Business investment: taking stock of the major policy drivers

Sa？etak Business investment in many advanced OECD countries has been weak following the 2007/08 financial and economic crisis. This is mostly due to the cyclical effects of weak domestic and foreign demand (the accelerator effect) (Lewis et al., 2014; OECD, 2016). Other factors include funding constraints, increased macroeconomic uncertainty and lower business confidence (Millar and Sutherland, 2016). Other structural factors may have also contributed to this trend of decline. In the longer run, weak investment can have a negative impact on potential growth. Policies should seek to give a boost to investment to prevent permanently lower levels of investment and economic growth. This short note overviews some of the important policy areas capable of helping to underpin business investment