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Total factor productivity: macroeconomic and structural aspects of the slowdown
A . Steven Englander and Axel Mittelstadt
Total factor productivity growth (TFP) for the OECD has slowed from just under 3 per cent a year in the 1960s to about 0.5 per cent in the 1980s. This has led not only to a slowdown in the improvement of living standards, but indirectly to stronger inflationary pressures and higher rates of unemployment. This study identifies the slowing of capital accumulation, reduced capacity utilization, reduced opportunities for technology transfer and catch-up, and possibly a slowing in new technology generation as macro and structural influences behind the TFP growth slowdown.
The structure and simulation properties of OECD’s INTERLINK model
Pete Richardson
This paper reviews recent developments in the OECD’s international macroeconomic model, INTERLINK, the evolution of its simulation properties and the key relationships involved. In doing so, it updates much of the information published in earlier OECD studies related to international economic linkages and the INTERLINK model in particular.
Recent developments in index number theory and practice
Peter Hill
The article examines recent developments in index number theory and their implications for the measurement of inflation and growth. The kinds of price and volume indices which are typically compiled in most countries are shown to be only second best from a theoretical viewpoint, so that their movements should not be taken too literally. A consensus in favour of chain indices seems to be emerging among index number specialists even though they are still not used much in practice. The paper attempts to throw more light on the properties of chain indices and also presents a new type of chain index.
What the U.S. current-account deficit of the 1980s has meant for other OECD countries
Jeffrey R. Shafer
How might the world economy have looked different in the 1980s if a large deficit had not arisen in the U.S. current account? This paper examines such a counterfactual history in which U.S. public and private saving behaviour and dollar exchange rates remain roughly as they were in the late 1970s. It concludes that i) macroeconomic performance would not have been clearly better in the OECD area; and ii) although the tensions arising from the U.S. external imbalance would have been reduced, imbalances within Europe might well have given rise to other tensions.
Tax reform in OECD countries: motives, constraints and practice
Robert P . Hagemannn, Brian R . Jones and R . Bruce Montador
This paper examines the question of tax reform in OECD countries. First, the reasons for tax reform are reviewed. These include economic efficiency arguments as well as concerns about equity which are often a major consideration. Next, the paper considers the many factors which constrain governments in their effort to reform the tax system (such as inherent conflicts between efficiency and equity, and the non-revenue objectives of taxation), and how those constraints might be reduced. Finally, the paper reviews the extent of tax reform in OECD countries, noting some of the remaining problems.
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Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2008
