Attitude towards women Estonia 2017 OECD economic survey overview
ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
OECD ECONOMIC SURVEYS: ESTONIA © OECD 2017
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The capacity of childcare services for children below 2 years old is being increased, as recommended in past Surveys OECD, 2015 and OECD, 2012. Participation of children aged
0-2 in pre-school education has increased significantly from 20 to 34 in 2016. With funding from the European Regional Fund around 2 300 childcare places will be created in
larger cities and suburbs as well as in municipalities where needs are unmet European Commission, 2017. Local governments will also be given more flexibility in organising the
provision of high-quality early childhood education and care possibilities based on the needs of families.
Unleashing productive investment and export performance
Deepening participation in global trade
Trade and foreign direct investment can channel knowledge and innovation into the economy and thereby increase productivity. The economic performance of Estonian
exporting firms is higher than their non-exporting counterparts, suggesting that deepening integration in global trade would contribute to reducing the currently high productivity gap
with the OECD’s best performing countries. Higher productivity in exporting firms is due to both self-selection i.e. more productive firms are the ones that tend to become exporters
and to productivity increases after the firms enter export markets Wagner, 2012; Masso and
Vahter, 2015; Benkovskis et al., 2017. Estonia is already well integrated in global trade, and exports have been resilient
Figure 19, Panel A. On average around 12 of firms export, while in OECD countries less than 10 of firms are directly engaged in international trade OECD, 2016b. Around a half
of private-sector employment is sustained by foreign demand, twice as much as the OECD average. Nevertheless, low and medium value added goods and services dominate, and
aggregate value added per worker remains modest, even if comparable to that of its peers Figure 20. Gains in export market shares have been less than in its EU catch-up peers, to
whom Estonian businesses may lose out, particularly in terms of price competitiveness Figure 19, Panel B.
Figure 19. Export orientation and gains in export market shares are comparable to peers
1. Simple average of Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia. 2. Export performance is measured as actual growth in exports relative to the growth of the country’s export market.
Source: OECD Economic Outlook 101 Database updated with information available on 1 September 2017.
1 2 http:dx.doi.org10.1787888933581410
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