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New OECD Framework seeks to drive “urgent, concerted effort” for inclusive growth

“Urgent and concerted effort” is needed from governments to drive more inclusive, sustainable economic growth that benefits everyone in society, according to a new OECD report.




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Making growth more inclusive in Thailand

Thailand’s path from a low-income to an upper-middle-income country over recent decades is widely hailed as a development success story.




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Sustainable finance for inclusive growth in Thailand

Thailand’s "sufficiency economy philosophy" encourages the prioritisation of long-term sustainability over short-term benefits.




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Enhancing governance in Thailand

The Peace pillar of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development encompasses a diverse range of issues including stability and effective governance.




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Boosting productivity and living standards in Thailand

Over the past decade, limited structural reform and capital investment have held back productivity growth and improvements in well-being, and Thailand has lost ground vis-à-vis regional comparators.




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Un mayor crecimiento, aunque se advierten importantes riesgos

Después de un largo período de débil crecimiento, la economía mundial finalmente está creciendo alrededor del 4%, cercano al promedio histórico de las últimas décadas.




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Firms at the productivity frontier enjoy lower effective taxation

Slow productivity growth in advanced economies holds back income gains and therefore improvements in well-being.




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Network service deregulation and manufacturing exports in Greece

Network sectors (energy, transport and communications) have undergone a process of liberalisation in Greece in more than a decade.




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Deeper reforms in Germany will ensure more inclusive and sustainable growth

The German economy is undergoing a robust expansion, with record-low unemployment and real wage gains underpinning domestic demand while strong exports are driving business investment. The strong fiscal position will offer opportunities for funding structural reforms and public investment to meet future challenges, according to a new report from the OECD.




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Opioid addiction costs many lives and harms livelihoods

In the past decade, overdose deaths have surged, particularly as (illicit) synthetic opioids have become more available. Opioid-related deaths touch urban and rural communities alike and are spreading to affect all demographic groups.




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Could current inflation targeting frameworks be improved?

As discussed in the latest OECD Economic Outlook, the prolonged undershooting of inflation targets, despite massive monetary policy stimulus and stronger economic growth and lower unemployment, raises issues about the appropriateness of current inflation targeting frameworks in advanced economies. While the frameworks differ in detail and implementation, they are principally based on medium-term inflation objectives of 2%.




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Deeper reforms in Korea will ensure more inclusive and sustainable growth

Short-term prospects for the Korean economy are good, with an uptick in world trade and fiscal policy driving growth, but productivity remains relatively low and the country faces the most rapid population ageing in the OECD area, according to a new report from the OECD.




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Reviving investment in Tunisia

Since the early 2000s, the investment rate has declined, driven by the decrease in business investment.




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Tunisia's inclusion in global value chains and the role of offshore companies

Tunisia’s trade, Tunisia's openness and its integration into global value chains has improved significantly since the mid-1990s, reflecting the country's comparative advantages.




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Strengthening innovation in Poland

Poland’s catch up with other OECD country has been largely based on productivity growth resulting from restructuring towards more productive sectors and foreign technology absorption.




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Financing innovative business investment in Poland

Poland’s productivity has grown strongly over the past two decades. However, the public and private capital stock is weak, and investment remains focused on the adoption of existing technologies, which weighs on future productivity gains and innovation.




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Economic Survey of the Netherlands 2018

The Netherlands is experiencing vibrant economic activity, with gross domestic product (GDP) at about 8% above its pre-crisis peak and the unemployment rate below 4%. Growth picked up to above 3% in 2017, which was well above the euro area and OECD averages.




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Further reforms can foster more inclusive labour markets in The Netherlands

Economic performance in The Netherlands is vibrant and growth is expected to remain robust, underpinned by sound public finances, healthy job creation and high levels of confidence. The current economic expansion should be used to speed up implementation of reforms to ensure future stability and support more inclusive labour markets, according to a new report from the OECD.




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To shorten or to lengthen? Public debt management in the low-interest rate environment

With still large government debt and interest payments in many OECD countries, actively adjusting debt maturity can help to minimise debt servicing costs.




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Costa Rica: Restoring fiscal sustainability and setting the basis for a more growth-friendly and inclusive fiscal policy

Consecutive years of primary deficits have led to mounting public debt of almost 50% of GDP, one of the fastest increases in Latin America over the last decade.




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Structural policies to boost productivity and inclusion in Costa Rica

Owing to past structural reforms, Costa Rica has enjoyed robust GDP growth and productivity levels are gradually converging towards the OECD average.




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Reforms in Lithuania are reinforcing economic growth but boosting productivity is still a challenge

Lithuania’s economy has grown faster than most other OECD economies over the past 10 years, unemployment continues to fall and public finances have stabilised after a long period of deficits and rising debt.




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To shorten or to lengthen debt maturity to lower debt servicing costs?

Low interest rates prevailing in many advanced economies in recent years have already helped to lower the debt servicing burden, but government debt and interest payments remain large in many OECD countries. Could a further reduction in interest payments be attained by "locking-in" current low interest rates?




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Towards more inclusive growth in Tunisia

The average standard of living of the Tunisians has been steadily increasing for several decades, while poverty and inequality have been greatly reduced by the implementation of many social programs.




