Middle Eastern and North African countries should press ahead with further economic and structural reforms to boost flagging trade and investment, restore public trust and create jobs for the region’s young population, the OECD told ministers from the region today.

Raising productivity requires addressing a wide range of policies that affect resource allocation, the creation and diffusion of technology, human capital and the creation and financing of start-ups.

Labour market reforms are essential to promote social cohesion by removing obstacles to employment, particularly for women, youth and older persons.

This paper seeks to provide up to date financial conditions indices for six countries, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the euro area, updating earlier results by the OECD.

Indonesia has undergone an extraordinary transformation over the past two decades, benefiting from strong growth that has lifted millions out of poverty and allowed important progress in areas such as health and education. But low levels of public spending and tax revenue are undermining the quality of social services and exacerbating infrastructure gaps, according to the OECD.

This Global Forum, held on 24-25 October 2016, aimed to shed light on the links between environment and economic growth, and the toolkits to quantify these links. It provided a platform to explore how a well-managed natural environment can contribute to economic growth and how an effective and efficient regulatory system can best be designed?

Labour market mobility in the European Union is increasing, but it remains too low to provide sufficient adjustment in the face of diverging labour market developments.

This paper firstly describes the role of models in producing OECD global macroeconomic forecasts; secondly, reviews the OECD's forecasting track record; and finally, considers the relationship between forecast performance and models.

Productivity growth is essential for living standards to durably improve. Malaysia has reached a development stage where growth needs to be driven more by productivity gains than the sheer accumulation of capital and labour inputs.

Certain growth-promoting policies can have negative side-effects by increasing the vulnerability of economies to financial crises. Typical examples are greater openness to financial flows or more liberalised financial markets.

Certain growth-promoting policies can have negative side-effects by increasing the vulnerability of economies to financial crises. Typical examples are greater openness to financial flows or more liberalised financial markets.

In a majority of OECD countries, GDP growth over the past three decades has been associated with growing income disparities.

In a majority of OECD countries, GDP growth over the past three decades has been associated with growing income disparities.

Do flexibility-enhancing reforms imply more employment instability? Using individual-level data from harmonised household surveys for 26 advanced countries, this paper analyses the effects of product and labour market reforms on transitions in and out of employment.

Reforms that boost growth by enhancing economic flexibility often meet strong opposition related to concerns that they may imply adverse consequences for categories of workers. This study investigates how making product or labour market regulation more flexible changes workers’ risks of moving out of employment and jobless people’s chances of becoming employed.

This study explores the effectiveness of the incentive mechanisms embedded within the UK’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) for banks’ to expand their supply of lending to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

This study explores the effectiveness of the incentive mechanisms embedded within the UK’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) for banks’ to expand their supply of lending to medium sized enterprises (SMEs)

This document describes and discusses a new supply side framework that quantifies the impact of structural reforms on per capita income in OECD countries.

This document describes and discusses a new supply side framework that quantifies the impact of structural reforms on per capita income in OECD countries.

Over the past two decades, the income level of the Czech Republic has converged considerably towards the OECD average.

Over the past two decades, the income level of the Czech Republic has converged considerably towards the OECD average.

Structural reforms are regularly assessed based on their ability to boost GDP per capita. This emphasis relies on the assumption that higher GDP per capita is systematically associated with rising living standards for the vast majority of citizens. This view is increasingly being challenged.

Ambitious structural reforms and sound macroeconomic policies have strengthened the resilience of the Mexican economy despite a complex national scenario and challenging global conditions, but more can be done to boost productivity and ensure that growth is inclusive enough to achieve better living conditions for all, according to a new report from the OECD.

This paper explores the extent to which “zombie” firms – defined as old firms that have persistent problems meeting their interest payments – are stifling labour productivity performance.

This paper explores the extent to which “zombie” firms – defined as old firms that have persistent problems meeting their interest payments – are stifling labour productivity performance.

The government has rolled out major structural reforms since 2012 aimed at improving growth, well-being and income distribution. The initial wave of reforms, kicked-off by the multi-partisan political commitments in the Pacto por México, led to notable progress across a range of areas and put Mexico at the forefront of reformers among OECD countries.

Well-known global companies such as Google, Apple and Amazon of the digital era as well as more traditional ones of the likes of BMW, L’Oreal and Nestlé have recorded impressive productivity gains over the 2000s as they created more and more revenue per employee. At the same time, aggregate productivity growth in the OECD – that reflects the performance of all businesses not just the few most successful ones – has stagnated.

The government has put a heavy emphasis on improving the business climate, thereby promoting a competitive, innovative and dynamic private business sector.

The Portuguese economy is gradually recovering from a deep recession thanks to a broad structural reform agenda that has led to rising economic growth, falling unemployment and remarkable progress in export performance.

Italy is recovering after a deep and long recession. Structural reforms, accommodative monetary and fiscal conditions, and low commodity prices have spearheaded the ongoing economic recovery.

Promoting inclusive growth in India requires improving social and physical infrastructure.

The Spanish economy is enjoying a robust recovery from a deep recession, with structural reforms contributing to high growth rates and a gradual decline in unemployment.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

Almost 10 years after the outset of the financial crisis in summer 2008, European growth remains modest, constantly underperforming the OECD average.

The Spanish economy is growing strongly, but there is a risk that many people are being left behind.

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.

Innovation is key to boosting Australia’s productivity and inclusiveness.

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.

International cooperation is now more critical than ever, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said following a G20 Leader’s Summit marked both by controversy but also advances on a range of policies to tackle global challenges.

Argentina is making progress in its path to advance its growth agenda. The first OECD Multi-dimensional Economic Survey of Argentina underlines the achievements to date of the government’s recent and comprehensive programme of macroeconomic and structural reforms.

This paper presents the global income distribution between all individuals living in the developed world.

Employment and hours worked are already at the highest since independence. The unemployment rate has fallen below historical norms. Nevertheless, more qualified people are needed.

With persisting slower growth worldwide and in China, over-capacity in some heavy industry sectors, declining profitability, and intensifying competition from other, lower-cost emerging economies, corporate behaviour in China needs to change and focus more on efficiency and sustainability.

The French economy is expanding, the labour market is recovering – albeit gradually - while productivity and the standard of living remain generally high, according to a new OECD report.

Successful implementation of economic reforms has boosted the Latvian economy, leading to strong growth, rising wages and solid public finances. Further policy action is now needed to accelerate productivity growth, create jobs, drive down poverty, improve living standards and ensure that everyone benefits from more inclusive growth, according to a new report from the OECD.