IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-03783780.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Public policy reforms and their impact on productivity, investment and employment: new evidence from OECD and non-OECD countries

Author

Listed:
  • Balázs Egert

    (EconomiX - EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This paper evaluates the relationship between public policy reforms and productivity, investment, employment and per capita income for OECD and non-OECD countries. More competition-friendly product market regulations are associated with improved economic outcomes: lower barriers to foreign trade and investment go in tandem with greater multi-factor productivity (MFP), and lower barriers to entry and less pervasive state control over the business sector with larger capital stock and increased employment rate. More flexible labour market regulations are found to go hand in hand with higher employment rates whereas no robust link between labour market regulations and MFP and capital deepening can be established. The findings also suggest that the quality of institutions is fundamental for economic outcomes. Finally, the paper shows that countries at different levels of economic development face different policy effects and that some policy reforms interact with each other by attenuating and amplifying each others' economic impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Balázs Egert, 2022. "Public policy reforms and their impact on productivity, investment and employment: new evidence from OECD and non-OECD countries," Post-Print hal-03783780, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03783780
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aghion, Philippe & Akcigit, Ufuk & Cagé, Julia & Kerr, William R., 2016. "Taxation, corruption, and growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 24-51.
    2. Blanchard, Olivier & Wolfers, Justin, 2000. "The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: The Aggregate Evidence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(462), pages 1-33, March.
    3. Giuseppe Bertola & Francine Blau & Lawrence Kahn, 2007. "Labor market institutions and demographic employment patterns," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 20(4), pages 833-867, October.
    4. Sebastian Barnes & Romain Bouis & Philippe Briard & Sean Dougherty & Mehmet Eris, 2013. "The GDP Impact of Reform: A Simple Simulation Framework," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 834, OECD Publishing.
    5. Balázs Égert, 2016. "Regulation, Institutions, and Productivity: New Macroeconomic Evidence from OECD Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 109-113, May.
    6. Gilbert Cette & Jimmy Lopez & Jacques Mairesse, 2016. "Product and Labour Market Regulations, Production Prices, Wages and Productivity," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 7(2).
    7. Giuseppe Nicoletti & Stefano Scarpetta, 2003. "Regulation, productivity and growth: OECD evidence [‘A model of growth through creative destruction’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 18(36), pages 9-72.
    8. Åsa Johansson & Yvan Guillemette & Fabrice Murtin & David Turner & Giuseppe Nicoletti & Christine de la Maisonneuve & Philip Bagnoli & Guillaume Bousquet & Francesca Spinelli, 2013. "Long-Term Growth Scenarios," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1000, OECD Publishing.
    9. Federico Cingano & Marco Leonardi & Julián Messina & Giovanni Pica, 2010. "The effects of employment protection legislation and financial market imperfections on investment: evidence from a firm-level panel of EU countries [Technology and labour regulations]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 25(61), pages 117-163.
    10. Dan Andrews & Federico Cingano, 2014. "Public policy and resource allocation: evidence from firms in Oecd countries [‘Joseph Schumpeter Lecture. Appropriate growth policy: a unifying framework]," Economic Policy, CEPR;CES;MSH, vol. 29(78), pages 253-296.
    11. Gilbert Cette & Jimmy Lopez & Jacques Mairesse, 2017. "Upstream Product Market Regulations, ICT, R&D and Productivity," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63, pages 68-89, February.
    12. Alberto Alesina & Silvia Ardagna & Giuseppe Nicoletti & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2005. "Regulation And Investment," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(4), pages 791-825, June.
    13. Murtin, Fabrice & de Serres, Alain & Hijzen, Alexander, 2014. "Unemployment and the coverage extension of collective wage agreements," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 52-66.
    14. Peter Gal & Adam Theising, 2015. "The macroeconomic impact of structural policies on labour market outcomes in OECD countries: A reassessment," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1271, OECD Publishing.
    15. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6jq9vl5fsi9sqbrqvnnqn21dcs is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Balázs Égert & Peter Gal & Isabelle Wanner, 2017. "Structural policy indicators database for economic research (SPIDER)," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1429, OECD Publishing.
    18. Laura Vartia, 2008. "How do Taxes Affect Investment and Productivity?: An Industry-Level Analysis of OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 656, OECD Publishing.
