Further structural reforms are needed to help the business sector boost productivity growth and overcome the key challenges of sluggish investment in advanced economies and excess capacity in emerging economies, according to a new OECD report.

A decline in government funding of science and technology research in a number of countries could pose a threat to innovation at a time when global challenges like climate change and ageing populations demand solutions, according to a new OECD report.

The proliferation of high-cost medicines and rising drug prices are increasing pressures on public health spending and calling into question the pharmaceutical industry’s pricing strategies.

Lending volumes and credit conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have gradually improved, according to a new report from the OECD, but demand-side obstacles such as a lack of financial knowledge are contributing to holding back a stronger recovery.

In an increasingly competitive international environment, providing workers with the right mix of skills can help ensure that globalisation translates into new jobs and productivity gains rather than negative economic and social outcomes, according to a new OECD report.

Between 2000 and 2010, US manufacturing experienced a nightmare. The number of manufacturing jobs in the United States, which had been relatively stable at 17 million since 1965, declined by one third in that decade, falling by 5.8 million to below 12 million in 2010 (returning to just 12.3 million in 2016). Certainly, the 2007–08 recession accelerated the disruption, but the causes were also structural, not simply financial.

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.

When economic shocks occur, economic agents are expected to react to reduce the negative impact or amplify the positive effects. The ability of a country to contain economic losses can be defined as the resilience to economic shocks. Using the OECD Inter-Country Input-Output tables, this paper investigates the relationship between changes in final demand and production structures for 61 economies.

Weak productivity growth is a major problem afflicting most societies. It curbs growth in incomes and endangers the sustainability of social security systems. An important, but often ignored, source of the productivity slowdown is the increasing prevalence of weakly productive firms and, among them, “zombie firms” – in essence firms that would typically exit or be forced to restructure in a competitive market.

30/01/2018 - The China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) and the OECD today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that sets out their commitment to intensify co-operation to promote responsible business in global textile and apparel supply chains.

In order to safeguard their competitiveness in an increasingly digitalised global economy, governments across OECD and emerging economies are implementing a range of policy measures/programmes to support investment in and use of robotics. This paper assesses the extent to which robotics impact the organisation of production through offshoring and backshoring.

The OECD Due Diligence Guidance is being used as the basis and benchmark by many industry initiatives created to ensure the responsible sourcing of minerals. This report presents the findings of a pilot alignment assessment of five industry programmes against the recommendations of the OECD Guidance to gauge the coherence, effectiveness and credibility of these initiatives.

Weak labour productivity growth continues to mark the world’s advanced economies and risks compromising improvements in living standards, says a new OECD report.

A steady economic expansion in Indonesia is boosting living standards, curbing poverty and offering millions of people greater access to public services.

This report provides an inventory of existing practices in Investment Promotion Agencies across 32 OECD countries. It covers a wide range of areas pertaining to investment promotion and facilitation with a view to enhancing peer-learning amongst practitioners.

This report provides an inventory of existing practices in Investment Promotion Agencies across 32 OECD countries. It covers a wide range of areas pertaining to investment promotion and facilitation with a view to enhancing peer-learning amongst practitioners.

Employment is rising in OECD countries but most jobs continue to be created in relatively low-productivity, low-wage activities, says a new OECD report.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been a significant driver of employment growth in recent years, mainly through the creation of new firms, including in high-growth sectors such as information and communication technologies (ICT).

This report provides an inventory of existing practices among IPAs in eight southern Mediterranean (MED) economies: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, and Tunisia. Each MED country has one national IPA with the exception of Tunisia, where three agencies have investment promotion functions.

This joint OECD and IDB report presents rich new information on the organization, activities, and operative practices of IPAs in 51 countries, comprising 32 OECD countries and 19 Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries (outside of the OECD area), providing a thorough understanding of who agencies are, what they do, and how they do it.

Drawing on the 2018 update of the OECD’s Inter-Country Input-Output (ICIO) database, this paper explores the evolution of trade in value added between 2005 and 2015. Changes in international production systems are examined with particular attention given to four key sectors heavily integrated into global value chains: textiles and apparel, chemicals, ICT and electronics, and motor vehicles.

This joint EU-OECD programme supports Mediterranean governments to attract quality investment for job creation, local development, economic diversification and stability.

This report provides an inventory of existing practices among IPAs in eight southern Mediterranean (MED) economies: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, and Tunisia. Each MED country has one national IPA with the exception of Tunisia, where three agencies have investment promotion function

This report provides an inventory of existing practices among IPAs in eight southern Mediterranean (MED) economies: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, and Tunisia. Each MED country has one national IPA with the exception of Tunisia, where three agencies have investment promotion function

This report provides an inventory of existing practices among IPAs in eight southern Mediterranean (MED) economies: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, and Tunisia. Each MED country has one national IPA with the exception of Tunisia, where three agencies have investment promotion functions. The survey was therefore conducted with ten different agencies.

