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Business and Economics > Finance: General

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 21 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Public Policy x
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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Republic of Türkiye: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Türkiye
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
The 2024 Article IV Consultation highlights that a decisive shift in economic policies over the past year has tightened Türkiye’s overall policy stance. A significant tightening of macroeconomic policy since mid-2023 has substantially reduced crisis risks. Tighter financial conditions are weighing on domestic demand and inflation has fallen. Tax and expenditure measures partly dampened an expansionary fiscal impulse and the commitment to stronger incomes policies has strengthened credibility. The policy turnaround has reduced economic imbalances and revived confidence. Headline inflation has fallen as tighter financial conditions are weighing on domestic demand. Under the authorities’ gradual policy adjustment, inflation is expected to further decline. Risks around the baseline are significant and tilted to the downside. They include stronger-than-expected wage and price inertia, a reversal of capital flows, higher global energy prices, and escalating geopolitical tensions. Significant financial and external vulnerabilities remain. The authorities’ gradual approach to fighting inflation prolongs the period during which risks might occur.
Keywords:
inflation expectation; IFC portfolio implementation; WB program; WBG portfolio; authorities project growth; Inflation; Central bank policy rate; Fiscal stance; Minimum wages; Global
Cover Finance & Development
Finance & Development, March 2024: Economics - How Should It Change?
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
This issue of F&D takes a fresh look at the discipline of economics. We invited prominent economists with different perspectives to tell us how the profession can become better at answering 21st century challenges.
Keywords:
Economics teaching; world happiness report; IMF staff calculation; labor economist; accessibility Economist; Labor markets; Stock markets; Climate change; Climate finance; Global; Africa; Europe; Central Asia
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Luxembourg: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Luxembourg
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This 2023 Article IV Consultation highlights that Luxembourg has shown resilience in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine and accelerated tightening of global financial conditions, partly helped by fiscal support. Although costly, the measures have helped temporarily keeping inflation below the levels in most euro area peers and limiting the number of wage indexations. Tighter financial conditions have started to affect the financial sector, with heterogeneity across segments. The financial sector, overall, remains resilient, though there are some pockets of vulnerabilities, especially in the real estate sector and non-bank financial institutions. Growth is expected to slow to about 1 percent in 2023, before gradually recovering to its potential percent over the medium term. Headline inflation is likely to moderate further but core inflation is expected to remain persistent. The near-term outlook is highly uncertain. Risks are tilted to the downside and stem from a deeper global slowdown, a de anchoring of inflation expectations, and systemic financial instability at the global level.
Keywords:
Luxembourg economy; money market rate; policy advice; liability positions vis-a-vis nonresident; central bank of Luxembourg; Inflation; Wage indexation; Mutual funds; Loans; Energy prices; Global; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Italy: 2020 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Italy
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This 2020 Article IV Consultation with Italy reflects discussions with the Italian authorities in January 2020 and is based on the information available as of January 28, 2020. It focuses on Italy’s medium-term challenges and policy priorities and was prepared prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy. It, therefore, does not cover the outbreak or the related policy response, which has since become the overarching near-term priority. The outbreak has greatly amplified uncertainty and downside risks around the outlook. Staff is closely monitoring this health crisis and will continue to work on assessing its impact and the related policy response in Italy and globally. The overarching challenges are to raise growth and enhance resilience. The IMF staff projects growth in Italy to be the lowest in the European Union over the next five years. High public debt remains a key source of vulnerability. Substantial progress has been made in strengthening bank balance sheets, but important weaknesses remain. In order to durably raise growth and reduce vulnerabilities, Italy needs faster potential growth and medium-term fiscal consolidation.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; government; IMF staff calculation; Italy; GDP ratio; staffs projection; staffs recommendation; consultation discussion; Income; Labor costs; Nonperforming loans; Global; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Greece: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper explores the links between wage policies, non-wage cost developments, and competitiveness. A series of program-era policies helped to partially reverse this trend, including labor market policies that cushioned the effect of the crisis on employment and brought unit labor costs broadly in line with trading partners. However, the resulting more competitive wage structure only partly translated into price adjustments due to product market rigidities (with firms retaining some profit margin) and rising non-wage cost factors (e.g., taxes and financing costs). This incomplete internal devaluation and subsequent low productivity gains reinforce the view that Greece has further to go to address its external imbalances. However, labor policy reversals following program exit in August 2018 threaten this objective. The paper shows that Greece must preserve its labor cost competitiveness while increasing efforts to facilitate price adjustment in product markets and reduce non-wage costs.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; bank; Greece; capital; installment scheme; NFA position; State aid rule; CA deficit; current account; Minimum wages; Mortgages; Wages; Labor costs; Employment; Europe; Global
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Designing Labor Market Institutions in Emerging and Developing Economies: Evidence and Policy Options
Mr. Romain A Duval
and
Mr. Prakash Loungani
This paper discusses theoretical aspects and evidences related to designing labor market institutions in emerging market and developing economies. This note reviews the state of theory and evidence on the design of labor market institutions in a developing economy context and then reviews its consistency with actual labor market advice in a selected set of emerging and developing economies. The focus is mainly on three broad sets of institutions that matter for both workers’ protection and labor market efficiency: employment protection, unemployment insurance and social assistance, minimum wages and collective bargaining. Text mining techniques are used to identify IMF recommendations in these areas in Article IV Reports for 30 emerging and frontier economies over 2005–2016. This note has provided a critical review of the literature on the design of labor market institutions in emerging and developing market economies, and benchmarked the advice featured in IMF recommendations for 30 emerging market and frontier economies against the tentative conclusions from the literature.
