Total Factor Productivity Growth in East Asia: A Critical Survey

This paper surveys the empirical literature on total factor productivity (TFP) and the sources of growth in the East Asian Countries. It raises the queston whether the literature has helped us understand better the factors that have propelled growth in the region. The paper discusses the main theoretical aspects in the estimation of TFP growth, as well as the empirical results, and provides a survey of estimates of TFP growth for nine East and Southeast Asian countries.