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The failure of the neoclassical growth model to account for differences in output per worker across countries has suggested that these differences should be driven by cross-country differences in total factor productivity (TFP). This paper discusses various measures of productivity and its determinants for the OECD countries from different dimensions: (i) the measurement perspective; (ii) evidence on the evolution of productivity levels across OECD countries; and (iii) a critical review of the theoretical and empirical issues regarding the determinants of cross-country productivity differentials.

Labor --- Macroeconomics --- Production and Operations Management --- Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity: General --- Measurement of Economic Growth --- Aggregate Productivity --- Cross-Country Output Convergence --- Economywide Country Studies: Europe --- Macroeconomics: Production --- Production --- Cost --- Capital and Total Factor Productivity --- Capacity --- Human Capital --- Skills --- Occupational Choice --- Labor Productivity --- Labor Economics: General --- Labour --- income economics --- Productivity --- Total factor productivity --- Labor productivity --- Human capital --- Industrial productivity --- Labor economics --- United States

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Selon les estimations, la croissance economique en Afrique subsaharienne a connu une deceleration, passant de 2,5% en 2017 a 2,3% en 2018. Elle est donc inferieure a la croissance de la population pour la quatrieme annee consecutive. La croissance regionale en 2018 est inferieure de 0,4 point de pourcentage au rythme projete dans l'edition d'Africa Pulse d'octobre 2018. Ce ralentissement a ete plus prononce au cours de la premiere moitie de 2018, refletant une faiblesse des exportations parmi les grands exportateurs de petrole de la region (Nigeria et Angola) a la suite d'une diminution de la production petroliere accompagnant des cours internationaux du petrole brut plus eleves mais volatils. A cela s'ajoute une contraction plus forte de l'activite economique au Soudan et un ralentissement generalise de la croissance parmi les pays exigeant peu de ressources.Les pays d'Afrique subsaharienne fragiles ont fait des efforts considerables pour echapper a la fragilite. Les organisations economiques regionales et sous-regionales encouragent la cooperation economique et s'attaquent aux problemes de la securite et du retour de la paix, qui vont au-dela des frontieres nationales.La these du theme special de cette edition d'Africa Pulse est que l'economie numerique ouvre de nouvelles voies vers une croissance inclusive, l'innovation, la creation d'emplois, la prestation de services et la reduction de la pauvrete en Afrique. Si le continent a fait de serieux progres en matiere de connectivite mobile, il est encore a la traine du reste du monde en matiere d'acces a la large bande. A peine 27% de sa population ont acces a l'Internet, peu de ses citoyens ont un identifiant numerique, ses entreprises adoptent lentement les technologies numeriques et peu de ses gouvernements investissent de facon strategique dans le developpement d'infrastructures, de services, de competences et d'entrepreneuriat du numerique.

Commodity Prices --- Economic Growth --- Fiscal Policy --- French Translation --- GDP --- Gross Domestic Product --- Growth --- Infrastructure --- Macroeconomic Analysis --- Metals Exporters --- Monetary Policy --- Oil Sector --- Public Debt

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Economic growth in the Sub-Saharan Africa region has been plagued by a series of shocks-wars, political instability, natural disasters, epidemics, terms-of-trade deterioration, and sudden stops in capital inflows-that have had lingering effects on productivity and growth. Within the overall productivity gap of the region are substantial differences across the sectors of economic activity and production units. Boosting Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policies and Institutions to Promote Efficiency documents the productivity trends in Sub-Saharan Africa in three different dimensions, assessing productivity at the aggregate level, the sectoral level, and the establishment level. It characterizes the evolution of productivity in the region relative to other countries and regions, as well as country groups in Africa, classified by their degree of natural resource abundance and condition of fragility. The volume suggests that the persistence of the productivity gap in Africa vis-a-vis the technological frontier can be attributed to the slow accumulation of physical and human capital relative to the region's growing population, as well as the poor allocation of these resources. These allocative inefficiencies are the outcome of policies and institutions that introduce distortions in the decision-making process of individuals. Hence, the volume assesses the implications of production decisions across agricultural farms and manufacturing firms. It presents evidence on aggregate productivity from the perspective of production units, using recent household surveys for farmers and firm-level surveys for select countries, as well as frontier estimation techniques. It documents the extent of severe resource misallocation across agricultural and manufacturing production units. These distortions decelerate the growth of the production units, disincentivize their adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies, and reduce the ability of their peers to learn new techniques. Boosting Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa highlights the adoption of digital technologies to reduce some of these market frictions. Mobile money has increased financial inclusion in several countries, and digital financial technologies have given individuals access to savings instruments and loan products. Enhancing access to credit can help individuals invest in schooling and overcome the costs of formality. The volume discusses further avenues of research that may provide additional insights on the productivity dynamics across countries in the region, and it identifies the different channels of policy transmission to enhance productivity. The empirical work presented can help to guide the design of policy in the region.

E-books --- Agriculture productivity --- Farm productivity --- Firm productivity --- Fragility --- Policy Agenda --- Productivity growth

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Growth in sub-Saharan Africa has slightly recovered in 2019 (2.6 percent) from 2.5 percent in2018. Economic recovery continues at a sluggish pace with growth in the region expected to pickup to 3 .1 percent in 2020 and 3 .2 percent in 2021.Accelerating poverty reduction in Africa requires action in four policy areas: fertility reduction,leveraging the food system on and off the farm, addressing risk and conflict, and providing morepublic financing to the poverty reduction agenda.Sustaining growth and eradicating poverty calls for policy solutions to empower African women inthe following dimensions: building the right skills, relieving capital constraints, securing land rights,connecting women to labor, addressing social norms that limit women's economic opportunities,and boosting the capacity of the next generation.

Commodity Prices --- Economic Growth --- Fiscal Policy --- GDP --- Gross Domestic Product --- Growth --- Infrastructure --- Macroeconomic Analysis --- Metals Exporters --- Monetary Policy --- Oil Sector --- Public Debt

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In the post-global financial crisis period, the financing of countercyclical policies led not only to a reduction in the fiscal surpluses across Sub-Saharan African countries, but also an increase in their levels of indebtedness. Although public debt for the region in 2018 was still below that of the pre-debt forgiveness period, the risk profile of public debt has sharply increased. The share of concessional public debt has been declining while that owed to private creditors and non-Paris Club bilateral creditors has been rising. The resulting reconfiguration of public debt has led to increased debt service in the region. Hence, the higher risk profile of debt and rising payments might lower the threshold for debt distress in the region. Addressing public debt vulnerabilities requires the buildup of external and fiscal buffers by conducting prudent fiscal policies and implementing growth-enhancing reforms, and the strengthening of debt management practices. However, the policy toolkit can be enlarged by gradually moving from debt management to balance-sheet management of the public sector, and policies to boost the efficiency of public investment.

Bond Issue --- Business Cycles and Stabilization Policies --- Capital Flows --- Countercyclical Policy --- Debt Composition --- Debt Markets --- Debt Service Burden --- Debt Sustainability --- Economic Adjustment and Lending --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Fiscal and Monetary Policy --- Fiscal Trends --- International Economics and Trade --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth