Browse by: "2018"
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Transport infrastructure is crucial to connect developing countries and help them to boost trade, growth and regional integration. This is because cross-border or long-distance roads and railways as well as international ports and airports are needed to move products and people around in a globalised world.
What can bilateral and multilateral development partners do to help connect developing countries through transport infrastructure? This report takes stock of continental and regional transport plans in Africa, Asia, Latin America and parts of Europe to place development co-operation in context. It then examines the strategies and activities of development partners for transport connectivity. It also takes a hard look at the allocation of official development finance for transport connectivity, particularly in relation to the distribution of private investment for the same types of infrastructure.
How large is the financing gap for transport connectivity to meet the Sustainable Development Goals? What can development partners do to fill this gap? How can they create an environment that can help mobilise more private resources? The report provides a comprehensive picture of the current state of play as well as food for thought on what can be done to move forward. It also features 16 profiles of development partners and their activities for improving transport connectivity.
This toolkit, based on existing good practice, aims to help governments in the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) to design and implement key instruments to promote environmental compliance and green business practices among small and medium-sized enterprises. Reducing the environmental impact of SMEs in both manufacturing and services is a key success factor in greening the economy. At the same time, improving environmental performance is a significant business opportunity for SMEs as important suppliers of goods and services. Developed under the EaP GREEN project, this report will be of interest to environmental and economic ministries, as well as business associations and non-governmental and academic institutions in EaP countries.
In times of growing economic inequality, improving equity in education becomes more urgent. While some countries and economies that participate in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have managed to build education systems where socio-economic status makes less of a difference to students’ learning and well-being, every country can do more.
Equity in Education: Breaking Down Barriers to Social Mobility shows that high performance and more positive attitudes towards schooling among disadvantaged 15-year-old students are strong predictors of success in higher education and work later on. The report examines how equity in education has evolved over several cycles of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). It identifies the policies and practices that can help disadvantaged students succeed academically and feel more engaged at school.
Using longitudinal data from five countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, and the United States), the report also describes the links between a student’s performance near the end of compulsory education and upward social mobility – i.e. attaining a higher level of education or working in a higher-status job than one’s parents.
The Testing Programme for the Testing of Manufactured Nanomaterials tested 11 manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs) to generate information including their physico-chemical properties, environmental fate, and environmental and mammalian toxicity. The aims of the project were to (1) review which OECD Test Guidelines (hereafter TGs) and non-TG in vitro assays were applied in the OECD Testing Programme; (2) verify, where possible, to what extent these assays were applicable for MNMs testing; (3) recognise limitations of each assay when used for MNM testing; and (4) identify issues that might need to be further addressed (e.g. by proposing modifications to existing TGs). The present report summarises the information extracted from dossiers, presents the evaluation of the information extracted from the dossiers, and identifies potential next steps (e.g. where modification of existing TGs, or proposals of new TGs or Guidance Documents (GDs) could be appropriate). The recommendations and observations presented in this report are only based on the information extracted from the dossiers and recent publications on specific TGs
The NEA has a long tradition of expertise in the area of nuclear emergency policy, planning, preparedness and management. Through its activities in this field, it offers member countries unbiased assistance on nuclear preparedness matters, with a view to facilitating improvements in nuclear emergency preparedness strategies and response at the international level. A central approach to this has been the preparation and conduct of the International Nuclear Emergency Exercise (INEX) series.
The Fifth International Nuclear Emergency Exercise (INEX-5) was developed specifically in response to member countries’ desire to test and demonstrate the value of changes put in place following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Exercise objectives focused on notification, communication and interfaces related to catastrophic events involving ionising radiation and/or radioactive material. The exercise was held during 2015 and 2016, with 22 countries participating in the exercise.
This report summarises the major evaluation outcomes of the national and regional exercises, policy level outcomes, recommendations and follow-up activities emerging from INEX-5 and the discussions at the INEX-5 International Workshop. A set of key needs were identified in areas such as real-time communication and information sharing among countries and international partners, improving crossborder and international co-ordination of protective measures and considering the mental health impacts on populations when implementing protective measures.
This study assesses the use of economic instruments for water resources management in Georgia and considers options for reform following the 2014 signature of an Association Agreement with the EU committing to alignment with the EU’s Water Framework Directive. This includes the systematic use of economic instruments, including water pricing, to recover the cost of water services provided to households, industry and farmers, among other measures.
Three main economic instruments are recommended in this study: 1) the introduction of a licensing regime and charges for both surface water and groundwater abstraction, 2) the restoration of a licencing and charging regime for all forms of water pollution, and 3) more rigorous enforcement of these measures, including more active monitoring and higher fines for offenders. Implementing these measures will be greatly facilitated by the enactment of the new Water Law now being examined by the government of Georgia.
The OECD reviews national and sector-specific public procurement regimes, to guide and support countries in combatting collusive practices. This review analyses Mexico's Social Security Institute procurement rules and practices in light of the OECD Recommendation and Guidelines on Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement.
The OECD reviews national and sector-specific public procurement regimes, to guide and support countries in combatting collusive practices. This review analyses Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission procurement rules and practices in light of the OECD Recommendation and Guidelines on Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement.
Are tax incentives the best way to encourage people to save for retirement? This publication assesses whether countries can improve the design of financial incentives to promote savings for retirement. After describing how different countries design financial incentives to promote savings for retirement in funded pensions, the study calculates the overall tax advantage that individuals may benefit from as a result of those incentives when saving for retirement. It then examines the fiscal cost of those incentives and their effectiveness in increasing retirement savings, and looks into alternative approaches to designing financial incentives. The study ends with policy guidelines on how to improve the design of financial incentives to promote savings for retirement, highlighting that depending on the policy objective certain designs of tax incentives or non-tax incentives may be more appropriate.
