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What Drives China's Growth?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Linda Yueh
Linda Yueh*
Affiliation:
St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford
*
E-mail: linda.yueh@economics.ox.ac.uk.
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Abstract

This paper analyses the drivers and components of China's economic growth, showing that the structure of the economy is just as important as standard growth factors in determining its growth. The structural reforms that dismantled state-owned enterprises and shifted factors from agriculture to urban areas are key, as are technology transfers and know-how. Taking these factors into account, the paper shows that total factor productivity (TFP) not derived from those one-off reforms accounted for less than one-eighth of China's GDP growth during the first thirty years of the reform period. There are signs that efficiency is improving in the 2000s and productivity must continue to increase for the country to sustain its development.

Keywords

Economic growthChinaeconomic reformproductivityO1P2
Type
Research Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 223 , February 2013 , pp. R4 - R15
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

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