American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Regulation, Institutions, and Productivity: New Macroeconomic Evidence from OECD Countries
American Economic Review
vol. 106,
no. 5, May 2016
(pp. 109–13)
Abstract
This paper seeks to understand the drivers of country-level multi-factor productivity (MFP) with a special emphasis on product and labour market policies and the quality of institutions. For a panel of OECD countries, we find that anticompetitive product market regulations reduce MFP levels and that higher innovation intensity and greater openness result in higher MFP. We also find that the impact of product market regulations on MFP may depend on the level of labour market regulations. Better institutions, a more business friendly environment and lower barriers to trade and investment amplify the positive impact of R&D spending on MFP. Finally, we also show that cross-country MFP variations can be explained to a considerable extent by cross-country variation in labour market regulations, barriers to trade and investment and institutions.Citation
Égert, Balázs. 2016. "Regulation, Institutions, and Productivity: New Macroeconomic Evidence from OECD Countries." American Economic Review, 106 (5): 109–13. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20161026Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D24 Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
- J08 Labor Economics Policies
- L51 Economics of Regulation
- O43 Institutions and Growth
- O47 Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence