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Business and Economics > Production and Operations Management

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Cover IMF Working Papers
Dynamic Development Accounting and Relative Income Traps
Patrick A. Imam
and
Jonathan R. W. Temple
Previous research suggests that economy-wide poverty traps are rarely observed in the data. In this paper, we explore a related hypothesis: low-income countries rarely improve their position relative to the US. Using finite state Markov chains, we show that upwards mobility is indeed limited. Since capital-output ratios are similar across countries, and human capital is also converging, the persistence of low relative income seems to originate in the persistence of low relative TFP. We study the dynamics of relative TFP and how they interact with absolute levels of human capital, casting new light on the future of convergence.
Keywords:
Economic growth; development accounting; low-income trap; poverty trap; income trap; state Markov chains; country sample; OECD member country; relative TFP; Total factor productivity; Human capital; Growth accounting; Income; Capital productivity; Global
Cover Finance & Development
Finance & Development, September 2024: Productivity and How to Revive It
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
Productivity must play a more important role in driving sustained growth as our societies age. But there’s no consensus on how to reverse the broad slowdown in productivity growth seen across almost all countries over the past 20 years. F&D magazine’s September issue invites leading thinkers to examine productivity from multiple angles, including dynamism, innovation, demographics, and sustainability.
Keywords:
Productivity; total factor productivity; demographics; sustainable growth; economic growth; dynamism; innovation; international cooperation.; productivity gain; understanding productivity growth; productivity growth rebound; IMF photo; low-productivity firm; TFP advancement; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Tax avoidance; Global; West Africa; Europe; Central Asia; Asia and Pacific
Cover IMF Working Papers
Climate Policies and External Adjustment
Rudolfs Bems
,
Luciana Juvenal
,
Weifeng Liu
, and
Warwick J. McKibbin
This paper assesses the economic effects of climate policies on different regions and countries with a focus on external adjustment. The paper finds that various climate policies could have substantially different impacts on external balances over the next decade. A credible and globally coordinated carbon tax would decrease current account balances in greener advanced economies and increase current accounts in more fossil-fuel-dependent regions, reflecting a disproportionate decline in investment for the latter group. Green supply-side policies—green subsidy and infrastructure investment—would increase investment and saving but would have a more muted external sector impact because of the constrained pace of expansion for renewables or the symmetry of the infrastructure boost. Country characteristics, such as initial carbon intensity and net fossil fuel exports, ultimately determine the current account responses. For the global economy, a coordinated climate change mitigation policy package would shift capital towards advanced economies. Following an initial rise, the global interest rates would fall over time with increases in the carbon tax. These external sector effects, however, depend crucially on the degree of international policy coordination and credibility.
Keywords:
Global climate policies; carbon tax; net-zero emissions; current account balances; international capital flows; dynamic general equilibrium modelling; G-Cubed; climate change mitigation policy package; current account response; IMF working paper 24/162; infrastructure investment; investment response; Current account; Greenhouse gas emissions; Productivity; Global; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Advancing India’s Structural Transformation and Catch-up to the Technology Frontier
Cristian Alonso
and
Margaux MacDonald
While India’s growth has been strong in recent decades, its structural transformation remains incomplete. In this paper, we first take stock of India’s growth to date. We find that economic activity has shifted from agriculture to services, but agriculture remains the predominant employer. Catch up to the technological frontier has been uneven, with limited progress in agriculture, but also in construction and trade, which have grown the most in terms of employment. We do find some Indian firms already operating at the technological frontier. These strong performers tend to be large firms. We then consider India’s employment challenge going forward. We find that India needs to create between 143-324 million jobs by 2050 and that doing so and with workers shifting towards more dynamic sectors could boost GDP growth by 0.2-0.5 percentage points. Structural reforms can help India create high-quality jobs and accelerate growth.
Keywords:
Economywide Production; Potential Output; Labor Productivity; Employment; Structural Transformation; Technological Frontier.; frontier employment; India's employment challenge; technology frontier; growth decomposition; IMF staff estimate; industry level; Agricultural sector; Productivity; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Economic Impacts and the Regulation of AI: A Review of the Academic Literature and Policy Actions
Mariarosaria Comunale
and
Andrea Manera
We review the literature on the effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption and the ongoing regulatory efforts concerning this technology. Economic research encompasses growth, employment, productivity, and income inequality effects, while regulation covers market competition, data privacy, copyright, national security, ethics concerns, and financial stability. We find that: (i) theoretical research agrees that AI will affect most occupations and transform growth, but empirical findings are inconclusive on employment and productivity effects; (ii) regulation has focused primarily on topics not explored by the academic literature; (iii) across countries, regulations differ widely in scope and approaches and face difficult trade-offs.
Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence (AI); labor market; task exposure; productivity; regulation; governance.; productivity effect; regulation of AI; AI system; AI model; AI technology; Artificial intelligence; Machine learning; Automation; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Global Economic Impacts of Physical Climate Risks
Caterina Lepore
and
Roshen Fernando
This paper evaluates the global economic consequences of physical climate risks under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP 1-2.6 and SSP 2-4.5) using firm-level evidence. Firstly, we estimate the historical sectoral productivity changes from chronic climate risks (gradual changes in temperature and precipitation) and extreme climate conditions (representative of heatwaves, coldwaves, droughts, and floods). Secondly, we produce forward-looking sectoral productivity changes for a global multisectoral sample of firms. For floods, these estimates account for the persistent productivity changes from the damage to firms’ physical capital. Thirdly, we assess the macroeconomic impact of these shocks within the global, multisectoral, intertemporal general equilibrium model: G-Cubed. The results indicate that, in the absence of additional adaptation relative to that already achieved by 2020, all the economies would experience substantial losses under the two climate scenarios and the losses would increase with global warming. The results can be useful for policymakers and practitioners interested in conducting climate risk analysis.
Keywords:
climate risk analysis; capital markets department; climate risk; physical capital; productivity change; Climate change; Productivity; Agricultural sector; Natural disasters; Global; North America; Western Europe; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Unleashing India’s Growth Potential
Shinya Kotera
and
Ms. TengTeng Xu
This paper analyzes the drivers of India’s growth in the past five decades and considers baseline and upside scenarios of India’s medium-term potential growth. Using a production function approach, the paper assesses the impact of the pandemic on the key factors of production and therefore its impact on medium-term growth. Successful implementation of wide-ranging structural reforms could help support productivity and potential growth over the medium term.
Keywords:
India; Potential Growth; Labor Markets; Capital; Productivity; Pandemic; Production Function Approach; Structural Reforms.; upside scenario; TengTeng xu; impact of the pandemic; growth rate; Total factor productivity; COVID-19; Human capital; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Keeping it Simple–Efficiency Costs of Fixed Margin Regimes in Transfer Pricing
Sebastian Beer
,
Sebastien Leduc
, and
Jan Loeprick
Simplifying tax policy comes with costs and benefits. This paper explores simplification options for the taxation of MNEs, an area where administrative and compliance costs of the current rules are large. Simplified approaches seek to reduce these costs by relying on an approximation of the true tax base, potentially distorting resource allocation. We examine the efficiency cost of transfer pricing simplification theoretically and empirically. Using a sample of 300,000 firms located in 22 countries, we estimate that common transfer pricing practices reduce efficiency between 0.25 and 2.2 percent of total factor productivity across sectors. Focusing on the manufacturing sector, we then observe that simplification more than doubles sectoral inefficiency on average. However, large differences exist, with moderate efficiency costs in several sectors.
Keywords:
Taxation of Multinational Enterprises; Transfer Pricing Simplification; Efficiency Costs; modelling transfer pricing Benchmarking; efficiency cost; annex I. descriptive statistics; simplification option; transfer pricing practice; efficiency loss; Transfer pricing; Total factor productivity; Productivity; Tax wedge; Manufacturing; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Bangladesh: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
Selected Issues
Keywords:
RMG industry; FDI inflow; health spending efficiency; Bangladesh labor force; TFP growth loss; Climate change; Climate finance; COVID-19; Exports; Global; South Asia; Total factor productivity
Cover IMF Working Papers
Distribution Costs
Alessandra Peter
We provide the first direct estimates of distribution expenses incurred by manufacturing plants and assess their importance for aggregate output. Using a novel measure from the Indian Annual Survey of Industries, we document three key facts: (1) distribution expenses are large – they amount to over half of labor costs; (2) plants in the largest decile – relative to the smallest – spend over three times as much on distribution as a share of sales; and (3) between 2000 and 2010, distribution costs as a share of sales declined by one third. We develop a model of heterogeneous manufacturing firms that rely on the distribution sector to sell their goods across space. We quantify the model using the facts on size and systematic heterogeneity in distribution shares as well as newly constructed estimates of intranational trade. Accounting for firm heterogeneity in distribution requirements is important: welfare losses from low TFP in the distribution sector are amplified 1.5-fold. From 2000 to 2010, India saw an increase in intranational trade hand in hand with a decrease in the distribution share. In combination with the model, these trends suggest largescale decreases in both variable and fixed costs of distribution, leading to welfare gains of 58% over this ten year period.
Keywords:
Distribution; transportation costs; aggregate productivity; welfare loss; distribution sector; distribution share; share of sales; distribution expense; Manufacturing; Productivity; Total factor productivity; Consumption; Labor costs