A bounds test approach to the study of level relationships in a panel of high-performing Asian economies (HPAES)

Abstract

This study analyses long-run level relationships between total factor productivity (TFP) and a set of variables (the degree of openness of an economy, the different roles of government, and human capital) that are hypothesised as the major factors that drive TFP in the High-Performing Asian Economies (HPAEs). We apply Pesaran, Shin and Smith’s (2001) bounds test approach to the analysis of level relationships between TFP and its hypothesised determinants using panel data for five HPAEs (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand) and find evidence of a long-run relationship between TFP and our hypothesised determinants, irrespective of whether the regressors are I(0) or I(1).