Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Vol. 21, 12th BMEB Call for Papers Special Issue (2019), pp. 477 - 494
DOES TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY CONVERGE AMONG
ASEAN COUNTRIES?
Badri Narayan Rath1
1Department of Liberal Arts, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India, Email: badri@iith.ac.in
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the productivity convergence of the five original Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand
Keywords: Total factor productivity; Convergence; Lagrange multiplier; ASEAN.
JEL Classifications: O47; C22; C23.
Article history: |
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Received |
: July 12, 2018 |
Revised |
: September 29, 2018 |
Accepted |
: November 30, 2018 |
Available online : January 31, 2019
https://doi.org/10.21098/bemp.v0i0.962
472Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Volume 21, 12th BMEB Call for Papers Special Issue (2019)
I. INTRODUCTION
Productivity is, roughly speaking, a measure of how effectively an economy’s resources are translated into the production of goods and services. Over long periods, productivity is the single most important determinant of a nation’s standard of living (World Employment Report,
This paper investigates whether Total Factor Productivity (TFP) converges among the five major Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), that is, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand
The rapid rise in the economies of the five founding ASEAN member countries with increasing trade openness and their average growth rate of 5.7% over the last four and half decades provide motivation to examine the issue of productivity convergence. Since these five countries have a common market through the formation of a trade bloc, it is worth examining their productivity convergence. The examination of convergence among trade blocs has been an interesting phenomenon in the growth literature (e.g., Sach and Waner, 1995;
2In the Solow model, higher technological progress is the key reason for higher TFP. Higher TFP growth attained through Solow’s residual increases output growth which in turn, is the reason for a higher standard of living.
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is that free trade or international trade causes convergence. Neogi examines the productivity convergence of Asian trade blocs, including ASEAN, and finds no evidence of productivity convergence.
The present study differs from the literature in two ways. First, while Neogi (2016) empirically examines productivity convergence using the standard absolute and conditional convergence, that is, by regressing the productivity growth rates for a group of countries on the initial productivity level, we use Lagrange Multiplier (LM) and Residual Augmented Least Squares LM
Second, this study uses the panel club convergence method developed by Phillips and Sul (2007, hereafter PS), which allows the analysis of economic transition behavior in the presence of common growth characteristics, adding a methodological contribution to the research literature. The PS approach has certain advantages over the neoclassical approach to the notion of sigma and beta convergence. First, it captures heterogeneity in the panels based on a nonlinear
Third, TFP growth is estimated through both the Törnqvist index and a
This study uses annual data on ASEAN‑5 members from 1968 to 2014. Our approach, based on LM and
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section II reviews the literature. Section III describes the methodology and the data. Section IV presents the empirical results and final Section V concludes the paper.
474Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Volume 21, 12th BMEB Call for Papers Special Issue (2019)
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Many studies on convergence in both the theoretical and empirical literature have focused almost exclusively on aggregate income, output, and productivity. Despite vast numbers of studies on income convergence among industrial as well as developing countries, studies on productivity convergence that emphasize trade blocs are scant. Nevertheless, this section briefly reviews some seminal works that analyze productivity convergence at both the aggregate and sectoral levels.
Baumol (1986) examines productivity convergence using annual data from 16 countries and finds evidence of labor productivity convergence. Dollar and Wolff (1988) investigate the productivity convergence of manufacturing industries from 1963 to 1982 in 13 industrialized countries. Their findings suggest evidence of the convergence of productivity levels in every manufacturing industry. Barro and
Bernard and Durlauf (1995) examine the convergence of per capita output using
Similarly, Cornwell and Wachter (1998) examine productivity convergence based on frontier production functions for a sample of 26 OECD countries and find convergence and the
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In a nutshell, though productivity convergence has gained tremendous importance, further deliberation on trade integration in the productivity
III.METHODOLOGY AND DATA
A. Measuring Productivity Convergence
Convergence in empirical growth dynamics has been given much attention, starting with neoclassical growth models to endogenous growth theories. While neoclassical growth model supports evidence of convergence, the endogenous growth model considers the absence of convergence (Islam, 1995). Ample numbers of studies measure convergence using
Similarly, in
1993, 1996). Overall, both approaches suffer from estimation issues.
