Between 1986 and 1991, total factor productivity the increase in output due to more efficient use of inputs such as labour and capital in Taiwan's electrical-machinery industry rose 23.6%.

ECONOMIST: The flexible tiger

Most of the growth, in employment, in new products, in total factor productivity, and thus in living standards comes not from extant companies continuing to invest.

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The ease with which companies are born and fail is clearly one reason why Taiwan's total factor productivity has improved faster than that of all other Asian countries since 1960.

ECONOMIST: The flexible tiger

Total factor productivity, which measures how efficiently labour and capital are combined, is only 42% of the level in America, or 82% that in South Korea.

ECONOMIST: Measuring productivity