Product market regulation and macroeconomic performance : a review of cross-country evidence

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a critical overview of the recent empirical contributions that use cross-country data to study the effects of product market regulation and reform on a country's macroeconomic performance. After a brief review of the theoretical literature and of relevant micro-econometric evidence, the paper discusses the main data and methodological issues related to empirical work on this topic. It then critically evaluates the cross-country evidence on the effects of product market regulation on mark-ups, firm dynamics, investment, employment, innovation, productivity, and output growth. The paper concludes with a summary of lessons learned from the econometric results.