He is a specially employed professor at College of Asia Pacific Studies in Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. He received his Ph. D. degree in economics at Michigan State University in 1990. His main research interest are economic growth, international trade and productivity analysis. His recent publications include Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy (2021), Sustainable Production and Consumption (2021), Global Economic Review (2020), Applied Economics (2018), Contemporary Economic Policy (2016, 2014). Some of his research projects were conducted with international organizations including ADB (2009, 2008), APEC (2014, 2008) and MPC (2014, 2007). Prior to his appointment at APU in 2012, He worked at Honam University in Korea. He is currently on editorial board for several academic journals including Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies and Journal of Market Economy.

Countries are interconnected economically through trade and factor movement.The flow of trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) transfers technology andbest practice along with goods and services. The flow gets stronger and faster,the closer the countries are. With the flow, prosperity of a country is transmittedto its neighboring countries. As a result, the trajectory of economic growth of aneighboring country is affected by neighboring countries’ economic growth.

Benefits of being located close to a prospering country is not limited to directeconomic exchange like trade and FDI. A successful development strategy andinstitution can be borrowed more easily if a country is close by a successfulcountry than farther out. These include an export-promoting strategy andvarious institutional factors well-known to be important to economic growthincluding educational, administerial, legal, and political system.

Against this background, this study investigates the hypothesis that affluence of a country flows into its neighboring countries, changing a trajectory ofeconomic growth of a country. This is to acknowledge that benefits of opennessand trade increase if a country is located closely from high-income countriesbecause short distance is conducive to trade and FDI expansion.

This study attempts to estimate this neighboring country’s impact oneconomic growth in Asia by constructing a unique dataset of the near economiccenter (NEC) of a country and combining it with the Penn World Tables database. The study identifies a NEC of each country based on trade and FDIdata that changes throughout the years as economic geography changes continuously. The most influential country at each observation is picked as aNEC. A chosen NEC is not necessarily largest economies in Asia even thoughthe largest economies become NEC for many countries.

This study can elucidate the followings: First, it will estimate the impact ofa neighboring country on economic growth. This shows the premium of havinga rich neighboring country in economic growth. For this, a worldwide panel ofcountries is utilized over the period 1950-2019 based on the Penn World Tables. Secondly, the research will try to identify the factors that facilitate a developingcountry to absorb the geographical premium successfully. The study willconsider how factors such as openness, cultural aspects, political stability, andgrowth strategy intervene in activating the neighboring effect.

JEL Classification Codes: O19; O47
Keywords: Economic growth, transmission of growth, gravity of growth, Asian growth