0 0 Jean-Philippe Cotis, OECD Chief Economist Competitiveness and structural policy challenges for Italy: some comments

1 1 Relative unit labour costs have risen sharply

2 2 …notably vis-à-vis Germany

3 3 The deterioration in the trade balance has affected more intra than extra euro-area trade

4 4 Labour productivity has stalled over the past decade

5 5 Nominal wages have grown faster than in Germany

6 6 Inflation has been relatively high and persistent

7 7 Real labour cost have declined

8 8 Is the quality of trade specialisation deteriorating?

9 9 OECD Product market regulation remains strict in Italy despite substantial liberalisation

10 Cross-country differences in PMR may have contributed to divergent productivity trends

11 Employment protection legislation remains stringent in international comparison

12 Italy ranks low in terms of PhD graduates and business sector researchers

13 Italy has a much larger share of low-skilled workers than most other OECD countries