Keywords:
SDN; collective bargaining; unemployment insurance; severance pay; developing economy; UI system; Labor Market Institutions; Employment Protection; Unemployment Benefits; Social Assistance; Cash Transfers; Minimum Wage; monopsony power; firm level; income group; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Minimum wages; Labor markets; Africa; risk pooling; wage inequality
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Work In Progress: Improving Youth Labor Market Outcomes in Emerging Market and Developing Economies
Mr. JaeBin Ahn
,
Zidong An
,
Mr. John C Bluedorn
,
Gabriele Ciminelli
,
Zsoka Koczan
,
Mr. Davide Malacrino
,
Daniela Muhaj
, and
Patricia Neidlinger
Economic development and growth depend on a country’s young people. With most of their working life ahead of them they make up about a third of the working-age population in the typical emerging market and developing economy. But the youth in these economies face a daunting labor market—about 20 percent of them are neither employed, in school, nor in training (the youth inactivity rate). This is double the share in the average advanced economy. Were nothing else to change, bringing youth inactivity in these economies down to what it is in advanced economies and getting those inactive young people into new jobs would have a striking effect. The working-age employment rate in the average emerging market and developing economy would rise more than 3 percentage points, and real output would get a 5 percent boost.
Keywords:
SDN; developing economy; youth labor market prospect; product market; employment rate; economies fall; labor market flexibility; protection legislation; youth labor markets; emerging market and developing economies; Okun’s law; labor and product market institutions; structural reforms; youth employment; labor market outcome; formality rise; labor market characteristic; labor market challenge; job formality; youth labor market outcome; job quality; job prospect; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Employment; Labor markets; Minimum wages; Women; Central Asia; Sub-Saharan Africa; East Asia; South Asia
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Ukraine: Technical Assistance Report-Self-Funding of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
This paper discusses the self-funding model of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) in Ukraine. There are a number of challenges with NSSMC’s funding and the constraints placed on it through the Ukrainian government budget process. The analysis conducted by the NSSMC and reviewed by the mission confirms the general benefits of moving to a self-funding model for the NSSMC. The legislative measures should be complemented by improvements in the NSSMC systems and processes. Self-funding of securities and other financial services regulators is increasingly becoming the international norm. The trend to self-funding is even more pronounced within Europe.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; fee revenue; supervision fee; market participant; fee payer; fee regime; NSSMC estimate; Budget planning and preparation; Securities markets; Securities; Personal income; Minimum wages; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Wage-Price Dynamics and Structural Reforms in Japan
Davide Porcellacchia
Structural reforms in the liquidity trap need not be deflationary. This paper develops a simple framework to study the role that key characteristics of Japan’s labor and product markets—labor-market duality and weak corporate governance—play in generating unfavorable wage-price dynamics. The model allows a discussion of whether and in what form structural reforms may contribute to Japan’s short-run goal of reflating the economy. It finds that boosting inflation with structural reforms implies an unusual trade-off with employment, that is an inverted Phillips curve. Simultaneous implementation of labor-market and product-market reforms is most effective in terms of reflating the economy.
Keywords:
WP; liquidity trap; labor market; nominal interest rate; price level; real wage; Abenomics; corporate governance; inflation; Japan; labor-market duality; structural reforms; wage-price dynamics; single open-ended contract; market power; cash holding; Phillips curve; Zero lower bound; Labor markets; Liquidity; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
France: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper analyzes expenditure reforms in France. After decades of rising public spending and successive tax increases, the medium-term fiscal consolidation path described in the 2015 Stability Program is now fully expenditure based. However, recent efforts of nominal spending containment have not delivered the intended savings in the context of low growth and inflation. A thorough review of the efficiency of public spending could help prepare more fundamental reforms of spending programs and processes to underpin a lasting reduction in expenditures, which reached a record high of 57.2 percent of GDP in 2014.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; center; local government; product market reform; bank; pay; product market regulation; social spending; growth ceiling; targeted expenditure review; Labor markets; Employment; Minimum wages; Unemployment; Europe; Global