Panel data and productivity measurement: an analysis of Asian productivity trends

The paper studies consensus estimates of Asian productivity growth from 1980 to 2000. We outline methods that have been proposed to measure productivity growth and its two main factors, innovation and catch-up. We show how such methods have particular canonical representations that seamlessly transfer to the panel data literature and discuss a number of competing specifications introduced into the productivity literature. We then point out how such models can be combined to provide consensus model average estimates of innovation and catch-up, utilizing results from recent work by Hao on world productivity growth. We utilize data from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to examine productivity trends and its decomposition for a number of different groupings of Asian countries.