Latin America’s GDP growth slowdown deepened and is expected to be negative in 2015. For a second consecutive year, Latin America falls behind the average growth of OECD countries after a full decade of convergence with advanced economies, according to the Latin American Economic Outlook 2016.

Finland enjoys a high level of income and well-being, but the economy has weakened and new reforms will be necessary to restart growth, boost productivity increase employment and restore competitiveness, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Finland.

Israel’s economy has strong fundamentals, but the country needs to address productivity, inequality and poverty if it wants to improve well-being and reduce socio-economic divides, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Israel.

Achieving strong growth in the global economy remains elusive, with only a modest recovery in advanced economies and slower activity in emerging markets, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook.

Policymakers need to deploy broad-based reform plans that incorporate monetary, fiscal, and structural policies to stimulate persistently weak demand, re-launch productivity growth, create jobs and build a more inclusive global economy, according to the OECD’s annual Going for Growth report.

This paper investigates the impact of policies and institutions on health expenditures for a large panel of OECD countries for the period 2000-10.

Boosting economic growth and investment to create jobs, improve the stability of public finances and provide an effective social safety net are crucial to help Greece recover from the profound social costs of the economic crisis, says the OECD in its latest report.

Using a gravity model of bilateral trade in manufacturing industries for selected OECD and BRIICS countries over 1990s-2000s, this paper studies how exports are related to national environmental policies.

Countries that implement stringent environmental policies do not lose export competitiveness when compared against countries with more moderate regulations, according to a new OECD study that examines trade in manufactured goods between advanced and emerging economies.

The data presented in the latest OECD Economic Survey of Ireland suggest that rather than "brain drain" Ireland exhibits "brains exchange", a large proportion of emigrants and immigrants are well qualified.

Norway’s predominately public and tuition-fee free tertiary education system encourages participation and has high attainment rates. However, challenges in spending efficiency, study times, skills demand, inclusiveness and quality remain.

Norwegian policy gives high priority to supporting rural communities, with support for agriculture receiving particular attention. It is broadly successful in terms of maintaining rural communities, and urban-rural gaps in a range of well-being indicators are comparatively narrow.

The Chilean economy has had an extraordinary performance over the last decades with strong growth and declining poverty rates. This paper discusses how to achieve greater social inclusiveness against the background of weaker medium-term growth.

Italy’s low employment rate is associated with adverse labour market dynamics characterised differently across different categories of people.

Improving local infrastructure investments in Poland

Denmark’s economic prospects are improving, but further reforms are needed to maintain the country’s high living standards and ensure the well-being of all citizens, according to a new report from the OECD.

The pace of structural reforms is slowing just when the world economy needs decisive policy actions to strengthen fundamentals and restore healthy growth (the 2016 Going for Growth report). Policy makers may be concerned that introducing structural reforms in the current context involve trade-offs between the mid- to long-run gains in employment and productivity and short-run losses.

This paper takes stock of the main structural reforms that Greece has undertaken since 2010, those currently proposed and that are in the process of implementation, and quantifies the medium and long‑term effects on output.

Advanced economies remain in the doldrums. People’s incomes are rising at a very low pace, especially in the lower half of the distribution. Two global trends–the slowdown in productivity and the rise in inequality–reflect the state of policy, and point to the challenges policymakers face to change prospects for their citizens and the global economy.

Declining productivity growth and rising inequality are two of the biggest obstacles to improved economic performance, according to a new OECD report.

Global Forum on Productivity

The global economy is stuck in a low-growth trap that will require more coordinated and comprehensive use of fiscal, monetary and structural policies to move to a higher growth path and ensure that promises are kept to both young and old, according to the OECD’s latest Global Economic Outlook.

Sound public policies grounded in evidence – and implemented effectively – will be crucial for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This document outlines four broad areas for future action for the OECD, highlighting what it could do more of – or do differently – to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. C/MIN(2016)6.

The ECB, the Bank of Japan and five other central banks in Europe have applied negative interest rates on commercial banks’ reserves. This additional monetary policy stimulus, following large asset purchases by central banks in some of these areas, should boost the economy and thus raise inflation closer to target.

The European economy is gradually recovering but further policy action will be required to address unresolved legacies of the global economic crisis that are weighing on growth and major new concerns that have emerged, according to two new OECD reports.

