Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Korean Science and Technology in an International Perspective pp 259–278Cite as

Long-Run Protection: Determining Key Features of Growth and Sustainability in Northeast Asia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 647 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter attempts to advance understanding of the crucial links among growth, technological change, human capital accumulation, and openness and their impact on greenhouse gas (GHG)-related research and development (R&D) output in East Asia, specifically China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Looking at the 1952–2004 period, I test not only for the impacts of a science and technology (S&T) and innovation set of GHG-output related inputs, but also test for the presence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) in terms of the GDP-CO2 emissions relationship. This research builds upon the works of various important growth theorists, including Solow (1956, 1957), Nelson and Phelps (1966), Mankiw et al. (1992) and especially Benhabib and Spiegel (1994, 2002). The latter demonstrated the role of human capital on technological development (or more specifically technology catch-up) between 72 and 86 nations over extended periods of time, 1965–1985 and 1960–1995, respectively. In all of these studies, however, there is a limited role for openness to trade, capital, or technology in explaining variations in growth rates across countries. Nevertheless, and although certainly still controversial, many of the studies that have been done on East Asia and its so-called “economic miracle” argue that it is greater openness to trade, capital flows, and technology that have distinguished the East Asian experience from that of Latin America, Africa or other regions of developing countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    I do not model the minutiae of the decision-making process for the providers or receivers of this technology.

  2. 2.

    The Pascha and Mahlich (2007) volume discusses these domestic efforts in Korea and Northeast Asia.

  3. 3.

    See Dasgupta et al. (2002) and Millimet et al. (2003), which offer support, while Stern (2004), Copeland and Taylor (2002), and Arrow et al. (1995) argue against use of the EKC.

  4. 4.

    These estimates of α and (1–α) conform with Benhabib and Spiegel (2002).

  5. 5.

    “Learning by doing” is the education process which occurs during production. This education may occur in a training facility (college- or firm-based) separate from the production floor, or it can happen in the S&T case by reviewing publications and patents.

  6. 6.

    Jones (2002), p. 126.

  7. 7.

    “Tacit knowledge” is defined here, in accordance with queryLangloi and Foss (1997), p. 17), as knowledge which “can be acquired only through a time-consuming process of learning by doing.” (For a definition of “learning by doing”, see fn. 11)

  8. 8.

    For example, the growing share of employment in the service sectors may represent an institutional infrastructure requiring more technology-supporting services, such as the marketing, finance, and transportation of advanced technologies.

  9. 9.

    Yang and Maskus also point out that the increase in technology transfer via inward licensing may occur with higher costs per license and possibly higher prices. Ultimately, the economic effects in terms of welfare are uncertain.

  10. 10.

    The distinction here, it should be noted, is in terms of capital goods imports, not FDI.

  11. 11.

    The First Basic Plan (1996–2000) targeted increases in government expenditures and a new R&D system; the Second Basic Plan (2001–2005) focused on increases in the knowledge base and increasing the competition for research funds.

  12. 12.

    Innovative technologies received 52.3 billion yen, S&T diplomacy received 46.7 billion yen, regional (domestic) system promotion received 69.3 billion yen, and public-private R&D projects received 19.5 billion yen.

  13. 13.

    For example, SO2, NOx, and CO2.

  14. 14.

    Others examine pollution in the form of sewage discharge in China, which is peripheral to our discussion of GHG emissions, but they conclude that technical progress tends to reduce the amount of industrial wastewater pollutants (Gu et al. 2009). Another China-based case study looks specifically at how the EKC in China also focuses on the country’s first special economic zone (SEZ). In Shenzhen, for example, production-induced pollutants were found to support the EKC, although consumption-induced pollutants did not (Liu et al. 2007).

  15. 15.

    This measure is used as one of two proxies for GHG-based innovation in the subsequent regression analysis.

  16. 16.

    Future work on endogenous growth in an EKC framework should attempt to examine the determinants of growth which are uncorrelated with CO2 emissions. Such efforts may still be plagued with endogeneity problems, given policy efforts to tackle climate change.

