Browse by: "2015"

The report provides a comprehensive picture on the territorial differences in many well-being dimensions across the 31 Mexican states and the Federal District. It represents a sound base for state and local policy makers, political leaders and citizens to better understand people’s living conditions, gauge progress in various aspects of economy and society and use these indicators to improve the design and implementation of policies. It is a part of the “How’s Life in Your Region?” work produced by the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate at the behest of the Regional Development Policy Committee.

The Dutch food, agriculture and horticulture sector is innovative and export oriented, with high value-added along the food chain and significant world export shares for many products. Continuous adoption of innovation has permitted to reach high levels of productivity and sustained productivity growth, in particular at the farm level, in a context of increasing environmental regulatory constraints. The challenge is whether marginal improvements in current technologies and know-how will be enough to pursue current rates of productivity growth – sustainably – and whether the innovation system will be able to generate the new ideas that are needed to face future challenges, including those linked to climate change.

Les régions et les villes sont aux premières lignes face aux défis auxquels sont confrontés les pays de l’OCDE aujourd’hui, allant de l’éducation et de l’emploi aux soins de santé et à la qualité de vie. « Réussir »  les régions et les villes, adapter les politiques aux spécificités des territoires où les gens résident et travaillent, est essentiel pour améliorer le bien-être des citoyens. Cette deuxième édition des Perspectives régionales de l’OCDE vise précisément à soutenir les pays en ce sens. La partie I examine les tendances et les défis de nos jours. La partie II est axée sur les villes, en se tournant vers l’investissement public, les cadres de politique urbaine et les liens urbain-rural. La partie III présente un débat autour du thème de l’avenir des villes, avec cinq contributions d’éminents responsables de politiques publiques de haut niveau et universitaires. La partie IV propose des fiches pays sur le développement régional pour les 34 pays membres de l’OCDE.

Pour l’essentiel, le secteur canadien de l’alimentation et de l’agriculture est compétitif et axé sur les exportations. Bien que les défis et opportunités du secteur agricole canadien varient nettement selon les régions, le secteur agricole primaire bénéficie d’abondantes ressources naturelles et les contraintes environnementales auxquelles il est assujetti sont limitées. Du fait de son climat et de sa géographie, le Canada diffère notamment de nombreux autres pays exportateurs nets dans la mesure où son agriculture représente une part de l’utilisation des terres et de l’eau bien moindre. Les principales atteintes à l’environnement qui lui sont dues tiennent à la pollution de l’eau par les éléments nutritifs localisée dans certains endroits. Les gains de productivité résultant de l’innovation et des changements structurels ont entraîné une hausse de la production et des revenus sans trop peser sur les ressources. Le secteur agricole canadien, axé sur les exportations, doit impérativement être capable d’innover pour tirer profit de l’augmentation et de l’évolution de la demande mondiale de produits agroalimentaires.

This review finds that while Mexico has taken important steps in addressing the urban challenges in the Valle de México, Mexico’s largest metropolitan area, there is a need for major metropolitan governance reform.  Serious urban governance failings are inhibiting adequate responses to critical urban development priorities - regeneration, access to adequate housing, reliable and safe public transport, and environmental protection. Several measures are currently being implemented. However, these tools and reforms will not produce the desired solutions to urban problems in the absence of metropolitan thinking, strategic regional planning, and improved co-ordination and collaboration across levels of government.

Australia’s agriculture and food industries are well placed to contribute to the economy’s future growth given the robust prospects of global food demand and the continuing high international competitiveness of these sectors. There are, however, important challenges that call for new ways to exploit agricultural resources and human capital. The decade-long decline in agricultural productivity growth needs to be overcome, coupled with the need to accommodate uncertainties about the impacts of climate change and to respond to societal demands in the areas of sustainable development and animal welfare. The agro-food sector also needs to absorb exchange-rate and cost pressures created by the mining boom. To tap additional opportunities of the higher value food segments, Australian agri-businesses need new knowledge and capabilities to seize demand signals and value opportunities, particularly from more affluent consumers in Asian markets.

The Canadian food and agriculture sector is for the most part competitive and export-oriented: although challenges and opportunities vary significantly between regions, primary agriculture benefits from an abundance of natural resources and faces limited environmental constraints. Negative environmental impacts of agriculture relate mainly to local water pollution by agricultural nutrients. Productivity growth, resulting from innovation and structural change, has driven production and income growth without significantly increasing pressure on resource use. Nonetheless, the capacity to innovate is crucial to take advantage of the growing and changing demand for food and agricultural products at the global level.

