomposition technique.