The proposition that liberalization improves productivity growth is examined using data from Nepalese manufacturing-a least developed country that implemented trade liberalization during the 1980s. Productivity growth in general was negative in both the preand post-liberalization periods, but a marginal improvement was detected in the latter period in that the decline in productivity growth was arrested. Higher productivity growth took place in industries with relatively large-scale production and foreign investment. The magnitude of the impact of foreign investment, however, depends on the incentive environment. The analysis suggests that, while trade and exchange rate policy reforms may be a necessary condition for improving productivity growth in least developing countries, they are not sufficient. Shortages of human capital and physical infrastructure need to be redressed if potential productivity improvements are to be fully achieved.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)