Structural change and economic growth: Empirical evidence and policy insights from Asian economies

This paper introduces a new measure of structural change labeled the effective structural change (ESC) index, and applies it to study the effects of structural change on economic growth, using a sample of 19 Asian economies for the period from 1970 to 2012. This new approach provides an effective tool to examine growth effects of structural change. The paper's findings suggest the importance of reforms to foster productivity-enhancing structural change and need for strategies to overcome their short-term costs. The paper also indicates that ESC can be used as a useful indicator for monitoring the impacts of structural reforms.