Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Rauf Gönenç Author-Email: rauf.gonenc@oecd.org Author-Name: Maria Maher Author-Name: Giuseppe Nicoletti Title: The Implementation and the Effects of Regulatory Reform: Past Experience and Current Issues Abstract: This article reviews trends, outcomes and issues in regulatory reform in OECD countries. First, it summarises the evidence on the evolution of regulatory environments and the economy-wide and sectoral effects of reforms (including privatisation) in both competitive and non-competitive industries in the past two decades. Turning to network industries, it then discusses the main policy issues raised by the need to adapt the regulation of the non-competitive segments of these industries to increasing competition in liberalised markets. It focuses on four topics that dominate the debate over regulatory reform: i) the move from command-and-control to incentivebased regulatory approaches relying on the removal of entry barriers in competitive markets, the adoption of price-cap mechanisms and the design of efficient and competitively-neutral charges for accessing the fixed networks of incumbents; ii) the pros and cons of structural measures such as privatisation, and vertical and horizontal separation of formerly integrated monopolies; iii) the ways to ensure that important non-economic objectives, such as universality of service, continue to be achieved in a more competitive environment at a minimum cost for society; and iv) the design of regulatory mechanisms and institutions that encourage best practice regulation. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 11-98 Volume: 2001 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K29HK Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Olivier Boylaud Author-Name: Giuseppe Nicoletti Title: Regulation, market structure and performance in telecommunications Abstract: The paper uses an international database on regulation, market structure and performance in the telecommunications industry to investigate the effects of entry liberalisation and privatisation on productivity, prices and quality of service in long-distance (domestic and international) and mobile cellular telephony services in 23 OECD countries over the 1991-1997 period. The data on regulation and market structure is analysed by means of factor analysis techniques in order to group countries according to their policy and market environments. Controlling for technology developments and differences in economic structure, panel data estimates show that prospective competition (as proxied by the number of years remaining to liberalisation) and effective competition (as proxied by the share of new entrants or by the number of competitors) both bring about productivity and quality improvements and reduce the prices of all the telecommunications services considered in the analysis. No clear evidence could be found concerning the effects on performance of the ownership structure of the industry (as proxied by both the public share in the public telecommunications operators and years remaining to privatisation). Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 99-142 Volume: 2001 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K29G6 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Faye Steiner Title: Regulation, industry structure and performance in the electricity supply industry Abstract: This article seeks to assess the impact of liberalisation and privatisation on performance in the generation segment of the electricity supply industry. Regulatory indicators for a panel of 19 OECD countries over a 10 year time period were constructed to examine the influence of regulatory reform on efficiency and price, and to assess the relative efficacy of different reform strategies. The presence of data with both cross-country and time-series dimensions allows separate identification of country specific and regulatory effects. The primary findings are that while changes in legal rules may be slow to translate into changes in conduct, unbundling of generation, private ownership, expanded access to transmission networks, and the introduction of electricity markets impact various aspects of performance in a statistically significant way. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 143-182 Volume: 2001 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K29D1 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Rauf Gönenç Author-Email: rauf.gonenc@oecd.org Author-Name: Giuseppe Nicoletti Title: Regulation, market structure and performance in air passenger transportation Abstract: The paper uses a data base on regulation, market structure and performance in the air passenger transportation industry, to analyse the links among liberalisation, private ownership, competition, efficiency and airfares at national and route levels. Covering the 1996-97 travel season, 21 aggregate indicators have been developed for 27 OECD countries, and 23 micro indicators for 102 air routes connecting 14 major international airports. These data are summarised by means of factor analysis. Controlling for market size, network length and other technological and economic differences, and combining national and route-level characteristics, cross-country and cross-route regressions show that i) productive efficiency increases and fares decline when regulations and market structures become more friendly to competition; ii) productive efficiency is sensitive to actual competitive pressures, as proxied by market concentration; iii) fares react to liberalisation independently from market structure, but in liberal environments their decline is amplified by actual competition between carriers; iv) business and economy fares tend to decline when they are liberalised and market concentration is reduced, but tend to increase when markets are dominated by airline alliances on the route; v)  discount fares are affected by the overall market environment at route ends, charter regulations and the actual presence of challenger airlines on the route; and vi) airport congestion and dominance tend to increase fares in time-sensitive market segments. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 183-227 Volume: 2001 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K29BN Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Olivier Boylaud Author-Name: Giuseppe Nicoletti Title: Regulatory reform in road freight Abstract: This study analyses regulatory developments across OECD Member countries in the road freight industry, with a focus on how these developments have affected competition and performance. Over the past two decades, a growing number of OECD countries have recognised that regulations unduly restricting competitive developments in this industry needed to be relaxed. Still, the pace and scale of liberalisation has varied widely from one country to another. The main remaining impediment to competition is the restrictive web of bilateral international and/or multilateral agreements that continue to impose discrimination on foreign hauliers. The empirical evidence available suggests that liberalisation has promoted efficiency and consumer welfare in the countries that have implemented reforms. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 229-251 Volume: 2001 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K299W Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Olivier Boylaud Author-Name: Giuseppe Nicoletti Title: Regulatory reform in retail distribution Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to analyse cross-country differences in the regulation of the retail distribution industry in the OECD area, focusing on the situation in 1998. Regulatory differences are cast against changes in the industry environment to highlight the potential interactions between regulation and market forces. A number of countries have extensively liberalised market access and price and service regulations. In some countries there is currently a tendency to introduce access restrictions for large outlets. In other countries market access has been traditionally hindered by restrictive regulations and administrative burdens. The available empirical evidence suggests that regulations that restrict shop opening hours and hinder access by imposing special requirements for outlet registration, siting and/or size thresholds curb the dynamism of the industry (e.g. lowering entry and exit rates, and preventing restructuring and modernisation) and competitive pressures, leading to lower employment growth and higher consumer prices. