Belgium: Selected Issues

March 8, 2018

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Belgium: Selected Issues, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2018) accessed November 8, 2024

Summary

This Selected Issues paper analyzes productivity growth in Belgium. It highlights that Belgium’s subdued productivity growth can be explained by a combination of sectoral employment shifts, barriers to competition, the declining quality of infrastructure, and an aging workforce. The shift of employment toward lower productivity service sectors, common to many advanced economies, has been more pronounced in Belgium and explains half of the productivity gap with neighboring countries. Population aging is another secular factor that has contributed to the productivity slowdown. In addition, barriers to competition in some service sectors have lowered productivity growth and raised rents in these sectors.

Subject: Expenditure, Infrastructure, Labor productivity, National accounts, Production, Productivity, Public investment spending, Total factor productivity

Keywords: CR, Firms total factor productivity, Frontloaded investment boost, GDP, Global, Infrastructure, ISCR, Labor productivity, Productivity, Productivity growth, Productivity slowdown, Productivity-enhancing reform option, Public Investment, Public investment spending, Total factor productivity

Publication Details

Pages:

27
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Country Report No. 2018/072
Stock No:

1BELEA2018006
ISBN:

9781484346068
ISSN:

1934-7685

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