Productivity Growth in the Era of Debt, Diseases and Disasters

Productivity growth plays a vital role in economic development, per capita income growth and poverty reduction besides being a single metric and indicator of technological progress. Measurement of productivity growth is a core constituent of analysis of economic growth. Hence, periodic measurement of trends in productivity growth and analysis of its drivers will be helpful to identify appropriate policies for sustaining and accelerating productivity. In the context of global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008–09 and the ongoing economic crisis unleashed by COVID-19 pandemic with their long-lasting impacts on productivity and economic growth, the World Bank publication titled Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers and Policies assumes enormous significance from a policy perspective. By incorporating the productivity impacts of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this volume is not only up to date but also well-timed. For the purpose of analysis, the authors have ­divided the world into economic classes, namely, advanced eco­nomies, emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), and low-income countries; and into regions, namely Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, Middle-East and North Africa, East Asia and Pacific, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.

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