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This report contains a new set of results on the levels of real per capita GDP and its main components in OECD countries in 1980, with estimates for later years upto 1984. Real per capita GDP is obtained by valuing the goods and services in different countries at a fixed set of prices, namely, the average prices prevailing at the time within the group of countries covered. This procedure is essentially the same as that used to measure volume changes over time within a single country when the fixed prices of some base year are used to compile expenditure or output series at constant prices. The international measures of real per capita GDP for different countries can therefore be interpreted in the same way as the volume indices which are used to measure real rates of growth within a single country.

These international volume measures may be contrasted with measures of per capita GDP which are frequently obtained by converting data for different countries into a single currency ...

This paper summarizes recent empirical studies contributing towards the OECD Secretariat INTERLINK world macroeconomic model. For a number of topics, it reviews work which is described in more detail in recent Economics and Statistics Department Working Papers. It also covers a number of areas where recent changes have been relatively less substantial in terms of changes in model structure, but nonetheless influential in the evolution of model properties. A final section reviews current Secretariat macroeconometric modelling work which is yet to be implemented in the model and also discusses possible future developments. A separate companion paper, ESD Working Paper No. 47, analyses the single- and multi-country simulation properties of a recent version of the model, one which includes most of the research reported here ...

This paper provides details of the regrouping of non-OECD countries which has been carried out for the purposes of the forecasting and modelling work in the Department of Economics and Statistics. The new groups were used for the first time in OECD Economic Outlook no. 44 ...

Although the objectives of the Privatisation Programme in Malaysia were clearly stated from the start, there was no overall implementation plan during the first few years. Thus, the early targets of privatisation as well as the specific methods applied were chosen in an ad hoc manner. A major constraint for the implementation of this programme was the political necessity to protect and promote Bumiputra interests.

Following a description and a critical analysis of the various measures and techniques used in both the liberalisation and the privatisation process, with a particular reference to the Port Kelang privatisation experience, the author underlines some major lessons such as: legal changes take time to be materalised; each transaction related to a privatisation programme is different; the private sector must be willing to expand its role; the scarcest resource is skilled technical expertise; the importance of government organisation is often underestimated; developing a ...

The process of adjusting the balance between the public and private sectors, an essential part of structural reforms launched in Ghana, took place in an improved macroeconomic environment. The policies pursued, Economic Recovery Programme I (1983-86) and II (1987-89), have followed so far a consensual scheme, "stabilization first then structural adjustment". In the following study, the author points out the probability of success for this second step, by analysing the components of one of the most successful experiences on the African continent ...

This paper forms part of an OECD project which addresses the issue of the costs of reducing CO2 emissions by comparing the results from six global models of a set of standardised reduction scenarios. The paper provides evidence on; i) projected carbon dioxide emissions through the next century, and ii) the carbon taxes and output costs entailed in reducing these emissions ...

Over the past twenty years or so, unemployment has been increasing in most OECD economies. In the same period, there has been a considerable increase in the wedge between the real cost to the employer of hiring a worker and the net real wage received by the worker. The present study examines whether changes in the wedge (including various tax rates) may have generated long-lasting effects on real labour costs. Behaviour which generates this kind of outcome is called "real wage resistance". If there is real wage resistance, a rise in the wedge leads to higher unemployment. If this outcome persists in the long run, the primary problem related to the functioning of the wage setting mechanism is not necessarily the speed of adjustment but rather the equilibrium in which adjustment terminates.

The countries examined are the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Australia, Sweden and Finland. The study covers the private business sector and the ...

Policy to reduce poverty has often foundered on the issue of work incentives. The issue is a manifestation of the traditional conflict between equity and efficiency; the redistribution of income from higher to lower income people typically leads to reduced incentives for both groups to supply labor to the market, or to exercise initiative. This conflict is also known as the "poverty trap"--with income transfer (welfare) programs in place, those with low earned income have a reduced incentive to seek and accept employment, and as a result appear trapped in poverty.

This paper discusses the primary policy strategies for reducing poverty while maintaining work incentives that have been analyzed in the literature. These strategies have been presented in a context in which a structure of income support policies and labor market constraints already exists. Existing policies typically have two characteristics: they are categorical and piecemeal in their coverage, and they contain serious ...

This paper describes the methods used to classify the OECD countries’ industrial sectors and manufactures by level of technology, and presents the resulting classifications. In the proposed new classification by industrial sector, the concept of technology intensity has been expanded to take into account both the level of technology specific to the sector (measured by the ratio of R&D expenditure to value added) and the technology embodied in purchases of intermediate and capital goods. Four groups of industries have been identified on the basis of the degree of technology intensity.