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 253-274 Volume: 2001 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K298S Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Andrea Bassanini Author-Name: Stefano Scarpetta Title: The Driving Forces of Economic Growth: Panel Data Evidence for the OECD Countries Abstract: This paper discusses links between policy settings, institutions and economic growth in OECD countries on the basis of pooled cross-country time-series regressions. The novel econometric approach used in the paper allows short-term adjustments and convergence speeds to vary across countries, in accordance with most theoretical models, while imposing restrictions only on the longrun coefficients. In addition to the "primary" influences of physical and human capital accumulation, the results confirm the importance for growth of R&D activity, the macroeconomic environment, trade openness and well developed financial markets. They also confirm that many of the policy influences operate not only via the overall efficiency of factor use but also indirectly via the mobilisation of resources for fixed investment. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 9-56 Volume: 2001 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K2BQ0 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jonathan Temple Title: Growth effects of education and social capital in the OECD countries Abstract: This paper surveys the empirical literature on the growth effects of education and social capital. The main focus is on the cross-country evidence for the OECD countries, but the paper also briefly reviews evidence from labour economics, to clarify where empirical work on education using macro data may be relatively useful. It is argued that on balance, the recent cross-country evidence points to productivity benefits of education that are at least as large as those identified by labour economists. The paper also discusses the implications of this finding. Finally, the paper reviews the emerging literature on the benefits of social capital. Since this literature is still in its early days, policy conclusions are accordingly harder to find. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 57-101 Volume: 2001 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K2BNX Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Dominique Guellec Author-Name: Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie Title: R&D and Productivity Growth: Panel Data Analysis of 16 OECD Countries Abstract: This study investigates the long-term effects of various types of R&D on multi-factor productivity growth, which are the spillover effects of R&D activities. Econometric estimates are conducted on a panel of 16 OECD countries, over the period 1980-98. All results are averages over countries and time, and little can be said about country specificities. Major results are as follows: an increase of 1 per cent in business R&D generates 0.13 per cent in productivity growth. The effect is larger in countries that are intensive in business R&D, and in countries where the share of defence-related government funding is lower; a 1 per cent increase in foreign R&D generates 0.46 per cent in productivity growth, and the effect is larger in countries intensive in business R&D; 1 per cent more in public R&D generates 0.17 per cent in productivity growth. The effect is larger in countries where the share of universities (as opposed to government labs) is higher, in countries where the share of defence R&D is lower, and in countries which are intensive in business R&D. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 103-126 Volume: 2001 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K2BMV Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Dirk Pilat Author-Name: Paul Schreyer Title: Measuring productivity Abstract: This paper discusses the main measurement issues in calculating productivity indicators, and provides guidance to researchers and statisticians in addressing these difficulties. It draws on the OECD Productivity Manual and on recent OECD work on productivity levels. The paper examines a range of issues related to the measurement of productivity growth, including the choice of output measure (gross output versus value added), the measurement of output, labour and capital input, as well as index number issues. It also discusses OECD estimates of productivity levels and the key measurement issues in deriving these estimates, including the appropriate conversion from one currency unit to another. A final section discusses the interpretation of productivity measures, including their most common applications and the possible pitfalls. The paper concludes that substantial progress has been made in recent years to improve the comparability of productivity statistics. In many countries, however, basic source data are still the key limitation to the development of comparable indicators of productivity. In addition, statisticians, researchers and policy makers need to be more aware of the appropriate uses and interpretation of productivity statistics. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 127-170 Volume: 2001 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K2BLR Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Laurence Boone Author-Name: Claude Giorno Author-Name: Mara Meacci Author-Name: David Rae Author-Name: Pete Richardson Author-Name: Dave Turner Title: Estimating the structural rate of unemployment for the OECD countries Abstract: The paper first reviews the conceptual framework underlying different measures of structural unemployment as well as alternative empirical methods that have been used to provide estimates of them. Drawing on this review, it goes on to develop a method for estimating time-varying NAIRUs across a range of OECD countries using a Kalman filter. It then discusses the resulting econometric estimates, and the scope for their further refinement given the associated range of uncertainties. Recent trends in the NAIRU estimates are reviewed: they fell in many countries in the second half of the 1990s, although actual unemployment has remained well above the NAIRU for a majority of countries throughout much of the 1990s, particularly in Europe. Finally, the relevance of such measures to analysing inflation developments and monetary policy is discussed. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 171-216 Volume: 2001 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K29LS Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Michael Förster Author-Name: Mark Pearson Title: Income Distribution and Poverty in the OECD Area: Trends and Driving Forces Abstract: This article uses internationally-comparable data on the distribution of income across households to identify some well-founded facts to replace the conjecture and supposition which too often dominate discussions on inequality and poverty. There has been a general trend in nearly all OECD countries towards increased market income (earnings and income from capital) inequality between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s. However, in a significant minority of countries this has not resulted in higher levels of inequality because either the amounts distributed through the tax and transfer system have increased, or because it has become more progressive. Changes in income distribution in the past ten years generally favoured the prime-age and elderly age groups, particularly those around retirement age. Relative income levels of single parents are very low and have worsened in a number of countries. Trends in earned income, and in particular trends in employment, are found to be crucial in explaining these changes. