Browse by: "2018"
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This report provides new evidence on social mobility in the context of increased inequalities of income and opportunities in OECD and selected emerging economies. It covers the aspects of both social mobility between parents and children and of personal income mobility over the life course, and their drivers. The report shows that social mobility from parents to offspring is low across the different dimensions of earnings, education, occupation and health, and that the same prevails for personal income mobility over the life course. There is in particular a lack of mobility at the bottom and at the top of the social ladder – with “sticky floors” preventing upward mobility for many and “sticky ceilings” associated with opportunity hoarding at the top. The lack of social mobility has economic, societal and political consequences. This report shows that there is space for policies to make societies more mobile and protect households from adverse income shocks. It discusses the options and measures that policy makers can consider how to improve social mobility across and within generations.
Like many OECD countries, Latvia is taking an innovative, user-centred approach to improving legal and justice services by strengthening the judicial sector and law enforcement authorities This report reviews the commercial, legal and regulatory framework in Latvia, highlighting its impact on businesses and its suitability for different forms of commercial activity. It analyses business’ legal and justice needs, and evaluates the accessibility and responsiveness of public services for business, including dispute resolution mechanisms. Finally, the report provides recommendations to help Latvia better tailor justice services to the needs of business and thus support more inclusive growth.
This report provides a case study for the development of sustainable energy lending in Ukraine. It reviews the macro-economic and political context for green investments in Ukraine, before looking in more detail at the role and capacity of the banking sector. The study is part of a wider OECD project promoting access to private finance for green investments in the EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, and follows on from a regional assessment undertaken in 2015. This work forms part of the “Greening Economies in the European Union’s Eastern Neighbourhood” (EaP GREEN) programme, which aims to support the six Eastern Partnership countries to move towards a green economy by decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation and resource depletion.
Africa's Development Dynamics What are the major economic and social trends in Africa? What is Africa’s role in globalisation? This new annual report presents an Africa open to the world and towards the future. uses the lessons learned in the five African regions – Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa – to develop recommendations and share good practices. The report identifies innovative policies and offers practical policy recommendations, adapted to the specificities of African economies.
Drawing on the most recent available statistics, this analysis of development dynamics aims to help African leaders reach the targets of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 at all levels: continental, regional, and national. Every year this report will focus on one strategic theme. This first edition explores the dynamics of growth, jobs, and inequalities. It proposes ten decisive actions to promote sustainable economic and social development and to strengthen institutions in Africa.
This volume also feeds into a policy debate between African Union’s nations, citizens, entrepreneurs and researchers. It aims to be part of a new co-operation between countries and regions focused on mutual learning and the preservation of common goods. This report is the result of a partnership between the African Union Commission and the OECD Development Centre.
In the United States, employment rates at older ages are comparatively high at 62% among 55-64 year-olds against 59% on average in OECD countries in 2016. However, there are large disparities across population groups. Early retirement remains a widespread phenomenon, especially among workers from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds. Preventing old-age disparities in terms of employment outcomes and retirement income from widening is crucial. This report looks at the various pathways out of the labour market for older workers, and how employers can be supported to retain and hire older workers. It examines the best ways that the United States can promote the employability of workers throughout their working lives and more equal outcomes among older workers.
This report assesses the performance of agricultural and food policy in India and calculates a set of policy indicators providing a comprehensive picture of agricultural support. These indicators, developed by the OECD, are already used regularly in the analysis of the agriculture and food sector in 51 OECD countries and emerging economies and are now available for India for the first time.
Government intervention in India is found to provide both negative and positive support to agriculture, with market and trade interventions often depressing prices, while subsidies to fertilisers, water, power and other inputs incentivise their use. This reveals the inherent difficulty in attempting to secure remunerative prices and higher incomes for farmers, while at the same time keeping food prices low for consumers. The report also points to policy-induced pressures on natural resources such as water and soil. Detailed recommendations are offered which, if implemented, have the potential to improve farmers' welfare, reduce environmental damage, alleviate some of the pressure on scarce resources, better prepare the sector for climate change, improve food and nutrition security for the poor, improve domestic market functioning and position India to participate more fully in agro-food global value chains.
This report is the 31st in the series of OECD reports that monitor and evaluate agricultural policies across countries, and the 6th report to include all 35 OECD countries, the 6 non-OECD EU Member States and a set of emerging economies: Brazil, the People’s Republic of China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Ukraine and Viet Nam. This annual report is a unique source of up-to-date estimates of support to agriculture and uses a comprehensive system of measuring and classifying support to agriculture – the Producer and Consumer Support Estimates (PSEs and CSEs), the General Services Support Estimate (GSSE) and related indicators. These estimates provide insight into the increasingly complex nature of agricultural policy and serve as a basis for OECD’s agricultural policy monitoring and evaluation. Detailed data and documentation for the calculation of support are available on line www.oecd.org/agriculture/PSE.
Comprehensive country chapters and the Statistical Annex containing detailed background tables with indicators of agricultural support are available in electronic form at the publication website http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/agr_pol-2018-en.
The OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (OECD Guidance) provides detailed recommendations to help companies respect human rights and avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral purchasing decisions and practices. The OECD Guidance is for use by any company potentially sourcing minerals or metals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.
This is the fifth edition of the OECD survey of large pension funds and public pension reserve funds that collects long-term investment data since it was first published in 2011. The scope of this report covers 87 public and private pension funds from 34 countries. This survey is based on a qualitative questionnaire sent directly to large pension funds and public pension reserve funds. It covers the infrastructure investments made by large pension funds and public pension reserve funds, but also their approach to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. It provides detailed investment information and insights which complement the aggregated data on portfolio investments gathered by the OECD at a national level through the Global Pension Statistics and Global Insurance Statistics projects.
