Productivity

In this paper, we use firm- and individual-level data to shed new light on these aggregate patterns and we examine changes in firm investment in physical capital and profitability.

From an economic point of view, the period since the recession that began in 2008 has been quite unlike any other period since at least the Second World War, including the periods after the recessions of the early 1980s and early 1990s. Indeed, the slowdown has lasted for longer, and its effects on the public finances, on household incomes and on productivity have been more marked even than was the case in the 1930s. This time really does seem to be different.

This paper uses individual data on employment and wages to shed light on the UK’s productivity puzzle.

A well-documented empirical result is that market expectations extracted from futures contracts on the federal funds rate are among the best predictors for the future course of monetary policy. The authors show how this information can be exploited to produce accurate forecasts of bond excess returns and to construct profitable investment strategies in bond markets.

We consider the impact of tax credits and income support programs on female education choice, employment, hours and human capital accumulation over the life-cycle.

This paper analyses the career progression of skilled and unskilled workers, with a focus on how careers are affected by economic downturns and whether formal skills, acquired early on, can shield workers from the effect of recessions.

This report uses business data to document what happened to a variety of indicators of labour hoarding, as well as investment and training, over the course of the 2008–09 recession.

This paper analyses the impact of informality on growth and wages in developing countries.

We use direct evidence on credit constraints to study their importance for household consumption growth and for welfare.

As Chancellor George Osborne prepares for his keynote statement on fiscal policy and the economy the IFS Green Budget assesses some of the issues he will have to deal with.