Abstract. This note briefly addresses two questions related to growth performance in the OECD area, namely: 1) why have so few OECD countries seen an increase in productivity related to investment in Informa- tion and Communications Technology (ICT); 2) how does the environment for firm creation affect growth in OECD countries? The note points to some recent empirical work with firm-level data on these issues and suggests that further cross-country research with such data could be very helpful. Key words: Productivity, information technology, growth, enterprise dynamics JEL Classifications: O33, O40, O57 1 Introduction Growth and productivity are on the policy agenda in most OECD countries, as governments seek to address problems related to sluggish growth, such as low employment growth, high unemployment or fiscal deficits. In addition, the European Union has set it self the objective at the 2000 Lisbon Summit of becoming ‘‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world’’. Achieving this objective and strengthening growth performance in the European Union has thus far proven difficult, however. This note briefly addresses two questions related to growth performance in the OECD area, namely: 1) why have so few OECD countries experienced an increase in productivity related to their investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT); 2) how does the environment for new firm creation affect growth in OECD countries? Senior Economist, Economic Analysis and Statistics Division, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. This paper reflects the views of the author and not necessarily those of the organisation or its member countries. IEEP (2005) 2:1–6 DOI: 10.1007/s10368-004-0020-y Forum Financial markets, ICT dynamics and growth in OECD countries Growth differentials in OECD countries: some reflections Dirk Pilat Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2, Rue Andre´-Pascal, 75775 Paris, CEDEX 16, France, (e-mail: dirk.pilat@oecd.org) International Economics and Economic Policy Ó Springer-Verlag 2005