To overcome these specific estimation deficiencies, this paper use the following two approaches to estimate the TFP convergence of ASEAN‑5 countries. First, it employs the recently developed LM and
(1)
where y is the ratio of the TFP of each country in our sample to the average TFP of ASEAN‑5 over time for country i = 1, 2, …, 5 and period t, from 1968 to 2014. The yit series in equation (1) can be tested using LM and
476Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Volume 21, 12th BMEB Call for Papers Special Issue (2019)
Second, this study also applies the club convergence method developed by PS. The idea behind applying the PS model is to examine whether the TFP across the ASEAN‑5 tends to converge as a club in a panel framework: “[The] PS model is a nonlinear factor model with a growth component and a time varying idiosyncratic component that allows for quite general heterogeneity across individuals and over time” (PS). This test relaxes many assumptions, such as trend stationarity, the stochastic nonstationarity of the variables, and common factors across the countries in the panel.
B. Data and TFP Measurement
This paper uses annual TFP data from 1968 to 20143 for the ASEAN‑5 countries. We chose the five founding member countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore, and select data from 1968 because ASEAN was established on August 8, 1967. We collect TFP data from the Penn World Table 9.0, which is provided by Feenstra et al. (2015). The present paper uses two types of TFP. First, the TFP is measured in real terms, using the Törnqvist quantity index in the following manner:
(2)
where RTFPNA is the real TFP of country j over the period based on national account data, RGDPNA is the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on national account data, QT is the Törnqvist quantity index of factor endowments based on observed factor prices and shares (Feenstra et al., 2015), and v and w are the income shares of labor and capital inputs, respectively. Then the second approach to TFP is computed based on the
(3)
This measure is not based on the real GDP; rather, it is measured on relative domestic absorption.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 presents the preliminary results for the growth rates of the key variables for ASEAN‑5. The results can be summarized as follows. First, the growth rates of labor, capital stock, and the real GDP of Singapore in 2014 during 1968 are higher than those of the other ASEAN countries. Labor input grew by 452.5% in 2014 compared to the labor of 1968. Labor grew by 334.3% in the case of Malaysia, 228.3% in Philippines, 223.8% in Indonesia, and 148.1% in Thailand during the
3The choice of first year, i.e., 1968 is based on the evidence of formation of ASEAN in late 1967 and the end period 2014 is purely based on the availability of total factor productivity data in the Penn World Table 9.0
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same period. Similarly, the capital stock growth rates have been impressive for all ASEAN‑5 countries, with the highest in Singapore and the lowest in Philippines. The real GDP in 2014 increased tremendously compared to that in 1968 for all ASEAN‑5 countries. The TFP measured by the Törnqvist index demonstrate the highest growth in Thailand (59.3%), followed by Malaysia (21.9%). However, TFP growth appears to be negative for Philippines
Table 1.
Growth Rate of Key Indicators
This table presents the growth rates of labour, capital and GDP of
Country |
Labour |
Capital |
GDP |
TFP |
Indonesia |
223.8 |
1246.7 |
1840.3 |
16.8 |
Malaysia |
334.3 |
1770.5 |
2925.7 |
21.9 |
Philippines |
228.3 |
506 |
660.9 |
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Singapore |
452.5 |
2570.6 |
3502.5 |
18 |
Thailand |
148.1 |
1586.2 |
1760 |
59.3 |
After discussing the preliminary results of TFP along with key input and output growth rates, we next present the results of LM and
478Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Volume 21, 12th BMEB Call for Papers Special Issue (2019)
Table 2.
