Regional diversity in the process of economic growth is the major concern in this paper. We will try to identify its sources for growth and to specify production functions in each province by estimating translog production function. This paper clarifies the following four facts: First, capital accumulation was a major source for growth in the earlier stage of the Chinese economy, especially in the eastern coastal region. Unexpectedly, capital accumulation is losing its ground over the years. Second, the employment structure of the economy in the eastern region has changed significantly and the shares of workers in the secondary and tertiary industries increased until 1992. Since 1992, these figures have not changed significantly despite China's continuous economic high growth. Third, four distinguishable regional growth patterns have contributed to China's economic growth. Finally, production technologies in each province vary both in the direction of factor intensity and in the elasticity of substitution between inputs.

As automation spreads around the world, there is a broad spectrum of scenarios regarding the changes it brings in the productive forces and relations of an economy. Some of these scenarios are driven by the futurists' imagination while others are tugged behind the pragmatists' reasoning of real world difficulties; in either case further theoretical and empirical research is needed before any scenario is taken for granted.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract