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Business and Economics > Production and Operations Management

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Cover Selected Issues Papers
Assessing Climate Change Risks: Potential Output Losses and Gains from Strengthening Resilience, Bahamas
Zamid Aligishiev
The Bahamas is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including gradual sea level rise, biodiversity loss, and intensifying hurricanes. Together, these challenges threaten to undermine the country’s potential output over the long term by inflicting damages to physical assets and eroding natural capital, which is vital to its tourism-driven economy. Importantly, these risks are unevenly distributed with smaller islands being more exposed and sensitive than the larger, more developed ones. Addressing these disparities as well as closing economy-wide adaptation needs through investments in structural resilience can unlock large potential output gains.
Keywords:
The Bahamas; Climate Change; Resilient investment; climate change risk; biodiversity loss; losses from climate change; output loss; Beach nourishment; Potential output; Natural disasters; Stocks; Infrastructure; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Niger: Questions Générales
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
Ce document de réflexion évalue le déficit de recettes fiscales, qui reflète l'écart entre les recettes fiscales effectivement perçues et les recettes potentielles compte tenu du contexte économique et institutionnel du Niger. Ce déficit de recettes fiscales s'accroît depuis 2015 et a atteint 3,4 % du produit intérieur brut en 2022, principalement en raison des déficits de perception des taxes sur les biens et services et des taxes sur le commerce international. Afin d'améliorer la mobilisation des recettes au Niger, il est essentiel de rationaliser les exonérations de taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (TVA) et les taux réduits de TVA sur certains produits, de réformer les droits d'accise et les taxes foncières, et de renforcer l'administration fiscale. Par ailleurs, la lutte contre l'informalité et le renforcement des capacités de collecte des impôts du secteur informel, ainsi que l'amélioration de la gouvernance, renforceront la capacité de mobilisation des recettes à moyen et long terme. L'amélioration de l'acceptabilité sociale nécessitera une stratégie de communication réfléchie et des mesures d'atténuation. L'amélioration de la transparence et de la redevabilité des institutions est essentielle pour obtenir le soutien nécessaire à la mobilisation des recettes.
Keywords:
B. Potentiel de recettes; estimation de l'écart de production; faiblesse de la gouvernance; estimation de l'écart de production; potentiel de recettes fiscales; Production potentielle; Écart de production; Afrique subsaharienne; Afrique du Nord; Monde; Afrique de l'Ouest.
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Impact of Labor Litigation Cases on Firm-level Productivity in Brazil
Swarnali A Hannan
and
Samuel Pienknagura
The Brazilian labor market went through significant changes in 2017 with reforms to reduce litigation and increase flexibility in employment contracts. Using firm-level data, we exploit the variation in litigation cases across Brazilian states to estimate the impact of the 2017 labor reforms on productivity. The results suggest a significant boost in total factor productivity (TFP) for labor- and trade-intensive firms from the decline in litigation costs. High labor intensive firms witnessed an increase in TFP of about 15 percent after the reform compared to low labor-intensive firms. Similar magnitudes are found for trade-internsive firms. There is also some suggestive evidence that the productivity-enhancing effects of the reforms are especially pronounced for small firms.
Keywords:
Labor market reforms; litigation cases; total factor productivity; litigation case; productivity-enhancing effect; productivity in Brazil; litigation cost; regressions incl ude firm; Productivity; Labor force; Employment; Caribbean; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Sweden: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
2025 Selected Issues
Keywords:
labor productivity growth; growth decline; firm distributions of Sweden; slowdown of labor productivity growth; D. organization; Labor productivity; Productivity; Services sector; Industrial sector; Europe; Global
Cover Selected Issues Papers
Firm Dynamics and Firm-Level Total Factor Productivity in Belgium: Belgium
Karen Coulibaly
Belgium’s total factor productivity (TFP) growth slowdown since the late 1990s has been worse than peers’ despite significant spending on innovation. This is largely explained by subdued business dynamics, insufficient firm access to financing, labor and capital misallocation, and the predominance of small firms. Further product-market reforms to reduce barriers to entry and lower exit costs are needed to raise TFP. Reforming the wage-setting mechanism to better align wage and productivity developments would improve labor allocation. Deepening the European single market and advancing the capital market union would contribute to higher Belgian firm productivity and facilitate firm scale up.