Using Zero/One/Two Breaks LM and
This table shows the natural logarithm of the ratio of total factor productivity in each of the founding members of ASEAN to the average total factor productivity of
Total Factor |
LM |
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Productivity |
τ*LM |
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Indonesia |
0.71 |
1996 |
2000 |
4 |
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Malaysia |
0.83 |
1981 |
2008 |
2 |
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Philippines |
0.99 |
1981 |
1996 |
8 |
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Singapore |
0.79 |
1977 |
2009 |
4 |
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Thailand |
0.59 |
1980 |
1986 |
1 |
Note: The sample period taken from stands for optimum lags selected using general to
specific procedure. indicates the break periods.
and
denotes the test statistics for LM and
Figure 1 illustrates the logarithm of relative TFP with two trend breaks. It shows productivity trend breaks in 1996 and 2000. A plausible reason for the decline in TFP in Indonesia during
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Figure 1. Log of Relative TFP with Two Trend Breaks (RTFP)
This figure plots the relative TFP for each country over the sample period 1968 to 2014. The two breaks are also highlighted.
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Indonesia |
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.15 |
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.1 |
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.05 |
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0 |
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1970 |
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
2010 |
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Philippines |
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.3 |
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.2 |
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.1 |
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0 |
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1970 |
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
2010 |
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Malaysia |
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.05 |
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0 |
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1970 |
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
2010 |
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Singapore |
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.05 |
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0 |
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1970 |
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
2010 |
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Thailand |
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0 |
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1970 |
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1990 |
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2010 |
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After discussing the LM and and log(t) values, whereas the third column indicates the decision for the null hypothesis. According to PS, the null hypothesis holds in the presence of convergence. Our results demonstrate that, for ASEAN‑5, log(t) = −1.138, which is above the critical value (i.e., t
< −1.65 at the 5% level of significance). Thus, the results of Table 3 accept the null hypothesis, indicating evidence of TFP convergence in the case of
Table 3.
TFP Club Convergence (RTFP)
This table illustrates the results of total factor productivity convergence obtained using Phillips and Sul (2007) panel club convergence technique. The critical value of
Clubs |
Country |
Decision |
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Full sample |
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, |
Convergence |
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Thailand |
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Robustness Check
This section presents the robustness of the results that we obtained above section by employing an alternative
We once again apply both LM and
2.Appendix 2 provides further
PS club convergence are presented in Table 5. To sum up, the results based on
Second, since the
482Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Volume 21, 12th BMEB Call for Papers Special Issue (2019)
Table 4.
Using Zero/One/Two Breaks LM and
Unit Root Test (RWTFP)
This table presents the results of LM & stands for optimum lags selected using general to specific procedure.
indicates the break periods.and
denotes the test statistics for LM and
Total Factor Productivity |
LM |
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Indonesia |
0.87 |
1997 |
2004 |
8 |
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Malaysia |
0.95 |
- |
- |
0 |
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Philippines |
0.85 |
1996 |
2004 |
1 |
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Singapore |
0.75 |
1999 |
2004 |
2 |
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Thailand |
0.72 |
1978 |
1983 |
3 |
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Figure 2. Log of Relative TFP with Two Trend Break (RWTFP)
This figure plots the welfare based TFP index (RWTFP) for each country over the sample period 1968 to 2014. The two breaks are also highlighted.
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Indonesia |
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.2 |
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.1 |
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1970 |
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
2010 |
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Philippines |
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.2 |
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.1 |
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1970 |
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2010 |
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Malaysia |
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1970 |
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1990 |
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2010 |
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Singapore |
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.3 |
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1970 |
1980 |
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2010 |
484Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Volume 21, 12th BMEB Call for Papers Special Issue (2019)
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Thailand |
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0 |
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1970 |
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1990 |
2000 |
2010 |
Table 5.
