Weak Productivity: The Role of Financial Factors and Policies
IMF Blog, January 8, 2018
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Romain Duval, Giuseppe Nicoletti, Fabrizio Zampolli
- Published: January 8, 2018
Context and problem statement
- Almost ten years after the onset of the global financial crisis productivity growth remains anaemic in advanced economies despite very easy monetary conditions, casting doubts on the sustainability of the cyclical recovery.
- The productivity slowdown started well before the crisis, which then amplified the problem.
- Central question: To what extent can this slowdown be ascribed to policies and financial factors, including loose monetary policy prior to 2008, corporate and bank balance sheet vulnerabilities, and the exceptional monetary and financial policy responses to the crisis?
Conference purpose and organizers
- Goal: Stimulate and inform the policy debate and open promising avenues for further research.
- Organized by: Bank for International Settlements, the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, supported by the Global Forum on Productivity.
- Event: Conference on Weak Productivity: The Role of Financial Factors and Policies held at OECD Headquarters in Paris, France on January 10 and 11.
- Publication/announcement date: January 8, 2018.
- Source context: IMFBlog; the IMF is described as an organization of 191 countries.
Key participants and program highlights
- Lectures by:
- Philippe Aghion (College de France and London School of Economics)
- Luigi Zingales (University of Chicago Booth School of Business)
- Panel discussion featuring:
- Claudio Borio (Head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements)
- Karolina Ekholm (State Secretary of the Swedish Ministry of Finance)
- Maurice Obstfeld (Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund)
- Access: Panel discussion available via live webcast; engagement encouraged via Twitter #FinProd2018.
Core analytical themes and questions addressed
- Panel focus: whether accommodative monetary policies have supported or instead hindered productivity growth, and implications for the course of monetary policy.
- Three dedicated research-session questions presented by authors:
1. Are credit and capital are misallocated between firms and industries, and if so, could policy reforms unleash significant productivity gains? 2. Have financial factors also affected productivity growth within existing firms, as well as the entry of new firms and the exit of weak ones? 3. How have financial systems and policies, as well as monetary policies, contributed to productivity growth?
Framing and intended audience
- Target audience: policymakers and top scholars in the fields of finance and productivity.
- Purpose: combine empirical and policy analysis to assess the role of financial factors and policies in weak productivity and to inform monetary and financial policy discussions.
Source: IMFBlog post "Weak Productivity: The Role of Financial Factors and Policies", January 8, 2018.
