9 February 2015: “Determined and systematic action” is necessary across a broad range of policy areas to restore healthy growth, and ensure gains are broadly shared, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) 2015 ‘Going for Growth’ report. The report examines the effect of pro-growth structural reforms on income inequality, and recommends efforts by both advanced and emerging economies to promote more inclusive growth.

OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, speaking at the report’s launch, observed that rising inequalities are “undermining the social fabric [and] having an adverse impact on growth.” He recommended policy packages that “can stimulate growth, reduce income dispersion and promote inclusion,” and called for “implementing reforms that raise the job opportunities and earnings potential of low-skilled workers, help young people get a step on the job labor and improve the labor market opportunities of women” to promote inclusive economic growth.

Priorities for reviving growth and making it inclusive, the report finds, include labor market regulation, education and training, innovation policies, tax and benefit systems, and trade and investment rules. It also finds that the pace of reforms is quicker in emerging economies compared to advanced economies. Labor productivity is the primary driver of long-term growth, according to the report.

The report also addresses trade-offs between improving economic growth and living standards, and other well-being objectives such as reducing income inequality and mitigating environmental pressures. For example, it considers whether policies promoting growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may have contributed to widening inequalities, and addresses the relationship between economic growth and environmental pressures.

It suggests that flexible environmental policies that are neutral with respect to technological choices and minimize competition barriers can promote environmental protection without hindering economic productivity.

OECD has published the Going for Growth series since 2005.

OECD launched the report at a meeting of the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, which took place from 9-10 February 2015, in Istanbul, Turkey. [OECD Press Release] [OECD Secretary General Statement] [Publication: Executive Summary] [IISD RS Story on G20 Finance Meeting]