1. How productive is Chinese industry
How productive is Chinese industry? By Harry Wu and Xinpeng Xu Comments by Marcel Timmer, University of Groningen
What’s new?
New Data, , 23 industries on Labour, capital and output
Alternative growth accounting

2. New Data
Output: official 12% ( ), alternatives: 5-9%. This study uses 1987 IO-table for value added plus series on commodity quantities
Capital: no official data on deflators & types.
problem of residential assets
confusion on work in progress
low official depreciation rates
This study: PIM on 3 types with geometric depreciation
Labour: no official data on
hours,
non-industrial workers,
and series on employees are inconsistent.
This study provides 280 types.

3. Output and input growth

4. How to calculate TFP? Parametric vs non-parametric:
annual TFP growth by industry
econometric problems
loosen up neo-classical assumptions
This study: hybrid approach. Non-Parametric with estimated coefficients
pre-reform: 0.43 K-share, 0.42 L-share
post-reform: 0.63 K-share, 0.17 L-share
Especially in capital-intensive manufacturing decreasing returns to scale

5. Questions Role of intermediate inputs?
(Source for labour compensation?)
(Also in non-parametric approach non-neutral technological change can be estimated)
Role of intermediate inputs?
Econometric problems (Griliches and Mairesse, 1995): stationarity problems
State vs non-state sector is highly interesting, but requires more data.