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 7-38 Volume: 2002 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K2C8Q Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Sveinbjörn Blöndal Author-Name: Simon Field Author-Name: Nathalie Girouard Title: Investment in human capital through upper-secondary and tertiary education Abstract: This article examines various efficiency and equity aspects related to the skill acquisition of young people and older adults. The analysis suggests that human capital investment is associated with significant labour-market gains for individuals, including higher post-tax earnings and better employment prospects, which exceed the investment costs, mainly foregone earnings and tuition fees, by a significant margin. It also shows that the net benefits are strongly influenced by policy related factors, such as study length, tuition subsidies and student support. Overall, the estimates reported in the article indicate that there are strong incentives for the average student to continue studying beyond the compulsory schooling age, and also point to the benefits of such investment in education for society as a whole. However, the net gains fall with age, mainly reflecting a shorter period to take advantage of the benefits that come with education. Finally, the article notes that students in higher education tend to come from more affluent backgrounds and that they benefit from large public subsidies, whereas young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to participate in tertiary education and thus benefit from public subsidies. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 41-89 Volume: 2002 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K2C7C Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Isabelle Joumard Author-Email: isabelle.joumard@oecd.org Title: Tax systems in European Union countries Abstract: Despite recent cuts, the tax-to-GDP ratio in most EU countries remains much higher than in other economies. The tax mix is also different, with high tax wedges on labour and a stronger reliance on consumption and environmentally related taxes. While there is not much room for cutting taxes significantly without downsizing public spending, further re-balancing the tax burden away from labour could contribute to better employment performance. Greater reliance on property taxes, which are low by international standards, less use of reduced VAT rates and tax incentives targeted to specific saving vehicles should be considered. EU countries’ experience in reforming their tax system may also provide useful insights for other regions where international integration is deepening. The free movement of goods, people and capital within the EU area, combined with the advent of the single currency, has also affected the design of national tax systems and has brought to the fore a number of international taxation issues. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 91-151 Volume: 2002 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K2C5H Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Alessandra Colecchia Author-Name: Paul Schreyer Title: The contribution of information and communication technologies to economic growth in nine OECD countries Abstract: This paper compares the impact of ICT capital accumulation on output growth in Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The analysis uses a growth accounting framework and a newly compiled database of investment in ICT equipment and software based on the System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93). It is found that over the past two decades, ICT contributed between 0.2 and 0.5 percentage point per year to economic growth, depending on the country. During the second half of the 1990s, this contribution rose to 0.3 to 0.9 percentage point per year. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 153-171 Volume: 2002 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K2C44 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Joaquim Oliveira Martins Author-Name: Stefano Scarpetta Title: Estimation of the Cyclical Behaviour of Mark-ups: A Technical Note Abstract: This paper presents estimates of the cyclical fluctuations of price-cost margins, following an extended version of the Rotemberg and Woodford (1991) approach. The results support the hypothesis of counter-cyclical price margins in most manufacturing industries, especially in the presence of downward rigidities of labour inputs. This is consistent with a growing body of empirical literature showing that economic booms tend to increase competition or decrease the incentives for collusion, thereby creating downward pressures on price margins. It also offers an appealing interpretation of the otherwise puzzling pro-cyclicality of real wages. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 173-188 Volume: 2002 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2K2C33 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jens Lundsgaard Title: Competition and Efficiency in Publicly Funded Services Abstract: OECD countries gradually open the provision of publicly funded services to competition. This article sets out an analytical framework focusing on incentives and information asymmetries between government as a principal and the agents supplying publicly funded services, and reviews how these issues are addressed by different forms of competition. Taking a wide perspective across different publicly funded services, the article reviews to what extent and how OECD countries have introduced competition, and it seeks to compare and explain the differences based on service characteristics. This review covers education, childcare, long-term care for elderly and employment services. In such services used by individuals there can be benefits from letting users chooseamong alternative suppliers, but developing appropriate regulation shaping the incentives of users and suppliers is essential. Alternatively, competitive tendering and contracting can be used, as is frequently done in OECD countries in technical and support services, including in areas where the final services are supplied via a public monopoly. Private finance of infrastructure investment plays a minor role so far. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 79-128 Volume: 2002 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JJ2LV Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: David Carey Author-Name: Josette Rabesona Title: Tax Ratios on Labour and Capital Income and on Consumption Abstract: This paper presents revised tax ratios based on more realistic assumptions than those used in a previous study applying the same approach (based on tax revenue statistics and national accounts data) to measuring the effective tax burden. Although the levels of the revised tax ratios are sometimes quite different from those previously found, the two data sets are generally highly correlated. The paper also presents a sensitivity analysis of relaxing some remaining unrealistic assumptions for countries and periods where that is possible. It is found that this often has a large effect on the tax ratios, especially for capital, and the two data sets are sometimes no longer highly correlated. This highlights the need to use these ratios in conjunction with other indicators, such as average effective tax rates, to corroborate the story they tell. