This paper presents the methodology adopted by the Economics Department to calculate indices of effective exchange rates and indicators of competitiveness, based on unit labour costs and export unit values in the manufacturing sector. The calculation derives from a double-weighting system which...

This paper examines the hypothesis that commodity price trends are useful indicators of OECD price developments. After a discussion of statistical techniques to assess the time series properties of individual price indices, integration and cointegration tests are conducted on a wide set of...

The large exchange rate depreciations registered in a number of Asian countries since mid-1997 have raised the issue of whether this could lead to major shifts in the relative costs and prices of production across countries, and hence in the relative competitive positions of OECD and non-OECD...

National saving ratios are generally lower now than in the 1960s or 1970s. This paper first reviews developments in national and international saving and investment trends in OECD countries since the 1960s. It then examines sectoral saving trends and considers the links between them. There are...

This paper gives an overview of the determination of non-oil commodity prices in the Economics and Statistics Department's INTERLINK world model. The practical problems which have been encountered, in particular in the context of full simulations are discussed. Based on a number of statistical...

Widening imbalances in current account positions across some of the major OECD economic areas have raised concerns about related increases in protectionist sentiments. This paper reviews recent trends in market openness indicators and assesses whether barriers to international trade and...