The Canadian economy is adjusting to the fall in commodity prices, but additional policies are needed to boost productivity, reduce financial stability risks and make future growth stronger, greener and more inclusive, according to a new OECD report.

The Greek economy is turning around lately, but it remains in a deep depression. GDP has fallen by more than a quarter between 2007 and 2015, unemployment remains extremely high at 25 percent and anchored poverty – which measures poverty relative to its pre-crisis income level – has nearly tripled between 2007 and 2014, reaching a third of the population.

A dynamic small business sector can heighten competition and underpin productivity growth, as discussed in the 2016 OECD Economic Survey of Canada and Carey et al. (2016, forthcoming).

Strong and adequate skills are essential to support workers’ productivity and to ensure robust employment outcomes. Developing workers’ skills would also increase their personal satisfaction and wages, contributing in making growth more inclusive. The Netherlands performs well in terms of competences of a large part of the population. Moreover, the country has been successful in adjusting the required level of skills over time.

GDP per capita in Lithuania rose from one third to two thirds of the OECD average level between 1995 and 2014, despite internal and external crises. Productivity catch-up was critical to this process, although the level of labour productivity also remains around one-third below the OECD average.

This paper develops an analytical framework to identify the policies relevant for firm exit and the channels through which they shape aggregate productivity growth.

In 2015 the Lithuanian government launched an ambitious Social Model reform agenda aimed at balancing flexibility of the labour market and security provided through the system of social protection.

This paper analyses the effects of product market reforms in the short and medium term across 10 regulated industries and 18 advanced economies for the period 1998-2013 using internationally comparable firm-level data based on Orbis.

The nexus of slowing productivity growth and rising inequality is capturing the attention of policymakers and researchers. The productivity slowdown, its causes, and the link with inclusiveness will be discussed on 7-8 July in Lisbon at the first Annual Conference of the new Global Forum on Productivity, which was created by the OECD in collaboration with a number of Member and non-Member countries.

Turkey’s economy has proven remarkably resilient in the face of a challenging global economic context. However, further action can be taken to raise productivity and advance the shift to a more balanced, sustainable and stronger growth path that will boost living standards for the entire population, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Turkey.

Costa Rica’s economic, social and environmental achievements are impressive. It has succeeded in combining rising living standards, virtually universal health care, pension and primary education systems with sustainable use of natural resources.

GDP per capita in Lithuania rose from one third to two thirds of the OECD average level between 1995 and 2014, despite internal and external crises. Productivity catch-up was critical to this process, although the level of labour productivity also remains around one-third below the OECD average.

This paper develops an analytical framework to identify the policies relevant for firm exit and the channels through which they shape aggregate productivity growth.

In 2015 the Lithuanian government launched an ambitious Social Model reform agenda aimed at balancing flexibility of the labour market and security provided through the system of social protection.

This paper analyses the effects of product market reforms in the short and medium term across 10 regulated industries and 18 advanced economies for the period 1998-2013 using internationally comparable firm-level data based on Orbis.

This paper analyses the effects of the Greek crisis on inequality and poverty in 2009-2014 using the micro-simulation model EUROMOD.

Small business dynamism is a feature of an SME sector that contributes to overall productivity growth, not an end in itself.

Canada’s productivity performance has lagged that of many other OECD countries, despite some improvement in recent years.

Leaders of the G20 countries meeting at their Summit in Hangzhou, China, have called on the OECD to help develop an agenda to build a stronger, more innovative and inclusive world economy.

Weak trade growth and financial distortions are exacerbating slow global economic growth, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook.

Yesterday’s OECD Interim Economic Outlook warns that trade growth is slowing, contributing to another slowing of global GDP growth in 2016 and with few signs of improvement for 2017.

Across the OECD, GDP per capita is converging. In contrast, regional disparities – or differences in GDP per capita across jurisdictions – are rising, mainly as a result of widening productivity differences. Fiscal decentralisation could help reduce them again. According to new OECD research, assigning more ownsource revenue to sub-national governments dampens regional GDP disparities and underpins regional convergence.

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.

Measures that enable the acquisition of new skills and reduce mismatches between the demand and supply of existing skills can boost US economic growth and make its benefits more inclusive.