This paper provides, for all OECD countries, an estimate of the net tax cost per currency unit of contribution to a tax-favoured retirement savings plan, using a present-value methodology. The latter takes into account the future flows of revenues foregone on accrued income and of revenues...

Brazil’s public pension expenditure is about 9 per cent of GDP, above the OECD average. Given that OECD countries are generally not only wealthier, but also significantly older, Brazil’s pension expenditures are clearly excessive, draining resources away from other areas, such as much needed...

The Dutch occupational pension system has been successful in securing high asset accumulation to fund generous pension promises. However, for the second time in this decade the pension system has been affected by a financial crisis and many pension funds’ assets fell below levels needed to...

Les prix des logements ont sensiblement augmenté au Canada au cours des dix dernières années, portant la dette des ménages et la construction de logements à des points hauts historiques. Bien que le durcissement de la politique macroprudentielle ait ralenti la croissance des emprunts des...

House prices have increased significantly in Canada over the past decade, driving household debt and residential construction activity to historical highs. Although macro-prudential tightening has slowed the pace of household borrowing in the last few years, house prices have continued to trend...

Loan creation has not recovered after the crisis owing to a combination of demand and supply factors. Although the banking sector is sufficiently capitalised in the short term, banks are deleveraging by cutting down their dependence on cross-border financing. The ability of the financial sector...

China is well-placed to avoid the so-called “middle-income trap” and to continue to converge towards the more advanced economies, even though growth is likely to slow from near double-digit rates in the first decade of this millennium to around 7% at the 2020 horizon. However, in order to...

Entrepreneurship is an important driver of economic growth, job creation and competitiveness. However, the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector has been severely affected by the crisis, with access to bank finance being particularly difficult. Various government-sponsored schemes have...

The 2008-09 global financial crisis did not result in the failure of any major financial institution in Israel, but it did reveal vulnerabilities in the non-banking sector . particularly in the corporate-bond market. Conservative regulation of the banking sector helped this segment avoid a...

Brazil’s public pension expenditure is about 9 per cent of GDP, above the OECD average. Given that OECD countries are generally not only wealthier, but also significantly older, Brazil’s pension expenditures are clearly excessive, draining resources away from other areas, such as much needed...