OECD annual inflation down to 2.2% in October 2017, as energy price inflation slows

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.

Stable growth momentum going forward in the OECD area

The mixed growth performance of emerging market economies has revived angst about a "middle-income trap".

This paper investigates the effect of export entry on productivity, employment and wages of Latvian and Estonian firms in the context of global value chain (GVC).

Deepening regional integration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will raise potential growth for all member countries.

OECD annual inflation picks up to 2.4% in November 2017

Slower private consumption and investment weigh down on OECD GDP growth in third quarter of 2017

Composite leading indicators continue to point to stable growth momentum in the OECD area

OECD annual inflation slows to 2.3% in December 2017

Stable growth momentum in the OECD area

This paper investigates if higher public spending in education and better teacher qualifications are related to student’s performance, using data from Saber 11, a national standardized test conducted by Instituto Colombiano para la Evaluación de la Educación.

OECD annual inflation slows to 2.2% in January 2018

Poland’s economic growth remains strong. Rising family benefits and a booming jobs market are lifting household income while poverty rates and inequality are falling, says a new OECD report.

Today’s excellent outlook offers Israel a unique opportunity to prepare for the challenges of the future which require stronger social cohesion. Israeli society is indeed marked by large inequalities.

Inequality and relative poverty in Israel remain high, particularly among Arab-Israelis and Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox).x

The Polish economy is in a strong position. Economic growth reached 4.6% on average in 2017 and the OECD expects it to continue at around 4% over 2018/19.

Services comprise a growing share of international trade. Yet detailed statistics on which countries trade which services with which partners remain patchy.

Declining inflation in many countries over the past few decades at the same time as rising global competition has led to a debate on the importance of globalisation for domestic inflation. This paper explores the implications of global value chain (GVC) integration and market contestability for inflation using a range of industry-level and micro-data sources.

The Tunisian economy is recovering, driven by good harvests and strong performance in the tourism sector, but further reforms are needed to ensure sustainable growth and higher living standards for all Tunisians, according to a new report from the OECD.

OECD annual inflation stable at 2.2% in February 2018

OECD CLIs point to stable growth momentum in the OECD area

Markets and commentators are speculating that there may be a sustained pick-up in inflation in the United States, after years of subdued price pressures. Along with continued solid US jobs growth and low unemployment, there are tentative signs of higher wage growth and the fiscal stimulus will also boost short-term growth. Global growth is also getting stronger.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, will be in Athens on Monday 30 April 2018 to present the 2018 OECD Economic Survey of Greece, alongside Mr. Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of Greece.

Reforming the public sector, long a priority for Thailand, involves several challenges. Among these, insufficient public participation in policy-making is undermining the efficient allocation of resources toward public needs and development goals.

OECD CLIs continue to point to stable growth momentum in the OECD area

The analysis suggests that countries with a counter-cyclical fiscal stance typically have a public spending structure that is more supportive of inclusive growth.

OECD annual inflation stable at 2.3% in April 2018

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

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

Global trade imbalances narrowed in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. They have remained at a lower level but are still of concern to policy makers because of the risks they pose to individual economies, as well as globally.

Stable growth momentum in the OECD area

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%.

The European economy is growing robustly, helped by accommodative monetary policy, mildly expansionary fiscal policy and the global acceleration. The current economic expansion should be used to speed up implementation of reforms to the euro area architecture and EU policies that would support greater European integration and ensure stronger, more inclusive long-term growth, according to two new reports from the OECD.

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.

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.

This paper summarises earlier OECD work aimed at quantifying the impact of structural reforms on economic outcomes.

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

Stable growth momentum in the OECD area

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?

Policy choices made today can have important positive effects on future living standards, according to new long-term economic scenarios released by the OECD.

Structural Policy Indicators Database for Economic Research (SPIDER)

This paper presents country-specific effects of structural reforms. It discusses how sizeable and interesting country-specific effects can be identified in a panel setting by conditioning the impact of individual policies on their own level or on the stance of other policies and institutions.

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.

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

Europe’s economy is finally growing robustly. These positive developments provide an opportunity to renew efforts to meet the long-term challenges facing the European Union (EU).

The euro area sovereign debt crisis highlighted important weaknesses in the euro area design. Fiscal policy did not build sufficient buffers before the crisis, which forced some countries to tighten fiscal policy too rapidly during the downturn to restore market confidence in sovereign borrowing.

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.

Canada has long taken in more immigrants relative to its population than most other countries. Immigration policy in Canada aims to promote economic development by selecting immigrants with high levels of human capital, to reunite families and to respond to foreign crises and offer protection to endangered people.

OECD annual inflation up to 2.8% in June 2018, driven by energy and food prices