Governments in OECD and emerging economies are betting heavily on robotics to safeguard the competitiveness of their manufacturing industries. This paper examines the importance of industrial robotics as a driver of production and trade quality.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes published today 9 new peer review reports, including a Phase 1 Supplementary Report for Switzerland, demonstrating continuing progress toward implementation of the international standard for exchange of information on request.

Water resources allocation determines who is able to use water resources, how, when and where. Capturing information from 27 OECD countries and key partner economies, the report presents key findings from the OECD Survey of Water Resources Allocation and case studies of successful allocation reform.

Hungary has made progress in greening its economy and cutting emissions, but it needs to speed up efforts to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, improve energy efficiency in buildings and promote sustainable transport, according to a new OECD Review.

The Hungarian economy is in the midst of a strong recovery, driven by high levels of employment that are boosting wages, consumer confidence and domestic demand. Policy should aim to prolong the economic expansion, ensure that growth is greener and that the benefits are shared amongst all Hungarians, according to a new report from the OECD.

Hungary - Country Health Profiles 2019: Launch presentation. The Country Health Profiles provide a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and health systems in the EU/European Economic area, emphasizing the particular characteristics and challenges in each country against a backdrop of cross-country comparisons.

France - Profils de santé par pays 2019 : Présentation de lancement. Les Profils de santé par pays, concis et pertinents pour l’action publique, reposent sur une méthodologie transparente et cohérente qui utilise des données tant quantitatives que qualitatives, tout en s’adaptant avec souplesse au contexte de chaque État membre de l’Union Européenne et de l’Espace Économique Européen.

The country profile: pension eligibility ages and other qualifying conditions; the rules for calculating benefit entitlements; the treatment of early and late retirees; personal income tax and social security contributions.

Country profiles highlight some key findings from TALIS 2013 for individual countries and economies

The OECD Working Group on Bribery has serious concerns about Iceland’s lack of progress in combatting the bribery of foreign public officials, and to implement the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

This policy profile is part of the Education Policy Outlook series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across OECD countries.

Greece - Country Health Profiles 2019: Launch presentation. The Country Health Profiles provide a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and health systems in the EU/European Economic area, emphasizing the particular characteristics and challenges in each country against a backdrop of cross-country comparisons.

Italy’s structural reforms of recent years have improved the financial health of the corporate sector and contributed to a gradual economic recovery. However, the Italian economy still lags other large European economies. Improving the way capital markets function would help drive investment in the real economy, creating jobs and boosting productivity, according to a new OECD report.

Italy - Country Health Profiles 2019: Launch presentation. The Country Health Profiles provide a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and health systems in the EU/European Economic area, emphasizing the particular characteristics and challenges in each country against a backdrop of cross-country comparisons.

An examination of payments issues is taking place in the context of the review of the OECD’s 1999 guidelines on e-commerce. This report looks at what might need to be amplified or revised to enhance consumer trust and adoption of new and emerging online and mobile payment mechanisms. It reflects contributions made by national delegations, business and civil society.

The OECD has launched an online portal to give consumers, businesses and governments quick and easy access to the latest information on products recalled from the market in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States.

This report provides an overview of existing data and statistics in the fields of information security, privacy and the protection of children online. It highlights the potential for the development of better indicators in these respective fields showing in particular that there is an underexploited wealth of empirical data that, if mined and made comparable, will enrich the current evidence base for policy making.

While consumer demand for digital goods has increased rapidly in recent years, a range of challenges undermine confidence in the market and require policy attention.

This publication reviews progress made since 2008 and identifies areas for future work. It demonstrates that the Internet economy has now reached a point where it has become a new source of growth, with the potential to boost the whole economy, to foster innovation, competitiveness and user participation, and to contribute effectively to the prosperity of society as a whole.

This report examines what economic theory can teach us about the reasons why the adoption of this latest Internet protocol is taking longer than was thought at its introduction.

This working paper describes the potential of the proliferation of new sources of large volumes of data, sometimes also referred to as "big data", for informing policy making in several areas. It also outlines the challenges that the proliferation of data raises for the production of official statistics and for statistical policies.

On the occasion of the Global Conference on Cyberspace meeting today in The Hague, the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG) issued a statement calling on ‘the global community to build a new social compact between citizens and their elected representatives, the judiciary, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, business, civil society and the Internet technical community..

The UK’s tallest mountain is Ben Nevis in Scotland. Recently, it became one metre taller, standing now at 1 345m rather than 1 344m above sea level. Of course, the mountain did not actually grow. Rather, the team of Ordnance Survey experts who re-measured it for the first time since 1949 were able to do so more accurately because of improvements in technology, and specifically through the use of GPS.

On 21-23 June 2016, Ministers and stakeholders will gather in Cancún, Mexico, for an OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy: Innovation, Growth and Social Prosperity, to move the digital agenda forward in four key policy areas foundational to the growth of the digital economy: Internet openness, digital trust, global connectivity, jobs and skills in the digital economy.

Ministers and high-level representatives from 41 countries and the European Union committed today at the closure of the OECD’s 2016 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to work together to preserve an open Internet, close digital divides, promote digital skills and generally do more to seize the potential of the digital economy.