한국경제의 성장과 생산성 수렴(Productivity Convergence): OECE, EU KLEMS, and KIP Database를 중심으로

Abstract

The Korean economy has experienced the periodical economic crisis such as the oil crisis in 1970s, the foreign exchange crisis in 1997-98, the global financial crisis in 2008-09, and the COVID-19 crisis 2020-22, so has faced with the slowed economic growth. How can we comprehend the slow-moving economic growth in the Korean economy? Is it originated from the structural attributes or the specific properties of the Korean economy? Or is it a kind of general economic conditions as similar as the other countries can also experience? Our study has uncovered that the Korean economy has definitely caught up the advanced countries in terms of labor productivity (β-convergence), and the convergence has been occurred generally among OECD countries including the Korean economy. Further the economic growth has been clearly slowed down since 1980s in the Korean economy, and more importantly the pace of productivity convergence has been weaken unceasingly. Thus it should be pointed out that it is very significant for the Korean economy to elevate the speed of convergence by improving productivity in order to offset the decline in population. More specifically we should construct some of productivity strategies through technological innovation, minimizing the inefficiency of production inputs, improvement of quality of capital and labor input, and enhancement of competitiveness of intangible assets like as R&D, Software, Intellectual property right etc. Finally, we should try to make the Korean economy as a productivity-led one in terms of not only labor productivity but also total factor productivity. Therefore we are to accomplish a leading country or frontier in succession in terms of productivity growth.