This report analyses the progress made by Armenia in carrying out anti-corruption reforms and implementing the recommendations of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (IAP) the Third Round of Monitoring Report on Armenia adopted in October 2014. It focuses on anti-corruption policy, prevention of corruption, enforcement of criminal responsibility for corruption and prevention and prosecution of corruption in the higher education sector.
This report presents a general snap-shot of the situation in the State-owned enterprises (SOEs) sector in Ukraine and points out selected key issues and challenges that relate to the integrity of this sector together with a set of recommendations to address them. Each issue of SOEs governance is looked through the “lens of anti-corruption”. At the same time good governance of SOEs in Ukraine is number one prerequisite for eliminating wide-spread corruption and closing loopholes which allow for it. Year 2014 was taken as a baseline, since that year corruption and vested interests have finally been identified by the government as significant factor in SOEs historical underperformance, and the government has announced its clear intention to clean it up.
One of a series of studies on vocational education and training, this review assesses the apprenticeship system and vocational education and training in Israel and provides policy recommendations.
Israel has experienced strong economic growth over the last decade, and labour shortages are observed in many sectors and occupations. At the same time, inequity and disadvantage in some population groups are rising. This report suggests several ways in which Israel might reform its vocational and apprenticeship programmes so that they effectively support the Israeli economy by providing the skills in demand on the labour market, and improve life chances and social mobility of individuals.
The report argues for an expansion and integration of apprenticeship programmes into the mainstream upper secondary system, and development of systematic work-based learning placements in selected school-based vocational programmes. Currently vocational education and training in Israel is fragmented and students and employers often find it difficult to navigate. To address this challenge, the report recommends creating a single strategic body that will plan and guide policy development on vocational education and training, and champion it within government. A relatively large share of adults in Israel has low basic skills, particularly among Arab Israelis and Haredi Jews. Addressing basic skills weaknesses in these populations should be a priority.
One of a series of studies on vocational education and training, this review focuses on the apprenticeship system in England and concludes with policy recommendations.
England has launched a series of reforms that champion the institution of apprenticeship, and address some previous weaknesses. The reforms encourage more substantive apprenticeship programmes and a stronger funding framework. Despite these strengths, there is still some way to go to establish an apprenticeship system in England to match those of the strongest countries.
This report suggests several ways in which reforms might be adapted to achieve higher quality and better outcomes. An effective apprenticeship system involves various elements such as the development of the apprentice in the workplace by the employer and the broader education of young apprentices. The report argues that England should consider introducing regulations and standards to ensure that these elements are part of all apprenticeship programmes, and that the recently introduced apprenticeship levy supports high-quality training. In comparison to other countries, England has relatively few young apprentices. The report suggests England could facilitate transition from school to work by making better use of apprenticeships targeting school leavers.
The successful governance of critical risks is a strategic investment in preserving economic competitiveness and sustainable growth and in ensuring safer and better lives for the future. Citizens and businesses expect governments to be prepared for a wide range of possible crises and global shocks. However, the increasing frequency of events previously believed impossible, and their significant economic impact, has often revealed significant governance gaps. This OECD report provides an overview of countries' progess in implementing the Recommendation of the Council on the Governance of Critical Risks, which were designed to better govern and manage complex national risks. Based on an OECD wide survey, the report evaluates the progress made by countries, seeking to evaluate the key challenges in institutional, policy, administrative and regulatory mechanisms, used to manage critical risks from a whole of government perspective. The ultimate goal is to guide governments in minimising the effects of critical risks on economies and on citizens' daily lives to preserve national security.
Disasters disrupt socio-economic activities and cause substantial damage. Yet, their full economic impact remains largely unknown, especially the cost of smaller disasters and indirect impacts such as those due to business disruptions. Similarly, little information exists on the total amount of public resources that countries devote to disaster risk management. Reliable, comprehensive and comparable data on the economic impact of disasters as well as on public spending on disaster management and risk prevention are essential for developing effective disaster risk management policies. This report provides an overview of countries' efforts to improve the quality and quantity of information on the costs of disasters.
Biodurability of nanomaterials (NMs) through dissolution and enzymatic biodegradation or chemical disintegration is an important property that needs to be investigated for their potential to cause harm to humans and the environment. NMs may therefore be differentiated based on their biodurability between those that are amenable and those that are resistant to dissolution, biodegradation and/or disintegration. This document compiles the relevant information on the biodurability of the pristine and functionalised nanomaterials in biological and environmental media in vitro and in vivo, as well as describes brief methods for measuring the stability and halftimes of nanomaterials.
This book presents an in depth analysis of the contribution of services to the Australian economy, the regulatory environment of the services sector and its performance in an international context. The analysis highlights the importance of co-ordinated domestic policy action, priorities for promoting behind-the-border regulatory reforms in strategic international markets, and the benefits of an ambitious bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral trade policy agenda that contributes to rules-based certainty and predictability in services trade globally.
This report examines how efficiency and resilience can be balanced in the management of multi-modal supply chains. It investigates the trade-off between supply chain resilience and efficiency, the approaches to sustainability in supply chain management, innovation and technological development, collaboration and alliances and risk mitigation. The report summarises findings from an ITF Roundtable held in April 2018.
At the core of integrity is a human choice. Behavioural research reveals two determinants of integrity: the internal dynamics of how individuals make moral decisions and how these decisions are shaped and influenced by other people. This report describes how behavioural insights can help make integrity and anti-corruption policies more effective and efficient. It includes concrete policy applications and provides guidance for policy makers on how to use behavioural insights in designing integrity and anti-corruption policies.