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

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.

Productivity growth is essential to providing sustainable increases in living standards. 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.

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.

Productivity growth is essential to providing sustainable increases in living standards. 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.

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 provides a quantitative description of decoupling in OECD countries over the past two decades, with the results suggesting that it is explained by declines in both labour shares and the ratio of median to average wages (a partial measure of wage inequality).

This paper provides a quantitative description of decoupling in OECD countries over the past two decades, with the results suggesting that it is explained by declines in both labour shares and the ratio of median to average wages (a partial measure of wage inequality).

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.

Portugal’s economy has successfully recovered from the strong recession that lasted until 2014. Nonetheless, the economy’s still low investment, which has declined far more than in other Euro area countries, remains a source of concern.

This paper surveys a broad range of studies and highlights the main findings of the empirical literature regarding business finance and productivity.

This paper surveys a broad range of studies and highlights the main findings of the empirical literature regarding business finance and productivity.

Mexico’s structural reforms are already boosting productivity, but more can be done.

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

For each hour worked Portugal produces about half of the output produced in the United States.

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.

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.

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.

Despite strong economic growth, Costa Rica’s income inequality has increased in the past decade, in stark contrast with other Latin American countries.

The paper describes revisions to the trend labour efficiency component of the production function underpinning long-term economic scenarios.

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 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.

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

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.

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

This paper investigates the relationship linking investment (capital stock) and structural policies.

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.

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.

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.

Despite improvements over the past few decades, Slovak health outcomes remains poor compared with most other OECD countries, even after controlling for differences in per capita income and other social, cultural and lifestyle factors.

The Slovenian economy is rebounding after a long downturn, experiencing stronger growth, declining unemployment, healthier public finances and renewed income convergence with more advanced European economies. Further reforms are now needed to increase investment, boost productivity, improve living standards and ensure that all Slovenians benefit from inclusive growth, according to a new report from the OECD.

Living standards in China have greatly improved over the past few decades. Both sustained economic growth and an expansion of the social security system have contributed to a sharp reduction in the number of people in poverty.

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.

Latvia’s economy is growing strongly. Driven by the recovery of exports and investment as well as strong private consumption, real GDP growth is expected to strengthen from 2% in 2016 to around 4% this year and next.

Financial inclusion and women entrepreneurship concern policymakers because of their impact on job creation, economic growth and women empowerment.

While India’s per capita income is converging towards that of the richer countries, inequality has drifted up.

Never in the past 30 years has productivity growth been lower than since the 2008 global financial crisis, and never has income inequality been higher than it is today in Japan, and in the OECD area

This paper estimates urban and rural poverty rates across five Chinese administrative regions (Shanghai, Liaoning, Guangdong, Henan and Gansu) in 2014 using representative household level data from the China Family Panel Studies survey.

Unemployment is still above 8% in Latvia and contributes to poverty, in part because many unemployed have been without a job for an extended period of time.

New Zealand ranks highly on most indicators of well-being, but incomes are below the OECD average due to low labour productivity.

While overall poverty is relatively low in France, it can be highly concentrated at the neighbourhood level.

Over the past decade, sound macroeconomic policies and an improved business environment have helped generate relatively strong GDP growth.

The Swiss economy has shown considerable resilience to shocks, but economic growth remains slow, and per capita income levels still hover at levels attained before the global economic crisis. Further reforms are needed to restore productivity growth, boost incomes and ensure that today’s high living standards and levels of well-being are passed on to future generations, according to a new report from the OECD.

Building on a large volume of cross-country research, the OECD project on “Exit Policies and Productivity Growth” presents new evidence on policies affecting the exit and restructuring of weak firm and the channels through which they shape aggregate productivity growth.

Higher living standards and well-being, as well as convergence with more advanced economies, will depend on achieving higher productivity, which in turn would be boosted by more investment in capital.

Since the crisis, Estonia has experienced one of the most pronounced declines in the ratio of non-residential investment to GDP in the OECD.

Stronger integration in global value chains would speed up economic convergence to advanced OECD economies and raise living standards.

This paper analyses for 34 OECD countries the extent to which the calculation of aggregate multi-factor productivity (MFP) is sensitive to alternative parameterisations.

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.

This paper analyses how technological progress embodied in capital goods raises productivity and income, while at the same time it can modify the allocation of consumption, investment and the capital stock.