Three Empirical Essays on Comparative Advantage & Productivity Growth in Asia

Abstract

The thesis is a combination of three independent papers that discuss various challenges posed on developing countries of Asia and provide suggestions as to how comparative advantage and labor productivity growth is relevant towards their economic growth. We seek to explore why these countries tend to lag behind in terms of productivity growth. Moreover, we also seek to compare China, the U.S., and the EU in terms of their trade competitiveness in various sectors to examine the convergence and divergence pattern of their comparative advantage.