Israeli house prices have risen by over 50% over the past three years. In part this reflects the fact that for several years housing construction had not kept pace with increases in the number of households. In response to these developments, hitherto sluggish planning-approval processes are...

The housing market figures among the main determinants of labour mobility, as households seldom make employment and housing decisions independently of each other. This interdependence is likely to strengthen as the cost of commuting increases, due to worsening road congestion or measures that...

The housing market figures among the main determinants of labour mobility, as households seldom make employment and housing decisions independently of each other. This interdependence is likely to strengthen as the cost of commuting increases, due to worsening road congestion or measures that...

The paper uses a data base on regulation, market structure and performance in the air passenger transportation industry, to analyse the links among liberalisation, private ownership, competition, efficiency and airfares at national and route levels. Covering the 1996-97 travel season, 21...

This article investigates issues related to industrial restructuring in Russia. Based on extensive sectoral data it examines, more particularly, levels and changes in labour productivity, unit labour costs and revealed comparative advantages for a large number of Russian industrial sectors. The...

This paper discusses the current state of product market competition in Iceland, including the legal and regulatory framework, and suggests directions for further improvement. Given the size of the economy, efficiency considerations dictate high concentration in many markets, and preventing...

This paper examines problems of entry, exit and competition in Ukrainian product markets. It finds that Ukraine still has too little of all three, and that exit mechanisms, in particular, function poorly. Since impediments to entry and exit are largely the product of excessive and ill...

This paper discusses ways of strengthening the competitive environment in order to help boost productivity performance in various sectors of the Danish economy. It looks at a number of indicators of the strength of competition — including price levels, industrial concentration and product...

Vigorous product market competition plays a central role in bolstering productivity growth. Sweden has strengthened competition legislation and deregulated a number of sectors, including electricity, telecommunications and parts of transport, over the past 10 to 15 years. This paper examines the...

In the 16 years since the OECD began conducting Economic Surveys of the Russian Federation, a great many policy recommendations relating to structural reform and framework conditions have been made. This paper, expanding on Annex 1.A1 in the 2011 OECD Economic Survey of the Russian Federation,...