Keywords:
Firm entry/exit barriers; firm productivity; misallocation; access to finance; product market regulation; wage formation; firm dynamics; FIRM-LEVEL total factor productivity; productivity development; Total factor productivity; Productivity; Trade barriers; Capital markets; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Slovak Republic: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper highlights consumption analysis based on distributional national accounts in Slovak Republic. Efforts to improve the quality and usability of DNA data should continue. In Slovakia, measures to increase income are essential to achieve robust consumption growth amid the challenges from demographic changes. Policies that encourage higher skilled jobs and labor force participation are important to maintain the favorable trend in inequality. An analysis using the data finds that to maintain robust consumption growth amid downward pressure from unfavorable demographic dynamics, an increase in consumption per person, primarily driven by income, will be necessary. This underscores the importance of policy measures to raise income growth, such as increasing productivity and encouraging labor force participation, especially among the elderly. The analysis shows that inequality, as well as the gender gap, has declined owing to a labor shift toward high-skill jobs and fewer unemployed household heads. In order to maintain these favorable trends, policies to encourage a shift toward higher skilled jobs and labor force participation, such as strengthening active labor market policies and addressing skill mismatches, will be important.
Keywords:
labor productivity growth; productivity growth decomposition; AI exposure; consumption analysis; D. AI preparedness; Productivity; Labor productivity; Income; Western Europe; Global; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Slovak Republic: 2025 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
The 2025 Article IV Consultation with Slovak Republic discusses that economic growth accelerated to 2 percent in 2024 from 1.4 percent in 2023. Private consumption was the main driver fueled by positive real wage growth, the extension of energy support, and more generous pensions. Safeguarding Slovakia’s strong fiscal framework is essential for the credibility of the consolidation effort. The financial sector appears resilient to stress, reflecting a healthy level of buffers and profitability, though some risks remain. Slovakia needs structural reforms to diversify its economy, sustain productivity growth, increase the labor force, and further reduce carbon emissions. Deepening the European single market would allow innovative firms to leverage economies of scale and facilitate cross-border flows of capital including venture capital which are critical for start-ups. Sustained efforts to strengthen governance, reduce vulnerabilities to corruption, and enhance judicial independence would help lift the economy’s resilience and growth potential.
Keywords:
missions to Slovak Republic; FSAP finding; currency of the Slovak Republic; IMF Policy recommendation; FSAP missions to Slovak Republic; FSAP participation; national expenditure; core inflation; Fiscal consolidation; Productivity; Gender inequality; Global
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Industrial Policies: Handle with Care
Sandra Baquie
,
Yueling Huang
,
Florence Jaumotte
,
Jaden Kim
,
Rafael Machado Parente
, and
Samuel Pienknagura
Industrial policies (IPs) are increasingly implemented, necessitating a reassessment of their benefits and costs. This study examines their economic and geopolitical drivers and their impact on targeted sectors. While IPs yield moderate and uneven economic gains, they are more effective when addressing highly-distorted upstream sectors with suitable tools. Structural reforms generally offer greater benefits and strengthen the link between IPs and economic performance. However, IPs may lead to significant fiscal costs and unintended spillovers, potentially accelerating economic fragmentation. Therefore, careful management of IPs is crucial.
Keywords:
Industrial Policies; Economic Performance; Externalities; Spillovers; Policy consideration; drivers of IPs; ips target; correlates of IPs; protectionist IPS; trading partner; value chain; Export subsidies; Structural policies; Structural reforms; Total factor productivity; Global; East Asia
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Belgium: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper examines intertwined challenges such as increasing public investment, fostering digitization, and supporting the green transition as part of fiscal consolidation in Belgium. There is significant scope to improve the coordination and burden sharing of fiscal consolidation and public investment among federal and federated entities. Clearly defined and communicated national goals would help anchor firms’ expectation and guide their long-term strategies and investments in line with sustainability objectives. Fostering higher public investment in the green transition requires harmonizing energy policies, delivering clear market signals, and phasing out or repurposing fossil fuel subsidies. Belgium has significant opportunities to enhance its digital and energy infrastructure, which are critical for closing competency gaps and achieving a successful green transition. The energy sector faces challenges due to high greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels, necessitating increased public investment to support clean energy initiatives. The government needs to reallocate funds from existing subsidies for fossil fuels to green investment and measures that support renewable energy adoption and technological innovation.
Keywords:
B. firm characteristic; D. firm access; firm DYNAMICS; Project preparation; wage bill; Public investment spending; Infrastructure; Total factor productivity; Education spending; Europe; Global
Cover Selected Issues Papers
Artificial Intelligence in Qatar: Assessing the Potential Economic Impacts
Tongfang Yuan
Qatar has been actively preparing to embrace the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), allowing it to lead its Emerging Market peers in AI readiness. Qatar’s AI exposure has increased significantly over the years, and increasing AI adoption is assessed to yield more opportunities than risks for the country’s labor force, thanks to the private sector’s contribution in increasing jobs that are more likely to benefit from AI-driven productivity gains. Scenario analyses suggest that increasing AI adoption, supported by policy reforms to boost human capital, innovation and domestic knowledge spillovers, could generate sizeable labor productivity gains over the medium term.
Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence (AI); labor demand; productivity; skills; Qatar; AI adoption; productivity gain; Qatar's AI exposure; artificial intelligence in Qatar; potential of artificial intelligence; Labor force; Labor productivity; Global