An International Comparison of the TFP Levels of Japanese, South Korean, and Chinese Listed Firms

To compare the TFP level of firms in Japan, China, and South Korea, we first estimated the TFP of firms in each country using the method of Good, Nadiri, and Sickles (1997). Then we estimated the relative TFP by industry in the benchmark year using Japanese industries as benchmarks and combined the estimated TFP of firms. When estimating relative TFP by industry for South Korea and China, we applied the industry-level price estimates of the three countries from the ICPA project and converted industry outputs and inputs into the same currency unit (Japanese Yen). The estimation results obtained indicate that the productivity of Japanese firms is still higher than that of their Chinese and South Korean counterparts but that the productivity of South Korean firms is rapidly increasing, with the emergence of some firms that are now overtaking their Japanese rivals in terms of productivity, particularly in the electric machinery sector.