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 129-174 Volume: 2002 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JJ2KH Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Laurence Boone Author-Name: Nathalie Girouard Title: The Stock Market, the Housing Market and Consumer Behaviour Abstract: After the buoyancy of stock markets in the late nineties, share prices have generally trended downwards since 2001. By contrast, house prices have continued to increase, rising more rapidly than the general price level in several countries. These developments have led to renewed interest in the impact of asset prices on consumption and overall demand. This paper analyses the roles of household financial wealth and housing wealth across G7 countries (with the exception of Germany), in determining private consumption. It provides some estimates of the sensitivity of consumption to various forms of wealth and tests whether these sensitivities have changed over time. The impacts of recent financial and housing market developments on consumption are also quantified. The main results are, first, that for all countries, wealth channels are identified, second, that these effects vary significantly across countries, and third that for some countries, their importance has tended to rise markedly over the recent past. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 175-200 Volume: 2002 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JJ2HB Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Roman Arjona Author-Name: Maxime Ladaique Author-Name: Mark Pearson Title: Social Protection and Growth Abstract: Public social expenditure accounts for 25 per cent of GDP, or even more in some countries. That expenditure on this scale has some effect on growth seems very likely, but the direction of the effect is disputed by different schools of thought. Using new data sources and panel data econometric techniques, this paper sheds new light on the issue. Evidence is found in favour of the proposition that more social expenditure reduces growth. However, “active” social spending, including active labour market policies, make work pay policies and spending on family services, appears to have the opposite effect and may be growth-enhancing. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 7-45 Volume: 2002 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JJ2NQ Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Dirk Pilat Author-Name: Franck Lee Author-Name: Bart van Ark Title: Production and Use of ICT: A Sectoral Perspective on Productivity Growth in the OECD Area Abstract: This paper examines the roles of the ICT-producing sector and of key ICT-using industries in overall productivity growth in OECD countries. The ICT manufacturing sector, in particular, has been characterised by very high rates of productivity growth in many countries and provides a large contribution to labour productivity growth in Finland, Ireland and Korea. In a few countries, notably the United States and Australia, certain ICT-using services have also experienced an above-average pick-up in productivity growth in the second half of the 1990s. Further structural reform may be needed before ICT use will also show up in the productivity statistics of other OECD countries. Differences in the measurement of productivity in ICT-producing and -using industries across countries complicate the cross-country analysis. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 47-78 Volume: 2002 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JJ2MN Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Stephen S. Golub Author-Name: Dana Hajkova Author-Name: Daniel Mirza Author-Name: Giuseppe Nicoletti Author-Name: Kwang-Yeol Yoo Title: The Influence of Policies on Trade and Foreign Direct Investment Abstract: This paper assesses the importance of border and non-border policies for global economic integration. The focus is on four widely-advocated policies: removing explicit restrictions to trade and FDI; promoting domestic competition; improving the adaptability of labour markets; and ensuring adequate levels of infrastructure capital. The analysis covers FDI and trade in both goods and services, thus aiming to account for the most important channels of globalisation and dealing with most modes of cross-border services supply. The results highlight that, despite extensive liberalisation over the past two decades, there is scope for further reducing policy barriers to integration of OECD markets. Remaining barriers have a significant impact on bilateral trade and FDI, with anticompetitive domestic regulations and restrictive labour market arrangements estimated to curb integration as much as explicit trade and FDI restrictions. Simulating the removal of such barriers suggests that the quantitative effects of further liberalisation of trade, FDI and domestic product and labour markets on global integration could be substantial... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 7-83 Volume: 2003 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JGW7G Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Stephen S. Golub Title: Measures of Restrictions on Inward Foreign Direct Investment for OECD Countries Abstract: This paper provides new measures of restrictions on inward foreign direct investment (FDI) for OECD countries. Several different types of restrictions are considered: limitations on foreign ownership, screening or notification procedures, and management and operational restrictions. These restrictions are computed for nine sectors and eleven sub-sectors, most of which are in services, and then aggregated into a single measure for the economy as a whole. According to the aggregate indicators, the last two decades, and especially the 1990s, have witnessed dramatic liberalisation in FDI restrictions. OECD countries are now generally open to inward FDI, although there remain substantial differences between countries and across industries. The most open countries are now in Europe, at least as far as statutory restrictions are concerned. The preponderance of remaining restrictions is in services, with almost no overt restrictions in manufacturing... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 85-116 Volume: 2003 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JGW5L Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Florian Pelgrin Author-Name: Alain de Serres Title: The Decline in Private Saving Rates in the 1990s in OECD Countries: How Much Can Be Explained by Non-wealth Determinants? Abstract: The substantial decline in private-sector saving rates observed in several OECD countries in the late 1990s coincided in several cases with a sharp increase in household financial net worth. This was seen by many observers as evidence that the strong rise in equity and residential property prices during the late 1990s had been treated by households as a permanent increase in wealth, leading to an unsustainable drop in saving and raising fears of an eventual negative wealth effect. Applying estimation techniques for systems of dynamic panel equations, this paper looks at basic determinants of private saving for a sample of 15 OECD countries and finds that the sharp decline in saving observed after 1995 can be largely explained, even in a post-sample fashion, by fundamentals other than financial wealth. Among the determinants, the rise in public-sector saving is found to have contributed the most to the decline in private saving between 1995 and 2000. Based on this investigation, there is little evidence that consumers had gone too far in responding to the stock market boom of the late 1990s, even in countries where private saving rates have fallen to historically low levels. On the other hand, the results suggest that a loosening of fiscal policy may have a limited stimulatory impact on private consumption... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 117-153 Volume: 2003 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JGW47 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Isabelle Joumard Author-Email: isabelle.joumard@oecd.org Author-Name: Per Mathis Kongsrud Title: Fiscal Relations across Government Levels Abstract: Despite its apparent advantages, devolution of fiscal responsibilities has not proceeded evenly over the past two decades. Decentralisation can strengthen the democratic process, allow governments to tailor the supply of public goods to local preferences and introduce some competition across jurisdictions, thus raising public sector efficiency. It can, however, entail efficiency losses and make it difficult to implement redistributive policies. On the spending side, local provision may fail to exploit economies of scale and internalise territorial spillovers – a serious issue since few public goods are purely local by nature. On the revenue side, few tax bases can be exploited by sub-national governments without risking making national objectives difficult to achieve and raising serious distributive concerns. This paper, which is largely based on country experiences in mitigating the potential drawbacks of decentralisation while obtaining most of its benefits, provides a framework for assessing fiscal relations across levels of government... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 155-229 Volume: 2003 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JGW35 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Peter Walkenhorst Author-Name: Nora Dihel Title: Tariff Bindings, Unused Protection and Agricultural Trade Liberalisation Abstract: Prior quantitative assessments of the effects of agricultural trade liberalisation have assumed that negotiated reductions in bound tariffs translate into corresponding cuts in applied tariff rates. This approach, however, overestimates the actual reduction in applied tariffs and, hence, the benefits of trade liberalisation, since applied rates are often much lower than the tariffs bound in Uruguay Round schedules. This paper uses data on applied and bound tariffs and the GTAP-CGE model to quantify the magnitude of the resulting bias. The findings suggest that the distortion of estimates is particularly pronounced for modest tariff cuts, as well as for countries where the differences between bound and applied rates are substantial. Hence, quantitative policy analysts who aim to inform decision makers on the likely impacts of negotiated tariff cuts should consider the relationship between bound and applied tariff rates in their assessments in order to avoid mistaken advice... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2003 Pages: 231-249 Volume: 2003 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JGW22 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Isabelle Joumard Author-Email: isabelle.joumard@oecd.org Author-Name: Per Mathis Kongsrud Author-Name: Young-Sook Nam Author-Name: Robert Price Author-Email: robert.price@oecd.org Title: Enhancing the Cost Effectiveness of Public Spending: Experience in OECD Countries Abstract: In most OECD countries, public spending rose steadily as a share of GDP over the past decades to the mid-1990s, but this trend has since abated. The spending pressures stemming from the continued expansion of social programmes have been partly compensated by transient or one-off factors. Pressures on public spending, however, appear likely to intensify, in particular as a consequence of ageing populations. Since most OECD economies have very little scope for raising taxation or debt to finance higher spending, reforms to curb the growth in public spending while raising its cost effectiveness are now required. Based on detailed country reviews for over two-thirds of OECD countries, this paper identifies three main areas for action: the budget process; management practices; and the use of market mechanisms in the delivery of public services ... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2004 Pages: 109-161 Volume: 2003 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JCL5L Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Paul Schreyer Title: Capital Stocks, Capital Services and Multi-Factor Productivity Measures Abstract: Capital services measures have long been recognised as the appropriate concept to capture capital input in production and productivity analysis. However, only few countries’ statistical agencies construct and publish such capital services measures. This paper describes capital services measures developed by OECD and presents estimation methods and results for the G7 countries. By way of example, the consequences of applying capital services measures instead of measures of gross or net capital stocks in the computation of rates of multi-factor productivity growth are examined for three countries, the United States, France and Australia ... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2004 Pages: 163-184 Volume: 2003 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JCL47 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nadim Ahmad Title: Towards More Harmonised Estimates of Investment in Software Abstract: The latest system of national accounts (SNA93) recommended that purchases of software (and any ownaccount production) should be treated as investment as long as the acquisition satisfied conventional asset requirements. This change added about 1 per cent to GDP in most OECD economies in the mid-1990s. However, the range of the revision has been significantly different across countries, leading many observers to question the comparability of these statistics. An OECD task force has formulated a set of recommendations describing a harmonised method for estimating software and this paper provides estimates of changes to GDP levels and growth that might be expected if the OECD recommendations were applied. Estimates of changes are also presented using an alternative harmonised method. Whichever harmonised method is applied, the impact on GDP levels is likely to be significant, and in some countries about 1 per cent of GDP ... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2004 Pages: 185-200 Volume: 2003 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JCL22 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Romain Duval Title: Retirement Behaviour in OECD Countries: Impact of Old-Age Pension Schemes and other Social Transfer Programmes Abstract: This paper examines the impact of old-age pension systems and other social transfer programmes on the retirement decision of older males in OECD countries. For each of the 55-59, 60-64 and 65+ age groups, a new panel dataset of retirement incentives embedded in those schemes is constructed, focusing mainly on the implicit tax rate on continued work. These currently differ widely across OECD countries: they are high in most Continental European Countries, compared with Japan, Korea, English-speaking and Nordic countries. Simple cross-country correlations and panel data econometric estimates both show that implicit taxes on continued work have sizeable effects on the departure of older male workers from the labour force ... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2004 Pages: 7-50 Volume: 2003 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JCL7G Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Florence Jaumotte Title: Labour Force Participation of Women: Empirical Evidence on The Role of Policy and Other Determinants in OECD Countries Abstract: This paper examines the determinants of female labour force participation in OECD countries. The econometric analysis uses a panel data set covering 17 OECD countries over the period 1985-1999, and distinguishes between part-time and full-time female participation rates. It shows a positive impact on female participation of a more neutral tax treatment of second earners (relative to single individuals), childcare subsidies, and paid maternity and parental leave. On the other hand, child benefits reduce female participation due to an income effect and their lump-sum character. Female education, the general labour market conditions, and cultural attitudes remain major determinants of female participation. Simulations illustrate the potentially significant impact that some of the examined policies could exert on female participation ... