A firm theoretical basis for the empirical relationship between dependency rates and savings behavior in developing countries is still lacking. Two demographic extensions of the representative household’s stochastic dynamic optimization problem are presented here. It is shown that the...

Strong macroeconomic foundations have so far largely shielded the Netherlands from recent financial turbulence. Despite a tightening labor market, inflation remains subdued. Employment has grown 1¼–1½ percent in 2007, on par with the rest of the Euro area. The external current...

The Selected Issues paper analyzes how fast Ireland will grow in the future. The approach of this paper is to consider the catch-up in labor utilization productivity and use independent demographic projections and other considerations to make reasonable assumptions about labor productivity and...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the growth prospects of the Greek economy. It is estimated that exceptional factors boosted growth by 1 percentage point per year in recent years and, under current trends and policies, growth is likely to drop to about 3 percent by the end of the decade. The...

This paper describes the developments in the Australian labor market during the 1990s. In 1994, a number of new labor market programs were launched, directed especially at the long-term unemployed, and a further step was taken in the evolutionary reform of the industrial relations system. The...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix analyzes labor market institutions and reforms for Cyprus. The paper describes the legal and institutional framework of the Cypriot labor market, and discusses the voluntary framework for negotiations, the degree of unionization and the system...

This Selected Issues paper on the Republic of Estonia highlights its growth performance relative to other countries in the European Union (EU). Estonia has experienced a period of unprecedented growth since the mid-1990s. Between 1995 and 2005, Estonia’s real GDP per capita rose by an...

Based on the economic literature, various policy measures and institutions in the product and labor markets that increase growth and employment are studied. From a cross-country approach, this study finds a significant relationship between Vertical Fiscal Imbalances (VFIs) and fiscal performance...

The Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) of the Republic of Tajikistan for 2010–12 aims to serve as a medium-term program for the implementation of the National Development Strategy up to 2015. It will determine the major socioeconomic development of the country during this period, taking...

This Selected Issues paper for the United States discusses the microeconomics of the country—household wealth and savings. Households’ consumption-saving decisions have an important bearing on the U.S. economic outlook. This paper demonstrates how households with consistently lower...