Joint OECD-NBER Conference on Productivity Growth and Innovation in the Long Run – OCDE

25-26 September 2014 – OECD Conference Centre

In the long run, achieving strong, sustainable and inclusive growth relies heavily on increases in the productivity of all factor inputs. However, despite large and growing investments in knowledge and innovation, productivity growth in many OECD countries has slowed over the past decade. At the same time, there is an urgent need for more rapid innovation to counter headwinds on growth due inter alia to ageing and  environmental constraints. What factors explain the productivity slowdown? What can OECD countries do to improve future prospects for productivity growth and innovation?

Objectives

This conference organised by the OECD and National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) served as a valuable platform for key experts from the academic and policymaking community to share their views on: i) the key factors that will influence future productivity growth; ii) the possible sources of the productivity slowdown; and iii) the feasibility of various public policy responses to the problem.

What did the conference address?

The conference covered a wide range of important issues, including:

• lessons that can be drawn from economic history;
• the relationship between inequality, immigration, environmental constraints and future productivity growth;
• the contribution to productivity growth of

              – organisational change
              – technological progress and
              – resource allocation

• the role of agglomeration economies in driving long run productivity outcomes.

Read the summary report