International migration fell in 2009, reflecting lower demand for workers in OECD countries for the second consecutive year after a decade of growth, according to a new OECD report.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.

The President of the French Republic, Mr. François Hollande, met the Heads of international economic organisations at the OECD on Monday 29th October.

Spain is immersed in a prolonged recession that has been compounded by the continuing crisis in the euro area. The path to recovery has been launched, but will require full implementation of reforms and some additional measures to restore confidence in the financial sector, redress public finances and bring down high unemployment, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Spain.

This paper derives estimates of the efficiency of welfare spending in Slovenia and the other OECD countries from data envelopment analysis based on model specifications used in earlier OECD studies.

This study proposes a structured approach to selecting instruments of fiscal consolidation that are consistent with growth, equity and global-rebalancing objectives, which is then illustrated with a particular application.

This paper examines the heavily supported Swiss food and agriculture sector. It reviews some of the key features and trends in the sector and reveals its low relative labour productivity in international comparison.

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the role of natural capital for productivity measurement and as a source of economic growth.

Finland’s economy is gradually picking up, but uncertainty surrounds the recovery. Determined action to implement structural reforms is needed to revive economic growth, restore competitiveness and preserve high standards of living and well-being, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Finland.

The Czech economy is finally coming out of a prolonged recession but must take further steps to speed up income convergence towards the euro area countries, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of the Czech Republic.

Unfavourable demographic trends in many OECD countries threaten the sustainability of potential labour resources, GDP growth and fiscal positions. One factor that is expected to mitigate these trends is continued inflows of migrant workers from low income economies.

This paper presents a productivity growth measure that explicitly accounts for natural capital as an input factor and for undesirable goods, or “bads”, as an output of the production process.

The 34-member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development welcomed a Memorandum of Understanding between the OECD and Ukraine which will help Ukraine’s efforts to tackle corruption, strengthen its tax system and promote competitiveness.

The President of the French Republic, Mr. François Hollande, met the Heads of five international economic organisations at the OECD on Friday 17th October to discuss the challenges facing the global economy.

Meeting Greece’s Minister of Development and Competitiveness Mr. Kostas Skrekas today, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría said the Greek government’s reform programme was already showing positive results.

The OECD and the Government of Kazakhstan are signing today in Davos a Memorandum of Understanding on a two-year Country Programme, which will support an ambitious set of reforms of Kazakhstan’s policies and institutions.

The government has introduced major structural reforms to fight poverty, improve the quality of education, create more jobs in the formal sector and move towards a universal social security system. This is a substantial accomplishment. However, Mexico needs to build a more inclusive state.

Switzerland’s recent economic performance has been impressive, but with growth now slowing new reforms will be necessary to maintain high levels of prosperity and ensure future well-being, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Switzerland.

High house prices are being supported by very low interest rates, immigration-fuelled population growth and smaller family units, while demand is being bolstered by mortgage interest tax deductibility and institutional investors.

The Czech Republic needs new reforms to boost productivity, improve economic growth and accelerate convergence toward the levels of income and well-being seen in the most advanced European countries, according to a new OECD report.

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.

Economic and social reforms undertaken over the past two decades have driven Peruvian efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth and important reductions in poverty. Against a context of weak global growth, Peru will need to diversify its economy, boost skills, reinforce productivity across the labour force and unleash the potential of all regions in order to spur more inclusive national growth.

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).

A policy framework that does not unduly inhibit the creative destruction process is vital to sustaining productivity growth. Yet, a key question is what happens to workers who lose their jobs due to this process and what are the policies that minimise the costs of worker displacement?

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)

What happens to workers who lose their jobs due to firm exit – how quickly are they re-employed and what are the policies that can aid this process?

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.

Icelandic labour market is flexible with high labour market participation, low unemployment, and labour supply dynamically responds to the economic cycle.

Modernisation has mainly been achieved by training young Slovenians to fill new occupations. In contrast, those with obsolete skills tend to retire or become unemployed rather than retrain, leaving Slovenia with persistent long-term unemployment, and amongst the lowest employment rates of older workers in the OECD.

