E-commerce -- an application of the Internet -- has expanded exponentially over the past 5 years and is widely expected to continue to develop rapidly in the medium-term. Much, however, remains to be done to fully exploit the opportunities offered by...

This paper reviews trends, outcomes and issues in regulatory reform in OECD countries. First, it summarises the evidence on the evolution of regulatory environments and the economy-wide and sectoral effects of reforms (including privatisation) in...

The structural rate of unemployment and associated non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (the NAIRU) are of major importance to the analysis of macro and structural economic developments, although in practice these concepts are not well...

The recent tax reforms have improved incentives to work and removed barriers to the internationalisation of Spanish firms, and have helped to make the tax system simpler and more neutral, especially as regards saving. However, the structure of tax...

This paper discusses growth performance in the OECD countries over the past two decades. Special attention is given to developments in labour productivity, allowing for human capital accumulation, and multifactor productivity (MFP), allowing for...

This Working Paper presents a cross-Directorate Report on the economic, budgetary, regulatory and urbanpolicy implications of the earthquakes which struck the Marmara and Bolu areas of Turkey on 17 August and 12 November 1999. The earthquakes caused...

This paper examines the recent literature on economic growth with a focus on policy issues and evidence relevant to OECD countries. The review begins with an overview of developments in the theory of economic growth and also comments generally on the...

This paper discusses the tax system in the Czech Republic and offers some specific suggestions for reform. Viewed in international context, the Czech system is broadly similar to those operated in other OECD countries. Like them, it exhibits a number...

This paper reviews tax policy initiatives and the scope for further reform in Norway. Norway faces the challenge of containing expenditure to at least avoid future increases in the tax burden, which is already above the OECD average. The favourable...

Monetary policy affects activity, and ultimately inflation, in a number of ways. The most important of these is generally considered to be through the effect of interest rates directly on the demand for goods by households and firms. However,...

This paper examines within an international context, the healthcare system in Hungary. While the system resembles in many of its broad features those of other OECD countries, Hungarians have the lowest life expectancy in the OECD and its rate of...

Economists often seek to estimate unobserved variables, representing “equilibrium” or “expected” values of economic variables, as benchmarks against which observed, realised values of these variables may be evaluated. Such comparisons are often used...

This paper reviews some of the difficult challenges facing debt managers in the years to come. In countries experiencing a rapidly diminishing gross debt, particularly the United States, this raises the issue of whether private-sector securities can...

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...

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...

Over the past two years, the key trading economies in SE Asia experienced major economic crises, involving financial turbulence, large capital outflows and currency depreciations. These, in turn, resulted in severe financial constraints and business...

International trade is a principle transmission mechanism by which developments in one country can have repercussions in others and how it is modelled is an important part of any multi-country model. This paper describes recent estimation work...

The Polish tax system has commendable features, in particular a capacity to generate strong revenue on a continuous basis. But it also has a number of less desirable features, which could hamper growth in the future and come under increased criticism...

The Mexican tax system encompasses a number of commendable features and disincentives to work, save and invest appear less severe than in most other OECD countries. However, the system also contains major deficiencies, which hampers the efficiency...

One year ago most economic observers predicted that "fundamentals" were such that the euro was set to appreciate. In the event, the opposite has occurred. This has rekindled a debate on how well foreign exchange markets reflect fundamental...