Guidance Note On Jobs And Growth Issues In Surveillance And Program Work Supplement On Country Case Studies

This supplement provides case studies of how countries around the world have addressed jobs and growth challenges, and how Fund staff have helped in this. The studies are meant to provide cross country experience. They share a broad structure, organized around four questions: ? What was the initial situation regarding growth, employment, and income distribution? ? What policy measures were implemented to enhance growth and employment and to even out the distribution of income? Were potential complementarities or trade-offs between enhancing growth, employment, and income distribution considered? ? How did Fund staff help the authorities? For example, in which areas did staff help the authorities analyze issues, how did staff go about analyzing issues, and what were the main considerations that shaped staff’s recommendations? ? What were the results of policy actions taken?

This paper empirically assesses the role of structural and institutional reforms in driving productivity growth across countries at different stages of development, using a distance-to-frontier framework. It gauges whether particular policies and reforms matter more for increasing productivity growth at the aggregate and sectoral levels for some emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) than others. Recognizing the possibility of time lags between reform implementation and reform payoffs, the paper also examines how productivity gains from various reforms evolve over the the short- and medium-term.

Government compensation and employment policies are important for the efficient delivery of public services which are crucial for the functioning of economies and the general prosperity of societies. On average, spending on the wage bill absorbs around one-fifth of total spending. Cross-country variation in wage spending reflects, in part, national choices about the government’s role in priority sectors, as well as variations in the level of economic development and resource constraints.

Interest in social spending issues has intensified over the last decade. This reflects concerns about rising inequality and the need to support vulnerable groups, especially in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. In line with this, the Fund has also increased its engagement on social spending issues. This paper outlines a strategy to guide IMF engagement on social spending issues going forward.

"The World of Work Report 2014" assembles new evidence based on a detailed examination of trends and policy innovations in over 140 developing countries. It finds that strategies that focus on promoting decent work opportunities tend to yield sustained development results. The report also provides an evidencebased contribution to the debate on the post2015 development agenda."

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