This paper describes a possible long-run scenario for selected OECD and major emerging market economies. It compares outcomes for Canada against these countries' performance in a variety of dimensions that together determine productivity and output growth based on a production-function approach....

Switzerland has had a long-standing surplus on its current account. But over the past 15 years that surplus has surged to levels unmatched by nearly any other OECD country at any point. This paper looks at the surplus from a balance of payments vantage point as well as from the optic of the...

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...

In recent years the US current account deficit has grown to the point that most observers consider its level to be already unsustainable. Yet it seems set to continue to increase in the foreseeable future, with net foreign debt likely to surge. This paper describes the present deficit from three...

This paper describes modifications to, and further developments of, the supply block in the Secretariat's INTERLINK world model as of the autumn of 1985. The objective of the work was to strengthen the role of supply side elements, in particular profitability, in the model. In the process,...

The agricultural sector in Canada is relatively large, compared to those in most other G7 countries. In recent years, the federal and provincial governments have undertaken a number of sectoral reforms to meet the competitiveness and environmental challenges that it faces. The federal government...

While the philosophy behind the supply block has not changed since its initial version, each of the block's behavioural equations as well as the parameters of the production functions have been substantially modified. These modifications have been motivated, in general, by a wish to improve the...

Recently several countries, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, have at least partially reversed their earlier moves towards compulsory defined-contribution schemes. This paper concentrates on Poland, which just reduced contributions going to the...

This paper examines the heavily supported Swiss food and agriculture sector. It reviews some of the key features and trends in the sector and reveals its low relative labour productivity in international comparison. It describes the existing policy regime, including its various forms of support...