The U.K. economy has weakened in the aftermath of the decision to leave the European Union. Maintaining close ties with the EU and implementing policies to boost productivity will be crucial for maintaining future living standards, according to a new report from the OECD.

Slovenia has continued to shift from traditional manufacturing to business services and high-tech production. However, not all Slovenians have been included in this progress.

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.

Iceland has high living standards, low poverty, high inclusiveness and one of the most sustainable pension systems.

Switzerland makes more use of its human resources than most other OECD countries. Labour force participation is high and the unemployment rate low for most segments of society.

Swiss GDP per capita stands amongst the top OECD performers. However, to face medium-term challenges productivity developments will be key to allow the country to maintain its enviable position.

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

In its latest Economic Survey for Norway , the OECD underscores the importance of policy facilitating transition away from oil-related activities and helping businesses seize opportunities from digitalisation and globalisation, through providing i) macroeconomic and financial stability, and ii) improvements to structural-policy settings.

Switzerland is among the leaders in many global rankings including on R&D, innovation, infrastructure, universities and competitiveness. It is well integrated in global value chains, specialised in some high-value-added activities and home of many large multinationals. These factors should contribute to high, and rising, labour productivity.

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.

Imports in Switzerland decreased to 15849.16 CHF million in March from 16498.58 CHF million in February of 2020. Imports in Switzerland averaged 6636.68 CHF million from 1950 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 17688.56 CHF million in January of 2018 and a record low of 273.20 CHF million in February of 1950. In 2019, imports to Switzerland reached a record high of CHF 275 billion despite the global uncertainty surrounding trade disputes and the world economy. Main imports were: natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad with precious metal, and articles thereof; imitation jewellery; coin (31 percent of total imports); pharmaceutical products (11 percent); nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof (7 percent); vehicles (6 percent); electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles (5 percent); organic chemicals (5 percent); mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes (3 percent); and optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof (3 percent). Germany was the biggest source of imports (21 percent of total imports), followed by Italy (8 percent), France and the US (7 percent each), the UK and China (6 percent each), the UAE (5 percent), Austria and Ireland (3 percent each), Spain, Thailand, the Netherlands, Belgium and Japan (2 percent each). This page provides - Switzerland Imports - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría will present two new major publications on Brazil during news conferences on 22 October in Brasilia. He will also hold a series of high-level meetings with Brazilian government officials.

Today, the OECD launched the Portuguese version of its Better Life Index in Brazil with football legend Pelé. The Portuguese version is the site’s 6th language edition, enabling the OECD to reach over 240 million Portuguese speakers across the globe.

Taxes on wages have risen by about 1 percentage point for the average worker in OECD countries between 2010 and 2014 even though the majority of governments did not increase statutory income tax rates, according to a new OECD report.

The OECD launched today the Programme of Work with Brazil which sets out joint activities for the next two years and will strengthen cooperation between the Organisation and the Brazilian Government.

The 2018 edition of the Active with Brazil brochure presents the different areas of cooperation between the OECD and Brazil.

This report summarises experience of OECD and non-OECD countries with reforming inspections, attempts to present some of the most interesting and successful experiences suggesting that some good practices may be valid beyond the countries where they were initially pioneered.

Russians are becoming increasingly active in the country’s social arena. While activists remain a small but growing and visible minority of citizens looking for changes in governance, many more are becoming involved in the day-to-day affairs of their communities. It remains to be seen whether this emerging culture of civic participation will sit comfortably with existing governance structures.

The tax burden in Switzerland is low in international comparison, largely reflecting the substantial non-tax compulsory contributions towards the health and pension systems which are managed by private institutions. Taxation of personal income and labour earnings is relatively high, whereas the taxation of consumption is low.

This study proposes a structured approach to selecting instruments of fiscal consolidation that are consistent with growth, equity and global-rebalancing objectives, which is then illustrated with a particular application.

Uncertainty faced by households and firms affects economic activity. The rise in uncertainty since the beginning of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece could be one factor that has contributed to the steep and long-lasting recession. This paper presents a brief empirical analysis quantifying this phenomenon and compares it with developments in Ireland and Portugal.