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2004 Pages: 51-108 Volume: 2003 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LMQCR2JCL6D Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nicola Brandt Title: Business Dynamics and Policies Abstract: This study presents evidence on firm entry and exit, growth and survival derived with new data from Eurostat, covering nine European Union member countries. Cross-country and cross-industry patterns in firm entry rates are analysed with a special emphasis on detailed information and communication technology (ICT) related sectors, which has not been possible with previously available cross-country data. Firm entry rates turn out to be rather moderate in more mature industries... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2005 Pages: 9-36 Volume: 2004 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LGXVRNJJCG6 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Dirk Pilat Title: The ICT Productivity Paradox: Insights from Micro Data Abstract: Empirical analysis of the economic impacts of information and communications technology (ICT) has followed three main tracks, namely analysis with aggregate data on ICT investment, with data on ICTproducing and ICT-using industries, and with firm-level data. Firm-level data point to factors influencing the impacts of ICT that cannot be observed at the aggregate level, e.g. organisational factors or the availability of skills. Firm-level data can also point to competitive effects that may accompany the spread... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2005 Pages: 37-65 Volume: 2004 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LGXVRHFZD31 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nigel Pain Author-Name: Desirée van Welsum Title: International Production Relocation and Exports of Services Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between the relocation of international production and exports of services from the United States using a number of different panel data estimators for six different categories of services. A conventional export demand relationship is augmented by three different measures of the extent of international production relocation by US-based parent companies in service and non-service industries. Our results reveal considerable heterogeneity in the relationship... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2005 Pages: 67-94 Volume: 2004 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LGXVRHB8XKD Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Sicilani Luigi Author-Name: Jeremy Hurst Title: Explaining Waiting-time Variations for Elective Surgery Across OECD Countries Abstract: Waiting times for publicly-funded elective surgery are a major health policy concern in many OECD countries (like Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), but are not a concern in others (like Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the United States). This paper contains a comparative analysis of these two groups of countries. It is found... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2005 Pages: 95-123 Volume: 2004 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LGXVRGNNH37 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Pietro Catte Author-Name: Nathalie Girouard Author-Name: Robert Price Author-Email: robert.price@oecd.org Author-Workplace-Name: OECD Author-Name: Christophe André Title: The Contribution of Housing Markets to Cyclical Resilience Abstract: This paper examines the linkages between housing markets and the business cycle in OECD countries, focusing on how differences in the degree of resilience to economic shocks can be affected by the structural characteristics of housing and mortgage markets. The paper focuses specifically on: the transmission channel from housing wealth to consumption and on the factors behind house price variability, which help to determine whether the housing sector plays a stabilising role or not. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2005 Pages: 125-156 Volume: 2004 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LGXVRD9VWG6 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Anne-Marie Brook Author-Name: Franck Sédillot Author-Name: Patrice Ollivaud Title: The Challenges of Narrowing the US Current-Account Deficit and Implications for Other Economies Abstract: This article uses the OECD’s interlink model to explore several possible channels through which a narrowing of the US current account deficit could occur. The shocks considered include dollar depreciation, fiscal consolidation, and an improvement in the non-price competitiveness of US producers. A key conclusion is that shocks would have to be very large in order to materially reduce the US external deficit, largely because of the offsetting impact of second-round effects. In addition... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2005 Pages: 157-186 Volume: 2004 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5LGXVRD3NQJH Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Walter G. Park Author-Name: Douglas C. Lippoldt Title: International licensing and the strengthening of intellectual property rights in developing countries during the 1990s Abstract: Global intellectual property reform has been underway since the early 1990s (Box 1). With respect to international trade, a central pillar of the reform is the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) that came into effect on 1 January 1995. Clearly, a strengthening of intellectual property laws worldwide can benefit those in industrialised nations who own most of the intellectual properties (e.g. copyrights on books, music, and software, patent rights on inventions, and trademark rights on business symbols and names)..... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 7-48 Volume: 2005 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9VC3SNN4LN Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jean-Christophe Dumont Author-Name: Georges Lamaitre Title: Counting Immigrants and Expatriates in OECD Countries: A New Perspective Abstract: Since the end of the 1990s, issues related to international migration, and more particularly to the international mobility of highly-qualified workers, are receiving increasing attention from policy-makers. This reflects among others the increasing international movements that have been taking place following the fall of the Iron Curtain and in conjunction with the growing globalisation of economic activity. In addition, demographic imbalances between developed and developing countries and large differences in wages have tended to encourage the movements of workers from economies where they are in surplus to those where they are most in need..... Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 49-83 Volume: 2005 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9VC3S9HCJH Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Torsten Sløk Author-Name: Mike Kennedy Title: Corporate sector vulnerability and aggregate activity Abstract: The health of a firm’s balance sheet potentially plays a role in its decisions to invest and through that channel, aggregate activity can be affected. Several authors have established a theoretical link based on the notion that the value of equity can be collateralised for business loans used to fund capital accumulation. In some of these models, it is possible to demonstrate that there is a financial accelerator that can amplify the business cycle by more than what could be explained by, for instance, an interest rate channel. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 85-110 Volume: 2005 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9VC3S1PHR3 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Mike Kennedy Author-Name: Torsten Sløk Title: Explaining risk premia on bonds and equities Abstract: Between 2002 and early 2005 risk premia for a number of asset classes across broad geographical areas not only fell substantially but also tended to move more closely together than they had done historically. This raises the question to what extent this apparent reduced investor discrimination across asset classes went beyond what can be accounted for by market-specific developments. In particular, the reduced discrimination among asset classes could suggest that factors other than market- or country-specific events have played a role in narrowing risk premia. