摘要：
According to van Ark (2025), the average annual growth rate of labor productivity in the United States from 2000 to 2023 reached approximately 1.3 percent which higher than other countries. This superior performance was primarily driven by the high growth rate of 2.2 percent during 2000 to 2010. However, the growth rate decelerated to 0.8 percent during 2010 to 2023 causing the United States to fall to fifth place in the ranking. Conversely, Liang and Jheng (2019) pointed out that not only labor productivity growth but also the TFP growth rate of the ICT industry in the United States was higher than that of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China during the period from 1995 to 2010. Consequently, there was a significant widening of the TFP gap between the United States and these four major ICT production countries. Nevertheless, whether the United States has maintained its leading position in the ICT sector since 2010 remains an issue worthy of further investigation.
Because the total factor productivity data of ICT industry for Japan, South Korea, and China have not been further updated, this paper aims to trace the trend of the TFP gap between Taiwan and the United States in the ICT industry from 2010 to 2022. Employing our own data for Taiwan and data obtained from World KLEMS for the United States, we found that the annual TFP growth rate in the ICT industry was 2.44 percent for Taiwan and 0.258 percent for the United States during this period. As a result, the TFP gap in the ICT industry between Taiwan and the United States has significantly narrowed.
The accelerated TFP growth of the ICT industry in Taiwan during 2010-2022 can be attributed to the following factors: (1) the "Statute for Industrial Innovation" promulgated in 2010 resulting in R&D acceleration; (2) the increase of FDI owing to the China-U.S. trade tensions and high-tech conflicts that since in 2018; (3) the digitalization effects of COVID-19 starting in 2020 and (4) economies of scale and integrity of ICT supply chain. Nevertheless, a significant future challenge for Taiwan’s ICT industry is the anticipated electricity shortage resulting from the government’s nuclear-free policy by 2025, alongside the geopolitical risks and Trump’s tariff policy.
