This series, published in cooperation with The McKinsey Global Institute, offers important ideas and provides a broad outlook on critical economic issues facing businesses and governments around the world. Consisting primarily of articles originally published in The McKinsey Quarterly, each volume combines the expert insights that leaders need to operate effectively in the global economy with the most current and authoritative practical insights available.

What factor most influences whether an economy will flourish or sink into poverty? Productivity. In this volume, experts examine the impact of productivity on a nation's economic health and identify barriers to productivity based on analyses of industries around the world.