References

  • Amsden A (1989) Asia’s next giant: South Korea and late industrialization. Oxord University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrow KJ (1962) Economic welfare and the allocation of resources for invention. In: Nelson RR (ed) The rate and direction of inventive activity. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrow KJ, Bert B, Robert C, Partha D, Carl F, Holling CS, Bengt-Owe J, Simon L, Karl-Goran M, Perrings C, David P (1995) Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment. Ecol Appl 15:91–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Asia Development Bank (ADB) (2006) Carbon market initiative: the Asia Pacific carbon fund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asia Development Bank (ADB) (2009) New ADB policy targets secure, Clean energy for Asia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barro RJ, Lee J-W (2000) International data on educational attainment: updates and implications. CID Working Paper, No. 42

    Google Scholar 

  • Benhabib J, Spiegel MM (2002) Human capital and technology diffusion. FRBSF Working Paper 2003-02

    Google Scholar 

  • Benhabib J, Spiegel MM (1994) The role of human capital in economic development: Evidence from aggregate cross-country data. J Monetary Econ 34:143–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borensztein E, De Gregorio J, Lee JW (1998) How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth? J Int Econ 45:115–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brajer V, Mead RW, Xiao F (2008) Health benefits of tunneling through the Chinese Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Ecol Econ 66:674–686

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brock WA, Scott TM (2004) The green Solow model. Social Science Research Institute Working Paper No. 2004–16. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/ezproxy.gl.iit.edu/abstract=555262

  • Bruvoll A, Foehn T (2006) Transboundary effects of environmental policy: Markets and emission leakages. Ecol Econ 59:499–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (2009) Terrestrial carbon management data sets and analyses. http://cdiac.ornl.gov/carbonmanagement/

  • Chen S-H (2008) Elevated vision, enhanced illumination allowing energy policy to shine forth again in obscurity. http://www.tier.org.tw/eng2008/eng_analysis/EA200806_4.asp

  • Copeland BR, Taylor MS (2002) Trade, growth and the environment. J Econ Lit 16:147–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Courtenay P (2007) Taiwan sets sights on clean energy. Taiwan Today

    Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta S, Laplante B, Wang H, Wheeler D (2002) Confronting the environmental Kuznets curve. J Econ Perspect 16:147–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinda S (2004) Environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis: A survey. Ecol Econ 49:431–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton, Jonathan and Samuel Kortum (1994) International patenting and technology diffusion, NBER Working Paper No. 4931

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards S (1998) Openness, productivity and growth: What do we really know? Econ J 108:383–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Energy Information Administration (EIA) (2009), International energy statistics. http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/iedindex3.cfm?tid=6&pid=29&aid=12&cid=&syid=1980&eyid= 2008&unit=BKWH

  • Esty DC, Levy M, Srebotnjak T, de Sherbinin A (2005) 2005 Environmental sustainability index: Benchmarking national environmental stewardship. Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Findlay R (1978) Relative backwardness, direct foreign investment, and the transfer of technology: A simple dynamic model. Q J Econ 92:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galeotti M, Lanza A, Pauli F (2006) Reassessing the environmental Kuznets curve for CO2 emissions: A robustness exercise. Ecol Econ 57:152–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greene WH (2002) Econometric analysis. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River

    Google Scholar 

  • Gu K, Liu J, Wang Y (2009) Relationship between economic growth and water environmental quality of Anshan City in Northeast China. Chin Geogr Sci 19:17–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halkos GE, Tzeremes NG (2009) Exploring the existence of Kuznets curve in countries’ environmental efficiency using DEA window analysis. Ecol Econ 68:2168–2176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison A (1996) Openness and growth: A time-series, cross-country analysis for developing countries. J Dev Econ 48:419–447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heston A, Summers R, Aten B (2006) Penn world table Version 6.2. Center for International Comparisons of Production, Income and Prices at the University of Pennsylvania

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang B-N, Hwang MJ, Yang CW (2008a) Causal relationship between energy consumption and GDP growth revisited: A dynamic panel data approach. Ecol Econ 67:41–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang WM, Lee GWM, Wu CC (2008b) G.H.G. Emissions, G.D.P. Growth and the Kyoto Protocol: A revisit of environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Energy Policy 36:239–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones CI (2002) Introduction to economic growth. W.W. Norton & Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim L (2003) Technology transfer & intellectual property rights: The Korean experience. In: UNCTAD-ICTSD (ed) Intellectual property rights and sustainable development. UNCTAD, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim J-I, Lau L (1994) The sources of growth of the east Asian newly industrialized countries. J Jap Int Econ 8:235–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, SukJoon (2009) Strategy for low-carbon green growth in Korea, AAAS annual meeting, Chicago, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuznets S (1955) Economic growth and income inequality. Am Econ Rev 45:1–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Langloi RN, Foss NJ (1997) Capabilities and governance: The rebirth of production in the theory of economic organization. DRUID Working Paper No. 97–2

