This paper contributes to the empirical literature investigating reasons for the fall in real interest rates in advanced economies.
Iceland is the OECD’s smallest economy and,currently,the fastest growing. A booming financial services and construction led to a deep financial crisis in 2008. However, Iceland has made a remarkable turnaround, helped by spectacular growth of tourism, prudent economic policies and a favourable external environment.
New Zealand enjoyed strong economic growth during 2016, driven by high net inward migration, solid construction activity, booming tourism and supportive monetary policy, although in per capita terms growth has been more in line with that in other advanced economies.
Productivity growth will be the main driver of global economic growth and prosperity over the coming decades. For New Zealand, this represents both a challenge and an opportunity, as NZ productivity is below that of leading OECD countries.
How has policy responded since the crisis: with re-regulation or continued liberalisation?
Sweden ranks among the best OECD countries in terms of gender equality.
Sweden is an egalitarian society in international comparison, and has managed to combine equity with economic efficiency.
The latest OECD Economic Survey of Iceland, to be published on Tuesday 27 June, analyses the factors behind the country’s remarkable economic turnaround as well as steps that can be taken to preserve sustainable and inclusive growth.
The Slovak Republic continues exhibiting robust economic performance, with strong growth backed by a sound financial sector, low public debt and high international competitiveness drawing on large inward investment.
A combination of market-based policies and a redistributive welfare state have boosted Belgium’s per-capita GDP to well above the average of OECD countries and raised well-being, according to a new OECD report.
G20 GDP growth stable at 0.9% in first quarter of 2017
New Zealand has experienced robust economic growth since 2012, buoyed by record levels of inward migration and strong terms of trade. Employment has expanded vigorously, reversing much of the increase in unemployment since the onset of the global financial crisis.
The New Zealand economy continues enjoying a strong, broad-based expansion, driven by booming tourism, high net inward migration, solid construction activity and supportive monetary policy.
The job market continues to improve in the OECD area, with the employment rate finally returning to pre-crisis levels. But people on low and middle incomes have seen their wages stagnate and the share of middle-skilled jobs has fallen, contributing to rising inequality, according to a new OECD report.
Composite leading indicators continue to point to stable growth momentum in the OECD area
Empirical research on the drivers of multi-factor productivity (MFP) is abundant at the firm- and industry level but surprisingly little research has been conducted on the determinants of MFP at the macroeconomic level.
R&D activity can play a central role in raising productivity.
This paper investigates the relationship linking investment (capital stock) and structural policies.
Innovation is key to boosting Australia’s productivity and inclusiveness.
The global economy is expected to pick up moderately but greater efforts are needed to ensure that the benefits from growth and globalisation are more widely shared, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook.
OECD annual inflation nudges up to 2.4% in April 2017
The recent pick-up in global growth is good news, but a durable return to healthy growth supported by productivity and trade will require stronger political commitment to implement policy packages to make growth more inclusive.
The Spanish economy is growing strongly, but there is a risk that many people are being left behind.
Boosting investment is key to supporting the nascent recovery and reviving stagnant productivity.
Spain has chronically low productivity growth, which undermines its ability to generate higher living standards.
Almost 10 years after the outset of the financial crisis in summer 2008, European growth remains modest, constantly underperforming the OECD average.
The Colombian economy has been more resilient than other Latin American countries to the recent fall in commodities prices, and remains among the strongest in the region.
Integrating measures to tackle climate change into regular economic policy will have a positive impact on economic growth over the medium and long term, according to a new OECD report prepared in the context of the German Presidency of the G20.
OECD GDP growth falls to 0.4% in first quarter of 2017
The slowdown in productivity growth - already underway before the crisis – combined with sluggish investment, continued to undermine rises in economic output and material living standards in recent years in many of the world’s economies, according to a new report released today by the OECD.
The paper describes revisions to the trend labour efficiency component of the production function underpinning long-term economic scenarios.
Growth in China has been slowing gradually, but GDP per capita remains on course to almost double between 2010 and 2020. As a result, the Chinese economy will remain the major driver of global growth for the foreseeable future.
Composite leading indicators point to stable growth momentum in the OECD area going forward
OECD annual inflation slows to 2.3% in March 2017, driven by energy prices
Pensions have been successful in reducing old-age poverty well below the population-wide average, and below the OECD average. At present, all pension recipients – and this includes around 90% of those aged 65 and above – receive at least the minimum wage, which is more than 5 times as much as the poverty line of BRL 170 (equivalent to USD 55).
Despite strong economic growth, Costa Rica’s income inequality has increased in the past decade, in stark contrast with other Latin American countries.
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Labour productivity in Japan is about a quarter below the average of the top half of OECD countries, which is surprising given Japan's outstanding performance in education and skills and high level of R&D spending.
The private sector can be a strategic partner in the pursuit of sustainable and inclusive growth, with the ability to have a profound impact, particularly in areas such as climate change, inclusiveness, equality and good governance.
This OECD technical report to G-20 Finance Ministers and Governors provides an assessment of progress on structural reform to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth under the G-20 Enhanced Structural Reform Agenda (ESRA) agreed at the Hangzhou summit.
Brazil’s old-age pensions have reduced old-age poverty below OECD levels, but pension expenditures of 8.2% of GDP are expected to rise rapidly as the population ages. A pension reform is necessary to ensure the financial sustainability of the system.
The Japanese economy has gained momentum and is creating jobs, according to a new OECD report. The latest OECD Economic Survey of Japan, presented in Tokyo by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, says that per capita growth rates in recent years have matched those across the OECD – a major improvement. The Survey underlines the key role Abenomics has played in the economic revival.
Citizens in many countries are expressing dissatisfaction with how they believe trade, technology and immigration are affecting their daily lives. While much of this discontent can be traced back to the global economic crisis, its root causes are more complex. What can be done at the Global, European and German level?
Stable growth momentum in the OECD area
On several measures, China has caught up with OECD economies in the area of innovation.
Labour markets are in a continual state of flux. Workers get employed, leave a job and become unemployed, join the labour force or leave the labour force. The balance of these flows determines the overall employment rate.
Poverty has risen in Spain in the wake of the crisis, mainly due to lack of quality jobs that provide enough hours of paid work to support decent incomes.
For each hour worked Portugal produces about half of the output produced in the United States.
As the Chinese economy matures to a slower but more sustainable growth path, policy efforts need to focus more on efficiency, stability and inclusiveness, according to a new OECD report.
Governments must deploy policy packages that take advantage of the synergies between labour, product and financial market reforms to escape the low-growth trap and ensure that benefits are broadly shared by the vast majority of citizens, according to the OECD’s annual Going for Growth report.