OECD High-level Parliamentary Seminar on Growth and Jobs - programme

9.00

Welcome coffee

9.30

Opening remarks, Secretary-General, Angel Gurría

9.35

Going for Growth - Alain de Serres, Senior Economist, Structural Policy Analysis Division II, Economics Department, OECD

Over the past two decades, living standards in a number of OECD countries, notably Japan and some continental European countries have fallen behind the best performers. The social costs associated with this failure to converge are plain to see, and will only worsen with demographic ageing.  At the same time, potential growth and resilience to economic shocks have improved in other OECD countries.

What are the main policy lessons for how best to spur sustained growth in living standards?

9.55

Discussion

11.00

Boosting Jobs and Incomes: Policy Lessons from Reassessing the OECD Jobs Strategy - Raymond Torres, Head of the Employment Analysis and Policy Division, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD

Reducing joblessness is an unfinished challenge in most countries. About 35% of working-age individuals are either unemployed or inactive, on average, in OECD countries. To maintain and increase prosperity, it is essential to remove barriers to employment, a task made more urgent by population ageing. Likewise, with the rapid emergence of large labour-rich countries such as China and India in the world economy, it is imperative to foster the adjustment process in labour and product markets so that workers and firms can react rapidly to this and other structural changes.

The restated Jobs Strategy advocates actions under four pillars to boost jobs and incomes, namely i) set appropriate macroeconomic policy; ii) remove impediments to labour market participation as well as job-search; iii) tackle labour and product-market obstacles to labour demand, and; iv) facilitate the development of labour force skills and competencies.

Do the four broad pillars of the restated Jobs Strategy cover adequately the main reform challenges in terms of boosting jobs and incomes or are there missing elements?

What are the pros and cons of the two broad policy approaches that seem to be relatively effective in terms of promoting employment, namely flexible labour and product markets with a relatively limited welfare state and an approach which combines strong involvement of the social partners in wage-setting, generous welfare benefits but a strong emphasis on activation/mutual obligations for recipients of unemployment and related welfare benefits?

Are high unemployment benefits incompatible with high employment? The reassessment of the OECD Jobs Study offers examples of possible middle roads by introducing greater product-and labour-market flexibility or by combining an active labour market programme, including job-search support, with generous benefits.

11.30

Discussion

12.30

Lunch

14.00

Discussion continues

15.00

Implementing reforms for growth and jobs -- how to gather public support for reform? - Romain Duval, Senior Economist, Chief Economist’s Office, Economics Department, OECD

All reforms have redistributive consequences. Some groups of individuals or enterprises may end up worse off and thus oppose reforms, even as others benefit from new institutional arrangements and overall efficiency improves. And there may be strong resistance to policy changes when the cost of reforms tends to be concentrated on particular and well-organised groups of employers, workers or other stakeholders, while the benefits are more diffused and/or go to unorganised groups. In addition, the cost of reforms may be apparent early in the reform process, while the beneficial effects on growth and jobs may take time to materialise.

How best to overcome resistance to needed reforms and what is the role of “social dialogue” in this regard?

What is the experience of countries regarding the timing of the costs and benefits of reforms? What is the best policy sequencing of reforms? To what extent can product-market deregulation help gather public support for other reforms? 

15.25

Discussion

16.30

Concluding remarks