DOES TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY CONVERGE AMONG ASEAN COUNTRIES?

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 (ASEAN-5), using annual data spanning the period 1968 to 2014. Results from two-break Lagrange multiplier and residual augmented least squares Lagrange multiplier unit root tests reveal strong evidence of productivity convergence in case of ASEAN-5. Further, the results based on Phillips–Sul panel club convergence also reveal productivity convergence. To check the robustness of our finding, we use an alternative measure of total factor productivity and still find evidence of convergence. We infer that such productivity improvements may help ASEAN countries to achieve a higher pace of economic growth.