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 111-125 Volume: 2005 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9VC3Q2BT30 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Tarek M. Harchaoui Author-Name: Faouzi Tarkhani Title: Whatever happened to Canada-US economic growth and productivity performance in the information age? Abstract: Some of the recent “hype” about how advances in technology are forging a “new economy” has evaporated. Interest in “dot.com” start-up companies in the US has waned with the decline in stock market valuations. Some of the more extravagant claims – in particular, that the “new economy” would see the end to recessions – have been tempered by the recent slowdown in the US economy. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 127-165 Volume: 2005 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9VC3PWV4S3 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nigel Pain Author-Name: Franck Sédillot Title: Indicator models of real GDP growth in the major OECD economies Abstract: Accurate and timely information on the current state of economic activity is an important requirement for the policymaking process. Delays in the publication of official statistics mean that a complete picture of economic developments within a particular period emerges only some time after that period has elapsed. Thus considerable resources are, at times, devoted to making an assessment of the immediate past and the current conjuncture as well as projections about future developments. In practice, a regular flow of information is provided by the large number of quantitative and qualitative indicators that appear each month for different sectors of the economy. One challenge for policymakers is to put these together in a consistent manner to obtain a picture of the overall state of the economy. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 167-217 Volume: 2005 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9VC3PL40R8 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Mike Kennedy Author-Name: Torsten Sløk Title: Are structural reforms the answer to global current account imbalances? Abstract: The impact of structural reforms on external imbalances has attracted considerable attention in view of the existing constellation of relative growth rates and current account balances among OECD economies. Not least among policy makers, what should and can be done to help solve the problem has been discussed extensively. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 47-73 Volume: 2005 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4TH8WR0X5F Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Renaud Bourlès Author-Name: Gilbert Cette Title: A comparison of structural productivity levels in the major industrialised countries Abstract: Hourly labour productivity, along with average hours worked, the employment rate and the working-age population as a share of the total population, is one of the accounting aggregates that determine per capita GDP. Yet according to many analyses, hourly labour productivity in several European countries is much the same as or even higher than in the United States, while per capita GDP is markedly lower (see Cette 2004, 2005 for a summary of this work). Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 75-108 Volume: 2005 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9PPN9057TK Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Chiara Criscuolo Title: Foreign Affiliates in OECD Economies: Presence, Performance and Contribution to Host Countries' Growth Abstract: In recent decades, foreign direct investment (FDI) has steadily increased so that foreign owned multinational enterprises (MNEs) now play an important role in the economy of many developed and developing economies. Countries compete with each other to attract FDI because they expect affiliates of foreign MNEs to contribute to the welfare of the host economy through multiple channels. But what precisely is the impact of foreign affiliates on the host country economy? Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 109-139 Volume: 2005 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9PPN8SW0XN Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Douglas Sutherland Author-Email: douglas.sutherland@oecd.org Author-Name: Robert Price Author-Email: robert.price@oecd.org Author-Name: Isabelle Joumard Author-Email: isabelle.joumard@oecd.org Title: Sub-central government fiscal rules Abstract: Rules constraining the discretionary powers of budget policymakers have become widespread among OECD economies, and the expanding role played by decentralised institutions in providing public services has led to their increasing adoption at the sub-central level. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 141-181 Volume: 2005 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9PPN8M62ZP Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Anna Cristina D’Addio Author-Name: Marco Mira d'Ercole Author-Workplace-Name: OECD Title: Policies, Institutions and Fertility Rates: A Panel Data Analysis for OECD Countries Abstract: Total fertility rates at, or below, replacement level characterise today 64 countries with populations totalling 44% of that of the world. Many of these countries have total fertility rates below 1.5 and some have recorded belowreplacement fertility rates for decades. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2006 Pages: 7-45 Volume: 2005 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L9PPN9D3728 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Andrea Bassanini Author-Name: Romain Duval Title: The determinants of unemployment across OECD countries: Reassessing the role of policies and institutions Abstract: Andrea Bassanini and Romain Duval are economists at the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs and the OECD Economics Department, respectively. Catherine Chapuis-Grabiner, Sébastien Martin and Rebecca Oyomopito provided excellent research assistance. Comments from Sveinbjorn Blöndal, Wendy Carlin, Jean-Philippe Cotis, Martine Durand, Jorgen Elmeskov, Michael P. Feiner, David Howell, Etienne Lehmann, Edmond Malinvaud, John P. Martin, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Stefano Scarpetta, Paul Swaim, Raymond Torres and participants to the joint WP1/WP5 EPC-ELSAC meeting in Paris, January 2006, and the Séminaire Fourgeaud, Paris, May 2006, are also gratefully acknowledged. Any errors are the responsibilities of the authors alone. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of its member countries. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 7-86 Volume: 2006 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4CPGRG8M44 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jens Høj Author-Name: Vincenzo Galasso Author-Name: Giuseppe Nicoletti Author-Name: Thai-Thanh Dang Title: An empirical investigaton of political economy factors behind structural reforms in OECD countries Abstract: This paper was originally prepared for the OECD Working Party No. 1 under the authority of the OECD’s Economic Policy Committee. Jens Høj and Giuseppe Nicoletti work for the OECD Economics Department as a senior economist in the Country Studies Branch and as Head of the Structural Policy Analysis Division 1, respectively. Vincenzo Galasso is an Associate Professor of Economics at Università Bocconi in Italy and Thai-Thang Dang is a private sector consultant. The authors wish to thank Jean Philippe Cotis, Jørgen Elmeskov, Michael P. Feiner, Christopher Heady, Nick Johnstone and many other colleagues in the OECD Economics Department as well as representatives from OECD member countries for useful comments on a previous version of the paper. