We present a new and simple empirical methodology to identify relative wage rigidity dynamics. The methodology is applied to data from the Polish Labour Force Survey for the period 1994 to 1998. We estimate ceteris paribus changes in relative wage and unemployment differentials for various...

A growing body of programme evaluation literature recognises immigrants as a disadvantaged group on European labour markets and investigates the employment effects of Active Labour Market Pro-grammes (ALMPs) on this subgroup. Using a meta-analysis, we condense 93 estimates from 33 empir-ical...

In South Africa, long-term insurers experienced some strains during the financial crisis, but there were no crisis-related failures. The capital markets suffered sharp declines but no systemic failures. The three standards assessments have found the regulatory system fundamentally sound. The...

Although progress has been made in strengthening the Swiss economy, systemic risks posed by large banks as well as revisions to the macroprudential framework are still in train. The authorities welcomed the too-big-to-fail (TBTF) legislation and intervention of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) on...

The three-point VAT increase is part of a package in which unemployment payroll taxes will be reduced. Risks to the recovery are balanced but the range of forecasts for 2007 is unusually wide. The priority for Germany is to transmit its external strength to the domestic economy, thus further...

The staff report highlights that the insurance sector in Sweden is well developed and mature. The captive insurance segment is mainly driven by tax advantages. This assessment provides an update on the significant regulatory and supervisory developments in the insurance sector of Sweden since...

It is vital to achieve both high levels of sustained, long lasting growth and better income distribution through the Accelerated Growth Strategy in Senegal. In terms of macroeconomic performance, the annual average growth rate dropped owing to exogenous shocks and low productivity in the...

The Armenian government adopted the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), and the first years of the PRSP implementation have evidently resulted in the significant reduction of both poverty and extreme poverty. The main focus has been sustainable economic growth, institutional reforms, and...

Insurance regulation in South Africa is sound and takes a thorough approach to regulation, recognizes the scale and development of the market, and the need for effective market conduct as prudential regulation. There are particular challenges in improving standards of market conduct, in both...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.