1887

OECD Economics Department Working Papers

Working papers from the Economics Department of the OECD that cover the full range of the Department’s work including the economic situation, policy analysis and projections; fiscal policy, public expenditure and taxation; and structural issues including ageing, growth and productivity, migration, environment, human capital, housing, trade and investment, labour markets, regulatory reform, competition, health, and other issues.

The views expressed in these papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of the governments of its member countries.

English, French

Boosting productivity in New Zealand by unleashing digitalisation

This paper overviews structural reforms that promote the diffusion of digital technologies and investment in intangible capital that maximises the potential of these technologies in New Zealand. Effective use of digital technologies enables New Zealand citizens to participate in society in a more inclusive way, firms to strengthen competitiveness and better integrate into the global economy, and the government to offer better services. New Zealand has room to boost its relatively low productivity level by removing the structural bottlenecks holding back the expansion of its digital sector and digital innovation. There are severe shortages of specialised ICT skills owing to COVID-19-related border restrictions and a weak domestic pipeline of these skills that partly results from school students’ poor mathematics achievement. Some regulations have not kept pace with technological change and risk constraining digital innovation while failing to prevent harmful activities. More intensive use of digital tools is also held back by the low availability of high-speed Internet connections in rural areas and a lack of financial support for small businesses. Weak coordination between export promotion and innovation support prevents young firms investing in digital innovation from reaping high returns through exporting. New Zealand should rigorously implement its new national digitalisation strategy so that government agencies and social partners can advance digital transformation.

English

Keywords: intangible capital, productivity, New Zealand, digital transformation, regulation, Internet, skills
JEL: O43: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity / Institutions and Growth; O33: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights / Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes; O56: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Economywide Country Studies / Economywide Country Studies: Oceania; O38: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights / Technological Change: Government Policy
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