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee HY, Ricci LA, Rigobon R (2004) Once again, is openness good for growth? J Dev Econ 75:451–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Helilig GK, Chen J, Heino M (2007) Interactions between economic growth and environmental quality in Shenzhen, China’s first special economic zone. Ecol Econ 62:559–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luzzati T, Orsini M (2009) Investigating the energy-environmental Kuznets curve. Energy 34:291–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mankiw NG, Romer D, Weil DN (1992) A contribution to the empirics of economic growth. Q J Econ 107:407–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield E (1995) Intellectual property protection, direct investment, and technology transfer: Germany, Japan, and the United States. International Finance Corporate Discussion Paper, No. 27

    Google Scholar 

  • Millimet DL, List JA, Stegnos T (2003) The environmental Kuznets curve: Real progress of misspecified models? Rev Econ Stat 85:1038–1047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of the Environment (MOE) of Japan, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (2008) Issues paper, The Second Asia 3R Conference, Tokyo, Japan

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) PRC (2009) China pursues leadership in new energy solutions

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) PRC (2009) MEP releases emission reduction results of all provinces and five major power groups

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of the Environment (MOE) of Japan (2007) Becoming a leading environmental nation in the 21st Century: Japan’s strategy for a sustainable society

    Google Scholar 

  • Na J-J (2009) Korea to cut greenhouse gas emission by 30%. Korea Times, 4 August 2009

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson RR (1993) National innovation systems: a comparative analysis. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson RR, Phelps ES (1966) Investment in humans, technological diffusion, and economic growth. Am Econ Rev 56:69–75

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2009) Main science and technology indicators (MSTI). www.sourceoecd.org2009

  • Pascha W, Mahlich J (eds) (2007) Innovation and technology in Korea: Challenges of a newly advanced economy. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez F, Rodrik D (2000) Trade policy and economic growth: A Skeptic’s guide to the cross-national evidence. In: Bernanke B (ed) NBER macro annual 2000. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Romer P (1990) Endogenous technological change. J Political Econ 98:S71–S102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romero-Avila D (2008) Questioning the empirical basis of the environmental Kuznets curve for CO2: New evidence from a panle stationarity test robust to multiple breaks and cross-dependence. Ecol Econ 64:559–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rongping M (2009) Innovative policy for sustainable development in China. Paper presented at the AAAS Annual Meeting, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Solow RM (1956) A contribution to the theory of economic growth. Q J Econ 70:65–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solow RM (1957) Technical change and the aggregate production function. Rev Econ Stat 39:312–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern DI (2004) The rise and fall of the environmental Kuznets curve. World Dev 32:1419–1439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • USAID, and Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN) (2008) Strengthening legal and policy frameworks for addressing climate change in Asia. AECEN Secretariat, Bangkok

    Google Scholar 

  • USAID, and Environmental Cooperation-Asia (ECO-Asia) (2009) Financing secured through USAID’s support will help Slash 17 million tons of CO2 emissions from Chinese and Indian power plants. USAID/ECO-Asia e-Newletter 4: 1

    Google Scholar 

  • Wacziarg R (2001) Measuring the dyanmic gains from trade. World Bank Econ Rev 15:393–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada T (2009) Recent developments in S&T policies after the lost decade. Paper presented at the AAAS Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang J-Y (1990) Growth, technology transfer, and the long-run theory of international capital movements. J Int Econ 29:255–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang G, Maskus KE (2003) Intellectual property rights, licensing, and innovation. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, No. 2973

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuan, Republic of China (Taiwan) Executive (2004) Taiwan Agenda 21: Vision and strategies for national sustainable development. Approved at the 18th Council Meeting of the Council for National Sustainable Development, Executive Yuan

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X, Zou H-F (1995) Foreign technology imports and economic growth in developing countries. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, No. 1412

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA

    Matthew A. Shapiro

Authors
  1. Matthew A. Shapiro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew A. Shapiro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Economic Department, University Vienna, Vienna, 1010, Austria

    Jörg Mahlich

  2. Fak. Wirtschaftspolitik/, Ostasienwirtschaft, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr. 65, Duisburg, 47048, Germany

    Werner Pascha

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Shapiro, M.A. (2012). Long-Run Protection: Determining Key Features of Growth and Sustainability in Northeast Asia. In: Mahlich, J., Pascha, W. (eds) Korean Science and Technology in an International Perspective. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2753-8_16

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation