Documents Fall, Falilou 3 results

"Over the past two decades, the income level of the Czech Republic has converged considerably towards the OECD average. However, after the 2008 global crisis, the convergence process stalled. Shortfalls in labour productivity have developed and are mainly structural. Policies are needed to foster domestic sources of productivity growth. Better targeting of government R&D support and more focused innovation policies that would be aided by a streamlining of policy institutions and interventions are necessary. In particular, tailored policies to increase knowledge-based capital (skills, management capacity, collaboration, etc.) are necessary to increase Czech firms' productivity. Also, resource reallocation should be facilitated by reforming framework conditions. In particular, bankruptcy rules, competition and regulation policies, access to finance and SME taxation need to be improved to boost SMEs' growth and productivity."

"The sharp rise in debt experienced by most OECD countries raises questions about debt indicators and the prudent government debt level countries should target. It also raises questions about the fiscal frameworks needed to reach the prudent debt level and to accommodate cyclical fluctuations along the convergence path towards a prudent debt target. The objective of this paper is to define long-run prudent debt targets for OECD countries and country-specific fiscal rules. The paper presents a comprehensive analysis of government liabilities and assets and formulates recommendations for debt indicators. It also reviews the different linkages between government debt and the economic activity. The lessons from these analyses are combined with an assessment of the uncertainties surrounding the development of macroeconomic variables to define a prudent debt target. Different fiscal rules are compared with regard their impact on fiscal discipline and the risk of recession for country-specific fiscal rules recommendations."

"Social institutions face many challenges. The recent economic crisis has provided a stress test as it has left a legacy of high unemployment and high government debt in many countries. It also lowered potential output and thus the revenue base for social protection schemes. At the same time, ageing and other secular trends raise long-term sustainability issues. The design of social institutions determines their capacity to deal with shocks and trend changes and the way risks are shared between the institutions and their stakeholders. They also circumscribe the scope for automatic or discretionary adjustments, when trade-offs between sustainability, adequacy and efficiency arise. This report examines the sustainability of social institutions and their ability to absorb and cope with short-term shocks and longer-term trends by providing risk sharing and expenditure smoothing, focusing on pension, health care and unemployment insurance schemes."