This paper surveys Japanese saving behaviour, whose rate is one of the highest among OECD countries. Macroeconomic factors such as rates of economic growth and inflation may have been important in explaining the high saving rate in the past and the more recent downward trend. Even though growth...

Investment growth in the OECD area has been higher in the second half of the 1980s than in the 1970s. However, the ratio of net investment to GDP has remained low by past cyclical standards. This paper first reviews the evolution of business-sector fixed investment and addresses measurement...

This paper presents a technical description of the OECD's multi-sector, multi-country applied general equilibrium model -- the WALRAS model. This model has been developed with the explicit objective of quantifying the economy-wide effects of agricultural policies in OECD countries. The common...

This paper is one of three in this Working Paper Series, along with those by Chouraqui <U>et al</U>. and Blanchard, in which the assessment of fiscal policy is reconsidered. It reviews the question of what type of budget indicators the OECD should compile. Instead of the cyclically-adjusted budget, it...</u>

This paper reviews the influence of a variety of different monetary rules for the G3 economies on the comparative simulation properties of a recent version of the OECD INTERLINK model. The simulated shocks are typically of a "global" nature, with the main objective being to assess the relative...

This paper outlines the concepts and methods used by the OECD Secretariat to derive estimates of potential output and capacity utilisation for the major seven countries. While there are many alternative definitions of potential output, the one which is currently being used by the OECD...

Demographic changes, such as those anticipated in most OECD countries, have many economic effects that impinge on a country's fiscal viability. Evaluation of the effects of associated changes in capital-labour ratios and the welfare and behaviour of different generations requires the use of a...

This paper provides details of the regrouping of non-OECD countries which has been carried out for the purposes of the forecasting and modelling work in the Department of Economics and Statistics. The new groups were used for the first time in OECD Economic Outlook no. 44 ...

This paper presents business sector supply blocks for thirteen smaller OECD economies. The starting point is the approach adopted by the Economics and Statistics Department for the major economies. The structure of the supply blocks is explained and estimation results are presented. Results from...

National saving ratios are generally lower now than in the 1960s or 1970s. This paper first reviews developments in national and international saving and investment trends in OECD countries since the 1960s. It then examines sectoral saving trends and considers the links between them. There are...