WTFP Club Convergence
This table illustrates the results of welfare based total factor productivity convergence using Phillips and Sul (2007) panel club convergence technique. The critical value of
Clubs |
Country |
Decision |
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Full sample |
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, |
4.910** |
Convergence |
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Singapore, Thailand |
[3.415] |
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V. CONCLUSION
This study explores the productivity convergence for the five
Acknowledgement: The author gratefully acknowledges the suggestions of Dr. Bernard Njindan Iyke, Professor Paresh Kumar Narayan and other participants of 12th BMEB International Conference, Bali, Indonesia, August 2018. The author also acknowledges the help from Dr. Vindo Mishra and Dr. Kerui Du for sharing LM &
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REFERENCES
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Barro, R. J. and
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Baumol, W. J., Nelson, R. R. and Wolff, E.N. (1994). Convergence of Productivity:
Bernard, A. B., and Jones, Charles I. (1996a). Comparing Apples to Oranges: Productivity Convergence and Measurement Across Industries and Countries. American Economic Review, 86,
Bernard, A. B., and Jones, Charles I. (1996b). Productivity Across Industries and Countries: Time Series Theory and Evidence. Review of Economics and Statistics, 78,
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De Long, J. B. (1988). Productivity Growth, Convergence, and Welfare: Comment. American Economic Review, 78,
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Lim, L., and Mcaleer, M. (2004). Convergence and Catching Up in ASEAN: A Comparative Analysis. Applied Economics, 36,
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Neogi, C., (2016). Productivity Convergence and Asian Trade Blocs. In Handbook of Research on Global Indicators of Economic and Political Convergence (Ed) by R. C. Das, IGI Global, Ch. 5:
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World Employment Report.
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Appendix 1.
Using Zero/One/Two Breaks LM and
This table reports the unit root test results for relative TFP. The sample period taken from stands for optimum lags selected using general to specific procedure.
indicates the break periods.
and
denote the test statistics for LM and
Country |
LM |
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Panel A: With two breaks |
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Indonesia |
0.71 |
1996 |
2000 |
4 |
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Malaysia |
0.83 |
1981 |
2008 |
2 |
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Philippines |
0.99 |
1981 |
1996 |
8 |
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Singapore |
0.79 |
1977 |
2009 |
4 |
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Thailand |
0.59 |
1980 |
1986 |
1 |
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Panel B: With one break |
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Indonesia |
0.85 |
1996 |
- |
6 |
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Malaysia |
0.95 |
1977 |
- |
2 |
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Philippines |
0.99 |
1995 |
- |
1 |
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Singapore |
0.44 |
2006 |
- |
6 |
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Thailand |
0.54 |
1980 |
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0 |
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Panel C: With zero break |
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Indonesia |
0.83 |
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1 |
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Malaysia |
0.91 |
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2 |
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Philippines |
0.68 |
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1 |
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Singapore |
0.79 |
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6 |
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Thailand |
0.58 |
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0 |
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Panel D: ADF |
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Indonesia |
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Malaysia |
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Philippines |
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Singapore |
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Thailand |
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488Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Volume 21, 12th BMEB Call for Papers Special Issue (2019)
Appendix 2.
Using Zero/One/Two Breaks LM and
This table reports the unit root test results for relative TFP. The sample period taken from stands for optimum lags selected using general to specific procedure.
indicates the break periods.
and
denote the test statistics for LM and
Country |
LM |
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Panel A: With Two breaks |
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Indonesia |
0.87 |
1997 |
2004 |
8 |
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Malaysia |
0.99 |
1984 |
1987 |
6 |
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Philippines |
0.85 |
1996 |
2004 |
1 |
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Singapore |
0.75 |
1999 |
2004 |
2 |
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Thailand |
0.72 |
1978 |
1983 |
3 |
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Panel B: With one break |
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Indonesia |
0.77 |
1997 |
- |
8 |
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Malaysia |
0.69 |
1996 |
- |
6 |
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Philippines |
0.84 |
1990 |
- |
1 |
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Singapore |
0.85 |
1995 |
- |
2 |
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Thailand |
0.46 |
1995 |
- |
8 |
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Panel C: With zero break |
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Indonesia |
0.86 |
- |
- |
1 |
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Malaysia |
0.95 |
- |
- |
0 |
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Philippines |
0.93 |
- |
- |
1 |
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Singapore |
0.73 |
- |
- |
2 |
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Thailand |
0.75 |
- |
- |
0 |
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Panel D: ADF |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Indonesia |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
Malaysia |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
Philippines |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
Singapore |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
Thailand |
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|