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 87-136 Volume: 2006 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4CPGRC0Z8W Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås Title: Time as a trade barrier: Implications for low-income countries Abstract: This article builds on and extends the quantitative part of OECD Trade Policy Working Paper No 35 co-authored by Enrico Pinali and Massimo Geloso-Grosso. The Working Paper includes detailed case studies as well as a discussion of specific GATS issues related to the logistics services sector. The author would like to thank Dale Andrew, Henk Kox and Delegates to the Working Party of the Trade Committee for useful comments on the Working Paper and Paul Swaim and Mark Pearson for useful comments and suggestions on this version. The usual disclaimer applies. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 137-167 Volume: 2006 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4CPGR84HVG Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nick Johnstone Author-Name: Julien Labonne Title: Environmental policy, management and R&D Abstract: The authors would like to thank Chris Heady (OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs) and Dirk Pilat (OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry) for valuable comments on an earlier draft of the paper. In addition, the contributions from all of our colleagues on the OECD Project on “Environmental Policy and Firm-Level Management” are gratefully acknowledged. (See Johnstone 2006 for a full list of contributors and other outputs from the project.) In particular the insights of Toshi Arimura (Department of Economics, Sophia University, Japan) in the area of research and development have been extremely valuable. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 169-203 Volume: 2006 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4CPGPJBFTH Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Bryn Battersby Title: Does distance matter?: The effect of geographic isolation on productivity levels Abstract: The author is grateful to Jyoti Rahman, David Gruen, Lewis Evans, Ben Dolman, Robert Ewing, Graeme Davis, Janine Murphy, Gene Tunny, Dave Turner and Sveinbjörn Blöndal for helpful comments in preparing this paper. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Treasury or the Australian Government. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 205-225 Volume: 2006 Issue: 1 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4CPGP5F923 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Alain de Serres Author-Name: Shuji Kobayakawa Author-Name: Torsten Sløk Author-Name: Laura Vartia Title: Regulation of financial systems and economic growth in OECD countries: An empirical analysis Abstract: The operation of the financial system can have a key impact on economic growth and the stability of the economy. It affects long-term economic growth through its effect on the efficiency of intermediation between the savers and final borrowers of funds; through the extent to which it allows for monitoring of the users of external funds, affecting thereby the productivity of capital employed; and through its implications for the volume of saving, which influences the future income-generating capacity of the economy. It affects the stability of the economy because of the high degree of leverage of its activities and its pivotal role in the settlement of all transactions in the economy, so that any failure in one segment risks undermining the stability of the whole system. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 77-113 Volume: 2006 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4JGL6MZQ0T Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Joaquim Oliveira Martins Author-Name: Christine de la Maisonneuve Title: The drivers of public expenditure on health and long-term care: An integrated approach Abstract: Public expenditures on health and long-term care (hereafter, LTC) are a matter of concern for governments in most OECD countries. These expenditures have recently accelerated and are putting pressure on public budgets, adding to that arising from insufficiently reformed retirement schemes and other forms of social spending. The growth of public spending on health and long-term care in OECD countries has been limited for some time via the implementation of cost-containment policies. These policies acted essentially through wage moderation, price controls and postponement of investment in the case of health care. A large share of long-term care has been informally provided by families. However, the scope for containing health and LTC expenditures along these lines is narrowing. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 115-154 Volume: 2006 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4JGL6FL6BX Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Hansjörg Blöchliger Author-Name: David King Title: Less than you thought: The fiscal autonomy of sub-central governments Abstract: State and local governments in OECD countries have access to various fiscal resources. Discretion over them varies considerably, and so does sub-central governments’ power to shape their budget and to determine outcomes like public sector efficiency, equity in access to public services or the long term fiscal stance. Data on the revenue structure of sub-central governments (SCG) would therefore be helpful. But indicators have long insufficiently reflected the way state and local budgets are funded. The most frequently used indicator is the ratio of SCG to total tax revenue, which is a poor measure for assessing the true autonomy SCGs enjoy. Since the power over fiscal revenue is a critical determinant for government finance, a set of more refined indicators for assessing fiscal autonomy should be established. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 155-188 Volume: 2006 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4JGL68FJR7 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Dana Hajkova Author-Name: Giuseppe Nicoletti Author-Name: Laura Vartia Author-Name: Kwang-Yeol Yoo Title: Taxation and business environment as drivers of foreign direct investment in OECD countries Abstract: How important are differences in corporate taxation for the investment decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs)? Over the past decade, interest in this issue has been growing in parallel with the increasing mobility of capital and internationalisation of businesses. Standard models of the MNEs predict that corporate taxation can influence foreign direct investment (FDI) by creating a wedge between the pre- and post-tax returns on investment. The relevant tax wedge, however, depends on whether MNEs’ investment is incremental or involves the creation of entirely new plants. Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 7-38 Volume: 2006 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4JGL72ZPHD Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Paul Conway Author-Name: Donato de Rosa Author-Name: Giuseppe Nicoletti Author-Name: Faye Steiner Title: Product market regulation and productivity convergence Abstract: Product market regulation in the OECD area has generally become less restrictive of competition over recent years. This has lead to a degree of convergence in regulatory policies, but nonetheless, the productivity performance of OECD countries has become increasingly disparate. Indeed, according to some measures, the growth rates and levels of labour productivity have recently begun to diverge. Recent developments in the theory and empirics of growth suggest that cross-country productivity patterns may partly reflect differences in the policy and institutional environment (Acemoglu et al., 2004; Aghion and Griffith, 2005; Nicoletti and Scarpetta, 2003). Journal: OECD Economic Studies Year: 2007 Pages: 39-76 Volume: 2006 Issue: 2 Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokaa:5L4JGL6W60D6