The classification by product consists solely of high-technology products (products which are the most technology-intensive). The classification was drawn up by the OECD Secretariat in collaboration with Eurostat, the object being to finalise the approach by sector and provide a more appropriate instrument for analysing international trade. Because no detailed data were available for services, the two ...

This paper describes the methods used to classify the OECD countries’ industrial sectors and manufactures by level of technology, and presents the resulting classifications. In the proposed new classification by industrial sector, the concept of technology intensity has been expanded to take into account both the level of technology specific to the sector (measured by the ratio of R&D expenditure to value added) and the technology embodied in purchases of intermediate and capital goods. Four groups of industries have been identified on the basis of the degree of technology intensity.

The classification by product consists solely of high-technology products (products which are the most technology-intensive). The classification was drawn up by the OECD Secretariat in collaboration with Eurostat, the object being to finalise the approach by sector and provide a more appropriate instrument for analysing international trade. Because no detailed data were available for services, the two ...

This paper discusses the impact of government-imposed regulations on performance in the distribution sector. It first deals with the role of the distribution sector in OECD economies and gives an overview of competitive conditions in the sector. Next, it provides an overview of recent evidence concerning the impact of regulation. The paper finds that a range of regulations, including restrictions on large stores, opening hours and zoning, have slowed down structural change in the distribution sector. These regulations have sometimes reduced the efficiency of the distribution system, but have mainly limited the range of services provided to consumers ...

This document presents three alternative methods for the construction of indicators of relative tradeweighted unit labour costs by industry as well as the empirical results based on these methods for 18 OECD Member countries. With some exceptions, the results show that the indicators derived from the alternative methods are highly correlated. It also turns out that there are significant variations in time profiles of relative unit labour costs by industry, an observation that underlines the usefulness of industryspecific information for an in-depth analysis of price competitiveness ...

Apart from size of population and GDP, China and Viet Nam have a good deal in common. Both are economies in transition from socialist central planning to the market. Both were largely agrarian societies on the eve of their reforms and, in both, unleashing the productive forces of agriculture was an important early reform result. Indeed, a rapid improvement in rural living standards is among the outstanding achievements of both countries.

In the case of industrial development, the differences in their post-reform experience are more striking than the similarities. In both countries, industry has grown rapidly since reforms, much more rapidly on average than agriculture. Yet, the motor force of industrial growth has been different in the two countries. In China, rural township and village enterprises (TVEs) — first collectively and more recently privately owned — have led industrial growth, with state enterprises lagging far behind. In Viet Nam, growth has been comparable in state ...

This paper explores the differences, similarities and synergies between voluntary and binding approaches to international rules. Voluntary efforts to ensure that firms adhere to appropriate standards of business conduct have been an important recent development in international business. These efforts have included the publication of codes of conduct describing the nature of a firm’s commitments in such areas as environment, labour, product safety and bribery as well as implementation of specialised management systems designed to help firms honour these commitments. Yet, some NGOs and labour unions question the credibility of these efforts and wonder whether initiatives that do not have the force of law can ever be effective.

This paper notes that all approaches to the social control of business organisations – voluntary and legally binding -- have distinctive shortcomings. These include problems of: credibility arising from imperfect monitoring and enforcement; capture of the control ...

The paper uses an original 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 ...

This paper 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 the performance measures in a statistically significant way ...

The purpose of this paper is to analyse regulatory developments in the road freight and retail distribution industries of OECD Member countries. For each industry, the analysis is divided into four parts. First, structural developments in the industry are outlined. Second, the main features of the regulatory framework are reviewed. The third part compares regulatory approaches on the basis of quantitative indicators of the degree of restrictions placed on market mechanisms. The last part summarises the main outcomes of regulatory reform. The data on regulation and market structure are taken primarily from the OECD International Regulation Database.

The main findings of the analysis are the following:

• Both industries are currently undergoing sweeping changes, with, in particular, the rapid growth of new forms of competition;
• The pace and scale of liberalisation vary widely from one country and one industry to another, and in many countries there are still regulatory impediments to ...

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, summarised by means of factor analysis show that i) regulations affecting the air industry vary heavily across countries and routes; ii) in most markets, air services are still provided by a few carriers, generally dominated by an incumbent flag-carrier or by an airline alliance between incumbents; iii) only in a few cases new entrant airlines play a significant role; iv) in a large number of airports, a single airline controls more than half of the available slots; v) as a result, few international routes are truly open to ...