April 5, 2018/IMF
The IMF will release the Analytical Chapters of the April 2018 World Economic Outlook and hold a webinar to discuss them at 10:00 a.m. Washington DC time (14:00 GMT) on April 9, 2018.
The webinar on the release of the chapters will be webcast live on imf.org and the IMF Press Center. Journalists are encouraged to submit questions on the IMF Press Center ahead of the start of the event.
Who: Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, Deputy Director, Research Department
Oya Celasun, Chief, World Economic Studies Division, Research Department
Helge Berger, Assistant Director, Research Department
Francesco Grigoli, Lead author of Chapter 2
Wenjie Chen, Lead author of Chapter 3
Florence Jaumotte, Lead author of Chapter 4
Moderators:
Heather Long, Washington Post
David Dollar, Brookings Institute
When: 10:00 a.m. Washington DC time (14:00 GMT), April 9, 2018
What: Analytical Chapters of the World Economic Outlook
How: IMF Press Center (live web stream)
When: From April 6, 2018
Embargo lifts: 10:00 a.m. Washington DC time (14:00 GMT), April 9, 2018
WEO Analytical Chapter 2: Labor Force Participation in Advanced Economies
This chapter finds that aging and the drag from the global financial crisis can explain a significant share of the decline in the participation of men in the past decade. However, the rising participation of women underscores the importance of other factors in shaping participation decisions. The analysis suggests that labor market policies and institutions, together with structural changes and gains in educational attainment, account for the bulk of the dramatic increase in the labor force attachment of prime-age women and older workers in the past three decades. On the other hand, technological advances such as automation, while beneficial for the economy as a whole, have weighed on participation rates by a moderate amount.
WEO Analytical Chapter 3: Shifts in Global Manufacturing Activity
This chapter aims to provide new evidence on the role of manufacturing in the dynamics of output per worker and in the level and distribution of labor earnings. The two main takeaways from the analysis are that (1) a shift in employment from manufacturing to services need not hinder economy-wide productivity growth and the prospects for developing economies to gain ground toward advanced-economy income levels, and (2) labor earnings are not necessarily higher or more evenly distributed in the manufacturing sector. Nonetheless, the displacement of workers from manufacturing to services has coincided with a rise in income inequality.
WEO Spillover Chapter: Is Productivity Growth Shared in a Globalized Economy?
This chapter takes a closer look at the process of international technology diffusion. It examines whether globalization means that knowledge from technology leaders is spreading faster than it used to, and how this impacts the capacity of other economies to innovate and be more productive. The methodology also lends itself to discuss the influence of another aspect of globalization—increased international competition. Better understanding of how productivity growth is shared across the global economy can help explain cross-country differences in income per capita and technology and shed light on the policies that can influence them.
