Economic Growth in the Asia Pacific Region

This book seeks to account for what James H. Gapinski calls the "miraculous" growth of Asian economies. He examines several major determinants of growth, including capital quantity (gross investment and physical depreciation), capital quality (embodied technical progress), labor quantity (employment), labor quality (education), international trade (exports and openness), and total factor productivity (growth not accounted for by capital and labor quantity). The book begins by providing an orientation to the region, discussing basic conditions and historical events. Part II gives the theory, facts, and explanation of growth, a main issue being productivity convergence. The author's analysis of growth determinants provides a natural framework from which to examine major issues that bear on Asian Pacific growth in the future, so the third part examines Hong Kong's growth under reversion to China and inquires into the growth consequences of the Asian currency crisis. Along the way, Gapinski examines implications for policy-makers of the current growth trends.