This report delivers evidence-based and practical recommendations on how to better support employment and economic development in Israel. It builds on sub-national data analysis and consultations with local stakeholders in Haifa and Yizreel. It provides a comparative framework to understand the role of the local level in contributing to more and better quality jobs. The report can help national and local policy makers in Israel build effective and sustainable partnerships at the local level, which join-up efforts and achieve stronger outcomes across employment, training, and economic development policies. Co-ordinated policies can help workers find suitable jobs, while also stimulating entrepreneurship and productivity, which increases the quality of life and prosperity within a community as well as throughout the country.

Agriculture and the agro-processing sector in Brazil have shown impressive growth over the past two decades. This has largely been driven by productivity improvements and structural adjustment resulting from broad economic reforms, as well as new technologies developed by agricultural science. Government policy and industry initiatives are increasingly focused on the sustainability of agricultural development.

This report delivers evidence-based and practical recommendations on how to better support employment and economic development in Sweden. It builds on sub-national data analysis and consultations with local stakeholders in Galve and Stockholm. It provides a comparative framework to understand the role of the local level in contributing to more and better quality jobs. The report can help national and local policy makers in Sweden build more effective and sustainable partnerships at the local level, which join-up efforts and achieve stronger outcomes across employment, training, and economic development policies. Co-ordinated policies can help workers find suitable jobs, while also stimulating entrepreneurship and productivity, which increases the quality of life and prosperity within a community as well as throughout the country.

This report looks at a variety of inclusive innovation initiatives and innovative products aimed at improving the welfare of lower-income and excluded groups, notably in terms of essential public services (education, infrastructure and health). It discusses the policy trade-offs between traditional innovation policies and a more inclusive innovation approach, and provides recommendations for aligning current policies. It also deals with the impacts of innovation and innovation policies on industrial and territorial inclusiveness, describing how information and communication technology (ICT) and technology diffusion may influence smaller firms’ chances of succeeding with their innovations.

Ce rapport se fonde sur l’analyse de données infranationales et sur la consultation de parties prenantes locales dans six études de cas locales dans trois régions (Rhône Alpes, Ile de France et Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur). Il établit un cadre de comparaison permettant d’appréhender le rôle de l’échelon local en faveur d’emplois plus nombreux et de meilleure qualité. Il pourra aider les responsables des politiques nationales, régionales et locales en France à bâtir au niveau local des partenariats efficaces et pérennes, porteurs de synergies et de résultats plus solides du point de vue des mesures prises pour l’emploi, la formation et le développement économique. Des politiques coordonnées peuvent aider les travailleurs à trouver l’emploi qui leur convient tout en stimulant l’entrepreneuriat et la productivité, et aboutir ainsi à une meilleure qualité de vie et à plus de prospérité aussi bien au niveau local que, globalement, dans le pays.

China needs a new model of urbanisation to match the shift to a new model of growth. For decades, both urbanisation and growth have been based on robust export demand, cheap labour, cheap land and artificially low pricing of environmental externalities. None of these can support growth or urban development in the future. This review examines the major challenges associated with the shift to a new model of urbanisation, looking at a range such issues as social and labour-market policies, land use and transport planning, urban planning, urban governance and public finance. The review presents a new assessment of China’s major cities, which defines functional urban areas based on settlement patterns and commuting zones rather than cities defined as administrative units. The results show, among other things, that China has many more mega-cities, with populations above 10 million, than the official data suggest. The good news for China is that the reforms needed to foster what the authorities call “people-centred urbanisation”, while complex, are coherent with one another and supportive of the broader shift to a growth model that relies more on domestic demand and productivity growth.

This report delivers evidence-based and practical recommendations on how to better support employment and economic development in Flanders, Belgium. It builds on sub-national data analysis and consultations with local stakeholders in two case study areas (Antwerp and Limburg). It provides a comparative framework to understand the role of the local level in contributing to more and better quality jobs. The report can help national, regional, and local policy makers in Belgium build effective and sustainable partnerships at the local level, which join-up efforts and achieve stronger outcomes across employment, training, and economic development policies. Co-ordinated policies can help workers find suitable jobs, while also stimulating entrepreneurship and productivity, which increases the quality of life and prosperity within a community as well as throughout the country.