Laurence Boone, OECD Chief Economist, Chiara Criscuolo, OECD Science and Technology Directorate, and James Mancini, OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs Digital technologies have the potential to bring huge benefits in terms of productivity, jobs and ultimately living standards. At the same time, consumers will gain access to new, innovative, and cheaper products. However, … More Competition in the digital age
by Antoine Goujard, Chile Desk, Economics Department Chile’s export growth has disappointed over the past two decades. In particular, exports of goods and services – in volume – have only grown at 1.1% annually over 2009-17 and at around 2.0% for non-copper products and services, compared to 4.2% in the average Latin American country (Panels … More Boosting export performance in Chile
By Dan Andrews, Peter Gal and William Witheridge, Economics Department 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 … More Will the inflation genie escape the bottle? New evidence on globalisation, competition and inflation
By Douglas Sutherland, Head of the United States Desk, OECD Economics Department With the global economy mired in low- growth and no signs of strong acceleration, a lot of attention has been paid to the meagre pace of productivity growth in OECD countries. In the United States, the most watched indicator of productivity (nonfarm business … More Unleashing private sector productivity in the United States
By Boris Cournede, Senior Economist, Public Economics Division, OECD Economics Department Reforms that make economies more competitive have become a polarising subject. On one side, they are well established as a core staple of reform programmes: they are known to boost growth. On the opposite side, they often come up as lightning rods for criticism, … More What do pro-competitive policies imply for workers?
by Alexander Hijzen, Senior Economist, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD and Peter N. Gal, Economist, Economics Department, OECD Given the secular decline in productivity growth and the persistent weakness of the economic recovery in many advanced economies, increased attention is being paid to the potential role of structural reforms for restoring economic … More Product market reforms under the microscope
By Naomitsu Yashiro, Structural Surveillance Division, OECD Economics Department 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 … More Structural reforms in a difficult time
by Sónia Araújo Economist, Brazil Desk, OECD Economics Department There is strong international evidence that trade liberalisation and increased international integration are key elements of a successful growth strategy. Exposure to international competition, sourcing internationally and learning by exporting accelerates technological upgrading and fosters productivity growth. This column explains how three policy instruments are holding … More Untying the knots strangling Brazil’s competitiveness
By Antoine Goujard, Economist, Country Studies, OECD Economics Department Strengthening competition would have positive effects on French competitiveness, employment, equity and well-being. The OECD (2015a) estimated that five sets of measures in the “Macron Law” – the reform of regulated professions, the extension of Sunday and evening trading, the opening-up of passenger coach transport, the … More More competition for better economic outcomes in France