This report applies the lessons from the OECD’s analysis of disaster risk financing practices and the guidance in the OECD Recommendation on Disaster Risk Financing Strategies to the specific case of earthquakes. It provides an overview of the approaches that economies facing various levels of earthquake risk and economic development have taken to managing the financial impacts of earthquakes.
Infrastructure worldwide has suffered from chronic under-investment for decades and currently makes up more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. A deep transformation of existing infrastructure systems is needed for both climate and development, one that includes systemic conceptual and behavioural changes in the ways in which we manage and govern our societies and economies. This report is a joint effort by the OECD, UN Environment and the World Bank Group, supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. It focuses on how governments can move beyond the current incremental approach to climate action and more effectively align financial flows with climate and development priorities. The report explores six key transformative areas that will be critical to align financial flows with low-emission and resilient societies (planning, innovation, public budgeting, financial systems, development finance, and cities) and looks at how rapid socio-economic and technological developments, such as digitalisation, can open new pathways to low-emission, resilient futures.
Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2018 contributes to filling the knowledge gap in SME finance trends and conditions. This annual publication provides information on debt, equity, asset-based finance, and conditions for SME and entrepreneurship finance, complemented by an overview of recent policy measures to support access to finance. By providing a solid evidence base, the report supports governments in their actions to foster SME access to finance and encourages a culture of policy evaluation.
The 2018 report covers 43 countries world-wide. In addition to the core indicators on SME financing, it provides additional information on recent developments in capital market finance for SMEs, crowdfunding and related activities, and findings of demand-side surveys. It contains a thematic chapter on the evaluation of publicly supported credit guarantee schemes.
Intergovernmental fiscal frameworks, as considered by the OECD Network on Fiscal Relations Across Levels of Government, are a core driver of inclusive growth. Certain institutions and policies can contribute to a more equitable distribution of economic gains across jurisdictions and income groups, such as equalisation systems. In particular, the quality of public sector outcomes depends on how responsibilities and functions such as education or health care are shared across government levels. This implies that intergovernmental fiscal frameworks, which drive the division of roles of the central and sub-national governments, critically influence growth and the inclusiveness of an economy. This book brings together academics and practitioners to address key aspects of intergovernmental fiscal relations and country experience, as they relate to inclusive growth.
The quality of corporate governance regulations matters. If they are well designed, they can help governments achieve important policy objectives, such as higher levels of investment, increased productivity and better business sector dynamics. But for this to happen, the rules and regulations must be allowed to evolve over time. They must also be able to meet the many different needs of those entrepreneurs, investors and stakeholders who are supposed to implement them.
This is why the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance state that policy makers have a responsibility to shape a regulatory framework that can meet the needs of corporations that operate under widely different circumstances.
Importantly, this concept of flexibility and proportionality is not about less demanding rules or the acceptance of sub-standard practices. On the contrary, it represents a functional and outcome oriented approach to regulation that facilitates implementation and makes enforcement more effective.
This OECD report presents the results of an OECD review on flexibility and proportionality practices in seven different areas of corporate governance regulation. The review covers 39 jurisdictions and six in-depth country case studies.
This report, prepared by FAO and the OECD with inputs from IFPRI, IFAD, the World Bank and WTO, has been submitted to the G20 Presidency of the Argentine Republic in response to the Presidency’s request for information on future trends and challenges faced by global agriculture, with a special focus on the role of soils in promoting food security and the measures that could be undertaken to facilitate sustainable soil management.
The 2009 Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (“Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi” Commission) concluded that we should move away from over-reliance on GDP when assessing a country’s health, towards a broader dashboard of indicators that would reflect concerns such as the distribution of well-being and sustainability in all of its dimensions. This book includes contributions from members of the OECD-hosted High Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, the successor of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission, and their co-authors on the latest research in this field. These contributions look at key issues raised by the 2009 Commission that deserved more attention, such as how to better include the environment and sustainability in our measurement system, and how to improve the measurement of different types of inequalities, of economic insecurity, of subjective well-being and of trust.
A companion volume Beyond GDP: Measuring What Counts for Economic and Social Performance presents an overview by the co-chairs of the High Level Expert Group, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Jean-Paul Fitoussi and Martine Durand of the progress accomplished since the 2009 report, of the work conducted by the Group over the past five years, and of what still needs to be done.
The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention is the foremost global legal instrument for fighting the supply side of foreign bribery. The supply side of foreign bribery relates to what bribers do – it involves offering, promising or giving a bribe to a foreign public official to obtain an improper advantage in international business. In contrast, the demand side of foreign bribery refers to the offence committed by public officials who are bribed by foreign persons.
This study explores whether there is a "flip side" to enforcement actions that ended in sanctions for the supply-side of a foreign bribery transaction. It focuses on what happened on the receiving end of this transaction. That is to say, were the public officials in the demand-side country also sanctioned or otherwise disciplined?
The 2018 edition of the joint OECD, ILO, IOM & UNHCR, G20 International Migration Trends Report aims to respond to the need to monitor global displacement and migration, as well as its economic consequences, with a special focus on the skills of migrants and refugees.
The increasingly digital environment for financial products and services and the potential for digitalisation to support greater financial inclusion and inclusive growth, makes effective financial consumer protection more important than ever. This policy guidance focuses on areas related to the role of oversight bodies and disclosure and transparency.
The digitalisation of financial products and services, and the consequent need to strengthen digital financial literacy has become an important component of the global policy-making agenda. This guidance aims to identify and promote effective initiatives that enhance digital and financial literacy in light of the unique characteristics, advantages, and risks of digital financial services and channels.