    19. Stephen Nickell & Luca Nunziata & Wolfgang Ochel, 2005. "Unemployment in the OECD Since the 1960s. What Do We Know?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(500), pages 1-27, January.
    20. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1i2ig6hi2i8so8g8jbnuokstbu is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Andrea Bassanini & Romain Duval, 2009. "Unemployment, institutions, and reform complementarities: re-assessing the aggregate evidence for OECD countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 40-59, Spring.
    22. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson, 2005. "Unbundling Institutions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(5), pages 949-995, October.
    23. Aghion, Philippe & Akcigit, Ufuk & Cagé, Julia & Kerr, William R., 2016. "Taxation, corruption, and growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 24-51.
    24. Gilbert Cette & Jimmy Lopez & Jacques Mairesse, 2016. "Market Regulations, Prices, and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 104-108, May.
    25. repec:oup:ecpoli:v:29:y:2014:i:78:p:253-296 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Balázs Égert & Peter Gal, 2017. "The quantification of structural reforms in OECD countries: A new framework," OECD Journal: Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2016(1), pages 91-108.
    2. James Broughel & Robert W. Hahn, 2022. "The impact of economic regulation on growth: Survey and synthesis," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), pages 448-469, April.
    3. Masayuki Morikawa, 2023. "Compliance costs and productivity: an approach from working hours," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 117-137, June.
    4. Balázs Égert, 2017. "The quantification of structural reforms: Extending the framework to emerging market economies," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1442, OECD Publishing.
    5. Balázs Égert, 2016. "Regulation, Institutions, and Productivity: New Macroeconomic Evidence from OECD Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 109-113, May.
    6. Grigoli, Francesco & Koczan, Zsoka & Topalova, Petia, 2020. "Automation and labor force participation in advanced economies: Macro and micro evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    7. Ciriaci, Daria & Grassano, Nicola & Vezzani, Antonio, 2019. "Regulations and location choices of top R&D investors worldwide," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 29-42.
    8. Balázs Égert, 2018. "Regulation, Institutions and Aggregate Investment: New Evidence from OECD Countries," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 415-449, April.
    9. Gordon, Robert J. & Dew-Becker, Ian, 2008. "The Role of Labour Market Changes in the Slowdown of European Productivity Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 6722, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Campos, Nauro F. & Eichenauer, Vera Z. & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2020. "Close encounters of the European kind: Economic integration, sectoral heterogeneity and structural reforms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    11. Ms. Lusine Lusinyan, 2018. "Assessing the Impact of Structural Reforms Through a Supply-side Framework: The Case of Argentina," IMF Working Papers 2018/183, International Monetary Fund.
    12. Orsetta Causa & Mikkel Hermansen & Nicolas Ruiz, 2016. "The Distributional Impact of Structural Reforms," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1342, OECD Publishing.
    13. Andrea Bassanini, 2012. "Aggregate Earnings and Macroeconomic Shocks: the Role of Labour Market Policies and Institutions," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 3(3).
    14. Broughel, James & Hahn, Robert, 2020. "The Impact of Economic Regulation on Growth: Survey and Synthesis," Working Papers 10409, George Mason University, Mercatus Center.
    15. Helge Berger & Stephan Danninger, 2007. "The Employment Effects of Labor and Product Market Deregulation and Their Implications for Structural Reform," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 54(3), pages 591-619, July.
    16. Johanna Kemper, 2016. "Resolving the Ambiguity: A Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Employment Protection on Employment and Unemployment," KOF Working papers 16-405, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    17. Blagrave, Patrick & Furceri, Davide, 2021. "The macroeconomic effects of electricity-sector privatization," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    18. Romain Duval & Davide Furceri, 2018. "The Effects of Labor and Product Market Reforms: The Role of Macroeconomic Conditions and Policies," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 66(1), pages 31-69, March.
    19. Albrizio, Silvia & Kozluk, Tomasz & Zipperer, Vera, 2017. "Environmental policies and productivity growth: Evidence across industries and firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 209-226.
    20. Johan E. Eklund & Emma Lappi, 2018. "Product regulations and persistence of profits: OECD evidence," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 147-164, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    [No keyword available];

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • E17 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03783780. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.