By oecdecoscope. Canada has long taken in more immigrants relative to its population than most other countries. Immigration policy in Canada aims to promote economic development by selecting immigrants with high levels of human capital, to reunite families and to respond to foreign crises and offer protection to endangered people. More...

By oecdecoscope. The current Canadian government has declared itself feminist and has taken a number of steps to improve labour market outcomes for women. This includes increased funding for early learning and child care and improving equality of parental leave by introducing five weeks of leave for the second parent (generally fathers) on a take it or lose it basis. More...

By oecdecoscope. Governments today need to balance the policy goals of boosting economic growth and improving equity when making budget decisions.  How can public spending choices promote inclusive growth?  What can be learned from previous spending decisions in times of crisis. More...

By oecdecoscope. The euro area sovereign debt crisis has exposed important flaws in the design of the Economic and Monetary Union, especially when it comes to dealing with macroeconomic shocks. Compared to federal states, fiscal transfers at the euro area and EU level are virtually non-existent. More...

By oecdecoscope. Greater international integration has modified the transmission channels and the impact that external shocks have on domestic economies via increased trade openness and exposure to global financial developments. One important change, discussed in the special chapter of the latest OECD Economic Outlook, is that growth prospects in OECD economies have become more sensitive to macroeconomic shocks in non-OECD countries. More...

By oecdecoscope. Stronger cross-border economic and financial integration implies that macroeconomic shocks in one country are increasingly likely to spill over into other economies. More...

By oecdecoscope. Health outcomes in the Czech Republic have improved considerably over the last decade. Life expectancy rose by 2.6 years to 78.7 years between 2005 and 2015 towards the OECD average of 80.6 years. This was achieved with relatively low expenditures on health care of about 7% of GDP. More...

By oecdecoscope. Labour productivity has flatlined since the global financial crisis, which contrasts with its recovery profiles from past recessions over the last decades (Figure 1).  The productivity shortfall, defined as the gap between actual productivity and the level implied by its pre-crisis trend growth rate, reached nearly 20% at the end of 2016. More...

By oecdecoscope. Income inequality has increased in most OECD countries over the past two decades. This has come about both because incomes before taxes and transfers have become more unequally distributed, and because the extent of redistribution through taxes and transfers has fallen (“Income redistribution through taxes and transfers across OECD countries”). More...

By oecdecoscope. Researchers looking for empirical evidence on the relative impact of policy and non-policy drivers of economic growth know how much time and efforts can go into assembling a large database of policy variables and other determinants covering as many countries and years as possible. More...