Every year the OECD lays out five key areas for structural reform necessary for each member country (and the BRIICS nations) to spur growth. In this year's Going for Growth report, many countries get high marks for making key reforms that the OECD expects to provide more stable long term growth. The authors chalk up the changes as a response to "market pressures in the context of the euro area crisis and by discussions and co-ordinated efforts in multilateral settings such as the G20." Market pressures appear to have played an important role in the intensification of reforms, as indicated by the significant correlation between reform responsiveness and changes in government bond yields over the 2011-12 period: ● Euro area countries under financial assistance programmes or direct market pressures (e.g. Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain), are among the OECD countries whose responsiveness was highest (Figure 1.2, Panel A), and also where it increased most compared with the previous period (Figure 1.2, Panel B). Accession to the Euro area in 2011 – in concomitance with a steep recession – may have acted as reform catalyst for Estonia, who also ranks among the most responsive countries. ● Furthermore, as reflected in the comparison between simple and adjusted responsiveness rates, the crisis led most countries under financial markets pressure to enact reforms in traditionally politically-sensitive areas, e.g. labour market regulation and social welfare systems. ● In contrast, less progress has been achieved in other euro area countries, in particular those with a current account surplus (e.g. Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands). Yet, reforms are also needed in these countries, in particular in areas that may help intra-euro area rebalancing, such as boosting competition in non-tradable sectors. ● Despite exposure to financial market scrutiny, Iceland and Slovenia have made no or very little reform progress in the areas identified in 2011. While market pressures have played a catalyst role, allowing for long-overdue reforms to be undertaken, some concerns may arise over the effects of reforms in a context of strong budgetary retrenchment and weak activity. Yet, it can be argued that some of the measures taken have already helped by boosting confidence and bringing some market relief. This may have been particularly the case of policy changes, such as pension reforms, that directly contributed to restore medium-term public debt sustainability, though reforms aimed at restoring competitiveness over time will also help to underpin confidence. Still, it is clear that the broader benefits from reforms may take more time than usual to materialize in the current environment, in part due to possible delaying effects from remaining dysfunctions in financial markets. It is important to avoid such delays eroding popular support and to ensure that legislated changes be effectively implemented in order to reap the long-term gains and preserve the positive initial confidence effects. Read the full report here .