A decade of debate about the sources of growth in East Asia. How much do we know about why some countries grow faster than others?

Résumé 0

"This survey paper has three objectives. First, it reviews what the profession learnt during the last decade about East Asia´s growth. The publication of the growth accounting studies for East Asia of Alwyn Young and J-I Kim and Lawrence Lau, and Paul Krugman´s popularization of the "zero total factor productivity growth" thesis, led to a very important debate within the profession. The paper demystifi es this literature by pointing out some methodological problems. It is argued that the analysis of growth within the framework of the neoclassical model should be abandoned. Second, the paper discusses the more general question of how much do we truly know about why some countries grow faster than others. A review of the empirical literature leads to the conclusion that we known much less than we would like to. Finally, the paper reviews some of the current work that can provide very useful avenues to understand growth."