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This new Outlook on finance and investment presents unique data, analysis and instruments, looking at what might affect and change, both favourably and unfavourably, tomorrow's world of business, finance and investment.  Investment (including foreign direct investment), SME financing, pensions, insurance, corporate governance and competition are among the threads creating the narrative of today's environment and future expectations.

It is seven years since the global crisis and despite easy monetary policy, financial regulatory reform, and G20 resolutions favouring structural measures, the world economy is not making a lot of progress. Indeed, the responses to the crisis seem mainly to have stopped the banks from failing and then pushed the many faces of the crisis around between regions—currently taking the form of excess capacity in emerging markets. Productivity growth raises income per head, allows companies to pay better wages and it raises demand to help to eliminate excess capacity and improve employment. However, this element is missing in the global corporate sector. The theme of this year’s Business and Finance Outlook is fragmentation: the inconsistent structures, policies, rules, laws and industry practices that appear to be blocking business efficiency and productivity growth.

The OECD Business and Finance Outlook is an annual publication that presents unique data and analysis that looks at what might affect and change, both favourably and unfavourably, tomorrow’s world of business, finance and investment. Using analysis from a wide range of perspectives, this year’s edition addresses some forces influencing economic developments that have contributed to recent surprises in elections and referendums. A common theme of these surprises has been voter discontent with globalisation and immigration that are perceived to be causes of unemployment and falling living standards for substantial segments of society in a number of OECD countries. This Outlook’s focus is on ways to enhance “fairness”, in the sense of strengthening global governance, to ensure a level playing field in trade, investment and corporate behaviour, through the setting and better enforcement of global standards. A brief review of important developments contributing to post-war globalisation is provided and a number of policy domains are covered. These include exchange rates and capital account management, financial regulation since the global financial crisis, the rising weight of state-owned enterprises in the world economy, competition policy to deal with international cartels, the cost of raising capital, responsible business conduct and bribery and corruption.

This document presents an overview of recent trends in productivity level and growth in OECD countries, based on a large set of indicators. It also highlights the measurement issues involved in compiling indicators used for the analysis of issues related to productivity.

Productivity is a key source of economic growth and competitiveness and, as such, we need internationally comparable measures for assessing economic performance. The OECD Compendium of Productivity Indicators 2013 presents a comprehensive overview of recent and longer term trends in productivity levels and growth in OECD countries. It also highlights some of the key measurement issues faced when compiling cross-country comparable productivity indicators.

Productivity is a key source of economic growth and competitiveness. The OECD Compendium of Productivity Indicators 2015 presents a comprehensive overview of recent and longer term trends in productivity levels and growth in OECD countries. It also highlights key measurement issues faced when compiling cross-country comparable productivity indicators.

The publication presents a comprehensive overview of recent and longer term trends in productivity levels and growth in OECD and some G20 countries. The statistics presented include measures of labour productivity, capital productivity and multifactor productivity, as well as indicators of international competitiveness.

This report presents a comprehensive overview of recent and longer-term trends in productivity levels and growth in OECD countries, accession countries, key partners and some G20 countries. An introductory chapter features an analysis of latest developments in productivity, employment and wages.

This Webbook provides a set of cross-country comparable statistics on labour productivity levels, the contributions of labour, capital services and multifactor productivity (MFP) to GDP growth, industry contributions to labour productivity growth, labour productivity gaps between SMEs and large firms, the evolution and composition of investment, the decoupling between real wages and productivity, and labour income share developments. It also includes a special chapter on productivity measurement and analysis at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This report presents a comprehensive overview of productivity in OECD and, to the extent possible, G20 economies. The different chapters feature an analysis of labour productivity levels, labour and multifactor productivity growth, labour productivity by firm size, investment and labour income across countries. This edition also presents important insights on productivity measurement and evolution since the COVID-19 pandemic, including a shift-share analysis showing how within-industry developments and reallocations across industries have contributed to aggregate labour productivity developments in the recent period and in the longer term.

This report presents a comprehensive overview of recent and longer-term trends in productivity levels and growth in OECD countries and selected G20 economies. The different chapters feature an analysis of latest developments in productivity, economic growth, sectoral reallocation, investment, labour productivity by firm size and labour income. This edition also includes a special chapter providing insights of productivity developments in 2023 based on experimental estimates for 38 OECD countries.

This report analyses Greek legislation in a number of sectors and identifies about 350 legal provisions which could be removed or amended to lift regulatory barriers to competition. The work undertaken in the project has involved the review of over 1 200 pieces of legislation in these sectors of the economy, using the OECD Competition Assessment Toolkit. The analysis of the legislation and of the Greek sectors has been complemented by research into international experience and consultation with stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The OECD has developed recommendations to remove or modify the provisions in order to be less restrictive for suppliers and consumers, while still achieving Greek policy makers’ initial objectives. If these recommendations are implemented, benefits to consumers in Greece and to the Greek economy should arise in all sectors. Throughout this report, the authors identify the sources of those benefits and, where possible, provide quantitative estimates.

The digital economy now permeates countless aspects of the world economy, impacting sectors as varied as banking, retail, energy, transportation, education, publishing, media or health. Information and Communication Technologies are transforming the ways social interactions and personal relationships are conducted, with fixed, mobile and broadcast networks converging, and devices and objects increasingly connected to form the Internet of things.
This report assesses how countries can maximise the potential of the digital economy as a driver for innovation and inclusive growth, and discusses the evolutions in the digital economy that policy makers need to consider as well as the emerging challenges they need to address as a part of national digital strategies. Chapters include an overview of the current status and outlook of the digital economy; the main trends in the ICT sector, and developments in communication and regulation policy; and overviews of ICT demand and adoption, plus the effects of the digital economy on growth and development. This volume also includes a chapter on developments related to trust in the digital economy and on the emerging Internet of things.

The biennial OECD Digital Economy Outlook examines and documents evolutions and emerging opportunities and challenges in the digital economy. It highlights how OECD countries and partner economies are taking advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the Internet to meet their public policy objectives. Through comparative evidence, it informs policy makers of regulatory practices and policy options to help maximise the potential of the digital economy as a driver for innovation and inclusive growth.

This Review assesses Ukraine’s investment climate vis-à-vis the country’s energy sector reforms and discusses challenges and opportunities in this context. Capitalising on the OECD Policy Framework for Investment and other relevant instruments and guidance, the Review takes a broad approach to investment climate challenges facing Ukraine’s energy sector. It covers investment trends, the current policy and regulatory framework, the legal and institutional framework for investment protection, investment promotion and facilitation, public governance, energy infrastructure and policies relating to promoting and enabling responsible business conduct. The analysis and recommendations in the Review can help policy makers strengthen the enabling conditions for investment in Ukraine’s energy sector.

OECD Environmental Performance Reviews provide independent assessments of countries’ progress towards their environmental policy objectives. Reviews promote peer learning, enhance government accountability, and provide targeted recommendations aimed at improving environmental performance, individually and collectively. They are supported by a broad range of economic and environmental data, and evidence-based analysis. Each cycle of Environmental Performance Reviews covers all OECD countries and selected partner economies. The most recent reviews include Chile and France (2016).
This report is the third Environmental Performance Review of Korea. It evaluates progress towards sustainable development and green growth, with a focus on waste and materials management, and environmental justice.