--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-38/productivity-performances-and-policies-lessons-from-oecd-countries/" title: "Productivity Performances and Policies: Lessons from OECD Countries" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:53:10+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:53:10+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2020" ipm_keyword: - "convergence" - "cross-country" - "education" - "OECD" - "policy" - "product market regulation" - "productivity" - "R&D" - "slowdown" - "UCL" ipm_research_theme: - "Policy and institutions" ipm_country_focus: - "International" - "OECD" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Productivity Performances and Policies: Lessons from OECD Countries Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-38/productivity-performances-and-policies-lessons-from-oecd-countries/ # Productivity Performances and Policies: Lessons from OECD Countries [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-38-1-Smith.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Smith, Stephen. 2020. “Productivity Performances and Policies: Lessons from OECD Countries.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 38 (Spring 2020): 3–28. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-38/productivity-performances-and-policies-lessons-from-oecd-countries/ ## Author: - Stephen Smith University College London ## IPM Issue 38 Spring 2020 pp. 3–28 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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Using a panel framework covering 35+ OECD countries, it investigates the role of policy fundamentals (product market regulation, R&D support, education systems, labour market flexibility) in explaining divergent productivity trajectories. The analysis finds considerable heterogeneity in both the timing and severity of slowdowns and identifies policy lessons from high-performing OECD countries. Cet article examine les différences transnationales dans la performance de productivité dans les pays de l’OCDE, analysant pourquoi certains pays ont évité ou surmonté plus efficacement le ralentissement post-2004. À l’aide d’un cadre de panel couvrant plus de 35 pays de l’OCDE, il examine le rôle des politiques fondamentales (réglementation des marchés de produits, soutien à la R-D, systèmes éducatifs, flexibilité du marché du travail) pour expliquer les trajectoires de productivité divergentes. L’analyse révèle une hétérogénéité considérable dans le calendrier et la gravité des ralentissements et identifie des enseignements politiques tirés des pays de l’OCDE affichant de bonnes performances. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-38-1-Smith.pdf)