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The Czech economy is thriving but boosting skills and productivity and transitioning to a low-carbon productive model is vital to sustainable and inclusive growth

The Czech economy is thriving, with robust employment, expanding exports and falling government debt. Efforts should now focus on boosting workforce skills and innovation to improve labour supply and productivity, further reduce poverty and inequality, and green the economy, according to two new OECD reports.




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An empirical investigation on the drivers of income redistribution across OECD countries

Income inequality has increased in most OECD countries over the past two decades. This has come about both because incomes before taxes and transfers have become more unequally distributed, and because the extent of redistribution through taxes and transfers has fallen.




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Improving the quality of business investment in Turkey

Turkey’s business sector exhibits one of the highest investment rates among OECD countries.




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Reforms for sustainable productivity growth in Ireland

The Irish economy has experienced a decline in productivity growth over the past decade. This has mostly reflected the poor performance of local firms, with the large productivity gap between foreign-owned and local enterprises having widened.




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The sustainable management of a productive natural capital

This paper examines an industry whose economic activity uses a natural capital on which its profit also relies.




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Canada has high levels of well-being and solid growth but trade tensions and housing market pose risks while inclusiveness could be improved

Canada is one of the OECD economies delivering the best outcomes for its citizens, especially in regards to self-reported well-being, personal security and health status. Canada is also undertaking several programmes to foster inclusive growth – with respect to childcare benefits, gender equality and social housing.




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The Czech economy is thriving but labour shortages will limit growth

Growth, driven by both internal and external demand, has been accelerating since 2013 and at 4.6% in 2017 it was more balanced than in previous years. Household consumption is supported by income growth, a declining savings rate as confidence is high, and by rising credit.




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Limits to government debt sustainability in middle-income countries

This paper investigates the effect of structural characteristics on debt limits of middle income countries.




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Sovereign defaults: Evidence on the importance of government effectiveness

This paper provides robust empirical evidence that government effectiveness is a key determinant of sovereign defaults.




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Digital technology diffusion: a matter of capabilities, incentives or both?

This paper uses a novel data set of digital technology usage covering 25 industries in 25 European countries over the 2010-16 period to explore the drivers of digital adoption across two broad sets of digital technologies by firms, cloud computing and back or front office integration.




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Delivering on the promise of better outcomes for Canadian women

The current Canadian government has declared itself feminist and has taken a number of steps to improve labour market outcomes for women. In terms of employment and labour force participation, Canadian women do much better than the OECD average.




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Does public spending foster inclusive growth in your country?

Governments today need to balance the policy goals of boosting economic growth and improving equity when making budget decisions. How can public spending choices promote inclusive growth? What can be learned from previous spending decisions in times of crisis?




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How does finance influence labour market outcomes? A review of empirical studies

This paper reviews empirical research on finance and labour markets.




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Who are the beneficiaries of the structural funds and the cohesion fund and how does the cohesion policy impact firm-level performance?

This paper exploits a new database that is unique in its scale and scope containing detailed information on over two million projects carried out by one million firms that benefited from the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund in 25 EU member countries during the multi-annual financial framework 2007-2013.




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Sectoral and regional distribution of export shocks: What do two hundred thousand UK firm observations say?

This study explores the impact of export shocks on firms and re-aggregates results to derive distributional effects on sectors and regions.




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The UK productivity puzzle through the magnifying glass: A sectoral perspective

Since the start of the Great Recession, labour productivity growth has been weak in the United Kingdom, weaker than in many other OECD countries.




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Labour share developments over the past two decades: The role of technological progress, globalisation and "winner-takes-most" dynamics

Over the past two decades, real median wage growth in many OECD countries has decoupled from labour productivity growth, partly reflecting declines in labour income shares.




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Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, in Vienna on 7-8 September 2018

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, was in Vienna on 7-8 September 2018 to attend the Eurogroup Meeting / Informal Meeting of Economic and Financial Affairs Ministers (ECOFIN).




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Statistical Insights: An x-ray view of inflation

Inflation may be present in some parts of an economy but not others. Contributions to annual inflation show how much different product groups contribute to overall inflation in a given year.




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Design of insolvency regimes across countries

This paper explores cross-country differences in the design of insolvency regimes, based on quantitative indicators constructed from countries’ responses to a recent OECD policy questionnaire.




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Generating employment, raising incomes and addressing poverty in Greece

Employment is pivotal to strengthening Greece’s economic recovery, increasing social welfare and redressing poverty.




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Cyclical vs structural effects on health care expenditure trends in OECD countries

Health care expenditure per person, after accounting for changes in overall price levels, began to slow in many OECD countries in the early-to-mid 2000s, well before the economic and fiscal crisis.




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Boosting investment in Greece

Aggregate investment has declined markedly over the crisis and has yet to recover. Reviving domestic and foreign investment is crucial to supporting the economic recovery, deepen Greece’s integration into global value chains and raising living standards.




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Speeding up economic catch-up in the BRIICS with better governance and more education

Economic research has established that a large part of income disparities between poor and rich countries can be attributed to differences in governance and in the quantity and quality of human capital.




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David Henderson 1927-2018

David Henderson, Chief Economist of the OECD from 1983 until his retirement in in 1992, died on 30 September 2018, aged 91.




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If potential output estimates are too cyclical, then OECD estimates have an edge

To assess the cyclical position of an economy, macroeconomists use a concept called potential output, which measures the economy’s production rate that is consistent with stable inflation at the target.