OECD Economic Surveys Finland Volume 2006/5 – May 2006 OECD Economic Surveys Finland 2006 ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD. OECD Publishing disseminates widely the results of the Organisation’s statistics gathering and research on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the conventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its members. This survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member countries. Also available in French © OECD 2006 No reproduction, copy, transmission or translation of this publication may be made without written permission. Applications should be sent to OECD Publishing:
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[email protected]). TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of contents Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Assessment and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 1. Recent performance and key challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An assessment of recent performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rapid ageing will have a substantial fiscal cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Achieving the government’s employment rate target requires a wider range of measures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The productivity gap highlights weaknesses in the sheltered sector . . . . . . . . . . . . The housing market: strengthening resilience and the effectiveness of policy . . . . An illustrative medium-term scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 16 22 25 29 29 31 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . .