RT Book, Section A1 OECD T1 Analysing the Components of GDP Growth JF How Regions Grow YR 2009 FD Jun 02 SP 37 OP 66 AB In today’s integrated world, regions are required to compete beyond national borders to remain competitive. There has been a recent paradigm shift in regional policies from subsidy dependency to integrated polices with growth-enhancing objectives. This has forced regions to compete in global markets to attract foreign direct investment, human capital and private firms from all over the world. Some regions have been successful in this task while others have not. This chapter examines common characteristics of successful and unsuccessful OECD regions. It does so by breaking regional growth rates down into: i) national factors; ii) labour productivity (GDP per worker); iii) population; iv) employment rates (employment to the labour force); v) participation rates (labour force compared to working age population); and vi) activity rates (working age population to total population). We then compare these components among successful and unsuccessful OECD regions. PB Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development DO 10.1787/9789264039469-4-en UL http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/;jsessionid=1qe47sqe3bck1.x-oecd-live-02content/chapter/9789264039469-4-en