Growth Accounting Analysis in China 1978-2009

This paper applies the growth accounting model to Chinese economy at region and province levels from 1978 to 2009. We measure the components in the growth accounting model such as capital services, labour inputs and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) using various data sources. The economic growth has been decomposed into the contribution of physical capital, labour inputs, labour composition index (LCI) and TFP. We find that Chinese economic growth was mainly pushed by the growth of physical capital, especially in the fastest growing Coastal region. Labour inputs and TFP growth contribute more in the Interior and West regions. Moreover, the contribution shares of physical capital in labour productivity have been declining for the Coastal region, as the TFP contributions have been increasing over the same period. Our results show that the human capital formation from technological and institutional shifts is becoming more and more important in the Coastal region.