The Japanese tax system applies relatively low marginal tax rates on most economic activities which, in combination with moderate tax elasticities of the bases, indicate that the overall distortion from the tax system (the excess burden) is probably modest compared with other OECD countries....

The tax burden in Korea is among the lowest in the OECD area, mainly reflecting that the social safety net is at an early stage of development. The low tax burden implies limited tax induced economic distortions but as expenditure pressures will mount in the future, neutrality and efficiency of...

In this paper, a structural VAR model is estimated for 11 EU countries in order to assess the effect on the government deficit ratio of four independent economic disturbances: supply, fiscal, real private demand and monetary shocks. Based on the estimated distribution of these shocks, stochastic...

The Mexican tax system encompasses a number of commendable features and disincentives to work, save and invest appear less severe than in most other OECD countries. However, the system also contains major deficiencies, which hampers the efficiency and equity of the system and contribute to the...

This paper first reviews a number of stylised facts concerning OECD country business cycles over the past four decades. In general, the amplitude of business cycles has fallen, driven mainly by declining fluctuations of domestic demand. As a result, international divergencies of cyclical...

New Zealand’s tax system is one of the most neutral and efficient in the OECD. Bases are generally broad and rates are moderate. The full imputation system for dividend payments works to reduce tax distortions for corporate financing decisions, while efficiency in corporate investment...

This paper provides an analysis of the recent evolution of the U.S. current account external deficit in the context of the OECD Secretariat world model, INTERLINK. It seeks to assess to what extent developments in the U.S. current balance since 1980 might be viewed as being surprising, at least...

The OECD makes frequent use of the supply-side framework and associated measures of factor productivity, productive potential and associated output gaps in the assessment of the short-term conjunctural situation, comparative economic performance and longer-term growth determinants. This paper...

This study was prepared in the Economics Department as a contribution to the Organisation -wide study of the economic consequences of population ageing. It presents a number of long-term scenarios illustrating the likely domestic and international macroeconomic effects of ageing across the OECD...

This paper examines the possible short- and medium-term macroeconomic consequences of changes in trend factor productivity growth for the major OECD economies. The analysis includes a range of different scenarios based on the recently re-estimated OECD INTERLINK model, in particular its...