While several culprits have been proposed to explain the current trade collapse (e.g. the credit crunch, global production chains, generalised loss of confidence), the great synchronisation underlying the collapse suggests that it is very probably their interaction, rather than each individual...

In order to assess the growth implications of policy complementarities, this paper applies second-best results to reform indicators. During the transition from central planning to EU integration, which corresponds to a policy cycle, a complementarity index based on structural indicators compiled...

How can public policy influence investment in infrastructure in network industries? Network industries rely mainly on fixed networks to deliver services, with investment being lumpy and largely irreversible. As a result, public policies – such as public provision, the introduction of...

This paper investigates the role played by deregulation on firms’ investment decisions in infrastructure sectors. The analysis covers the period 1980-2006, which was characterised by increased liberalisation and privatisation across OECD countries. We assess the relationship of different...

How can governments reap the potential benefits of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the provision of infrastructure? Private sector involvement in the provision of public goods is long-standing, often relying on franchises or concessions. More recently, PPPs have risen in prominence,...

This paper investigates the impact of complementarity reforms on growth and how it depends on GDP per capita. Based on reform data for six policy areas compiled from various sources during the period 1994-2006 for over 100 countries, we compute composite indicators of reform level and...

The purpose of this article is to discuss how policies can affect investment in tertiary education in ways that would eliminate some of the perceived shortcomings of existing systems, while preserving or (preferably) enhancing equality of access to higher education. To this end, the analysis...

This article investigates the contribution of regions to aggregate growth. We find a great degree of heterogeneity in the performance of Territorial Level 3 ( TL3) regions of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). The regional contributions to aggregate growth follow a...