The Role of Total Factor Productivity in the （全要素生产率的作用）.pdf

The Role of Total Factor Productivity in the Mediterranean Countries v i t o p i p i t o n e Italian National Council of Research, Institute for Coastal Marine Environment, Italy The aim of the present work is to focus attention on the role of technological progress in the economic growth of Mediterranean countries. The Mediterranean is an area that has only partially been covered by international statistics and by the specialized literature. Therefore, it has been necessary to start measuring the data of the 24 observed countries using a consistent methodology. Based on the estimated data, it has then been possible to estimate total factor productivity, which we have considered to be a synthesis of many elements that affect the overall efficiency of the economy. Estimates of the t f p also made it possible to break up the growth rate of aggregate output per worker into the contribution of physical capital, human capital and t f p. i n t ro d u c t i o n In recent decades there has been an explosion of empirical studies on economic growth. The new debate is characterized by the interest in the determinants of growth and, in particular, the contrast between those who consider the accumulation of capital as the key factor for growth and those who emphasize the centrality of the total factor pro- ductivity (t f p). This dispute dates back to the famous debate between Dale W. Jorgenson, Zvi Griliches and Edward F. Denison (Jorgenson and Griliches 1967; Jorgenson, Griliches, and Denison 1972) and sets the boundary line between the neoclassical approach and the endoge- nous growth theory. The aim of the present work is to enter into this lively debate, fo- cusing attention on the role of technological progress in the economic growth of a particular geographical portion of our world, the