Belgium: Selected Issues

Belgium: Selected Issues
ISBN-10
1484346068
ISBN-13
9781484346068
Series
Belgium
Category
Business & Economics
Pages
27
Language
English
Published
2018-03-08
Publisher
International Monetary Fund
Author
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.

Description

This Selected Issues paper analyzes productivity growth in Belgium. It highlights that Belgium’s subdued productivity growth can be explained by a combination of sectoral employment shifts, barriers to competition, the declining quality of infrastructure, and an aging workforce. The shift of employment toward lower productivity service sectors, common to many advanced economies, has been more pronounced in Belgium and explains half of the productivity gap with neighboring countries. Population aging is another secular factor that has contributed to the productivity slowdown. In addition, barriers to competition in some service sectors have lowered productivity growth and raised rents in these sectors.

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