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 28-29 March 2019 Bolzano, Italy
The Workshop
The OECD Global Forum on Productivity (GFP) and the Spatial Productivity Lab (SPL) at the OECD Trento Centre for Local Development, in collaboration with the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, organised a workshop on Spatial Dimensions of Productivity on 28-29 March 2019 in Bolzano, Italy.
The aim of this workshop was to gather policy makers, academics, practitioners from national and sub-national administration, and OECD experts to discuss the challenges opportunities and implications of spatial factors for aggregate productivity developments.
Rationale
Productivity is the main determinant of living standards
Productivity is the main determinant of living standards. Economies that are more productive generate greater ability to support and enhance wellbeing of their citizens via higher incomes, better infrastructure, more services and improved sustainability of welfare systems. OECD countries have been confronted with decreasing and persistently low aggregate productivity growth, declining business dynamism and job reallocation rates, and increasing regional productivity disparities. To what extent are these trends related?
What can policy do to revert them?
Empirical analysis shows that effective governance arrangements, international and regional openness and connectedness, development and fast diffusion of innovative technologies and best practices -- including in the provision of public services and deployment of smart infrastructure -- and the efficient allocation of skilled and creative workers across the national territory can enhance productivity growth of regions and nations.
The spatial dimensions of productivity
The importance of efficiently allocating natural, human and technological resources, however, highlights the significance of the spatial dimension in the productivity agenda as synergies between knowledge, skills, technologies and agglomeration factors need to be leveraged upon in order to boost the contribution of local efficiency improvements to overall productivity growth, also by finding tailored solutions for specific places. The spatial dimensions of productivity are becoming increasingly more important as global megatrends, such as globalisation, digitalisation and ageing, affect localities differently along the urban-rural continuum.
Themes
- National and local public sector efficiency: implications for productivity
- Mobility within and across regions: misallocation or growth potential?
- Infrastructure in a digital and globalised world: What’s required to bridge regional divides?
- Promoting innovation and productivity diffusion: skills and innovation in regional and local eco systems
Participation
The event was open to policy makers, experts, civil society and all interested parties upon registration.
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