Browse by: "2022"

Coal and its emissions are a critical issue as the world contends with both the global energy crisis and the climate crisis. This report presents pragmatic, real-world guidance on how policymakers can achieve a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from coal without harming economies or energy security, outlining measures to finance energy transitions and address their social and employment aspects. It also explores the options for the power sector and other parts of the economy where coal plays a notable role. It examines a range of policy and technology areas, including the potential for carbon capture, utilisation and storage. And it addresses investment and financing needs, taking into account the importance of ensuring reliable and affordable energy supplies and of tackling the social consequences of change.

Chile has embarked on an ambitious path towards a new constitution. For all countries, drafting a new constitution or amending an existing one is a stimulating challenge, but also a demanding process from both a political and technical standpoint. This report presents the results of a benchmarking exercise conducted by the OECD of possible constitutional provisions, reflecting the experiences of OECD member countries. The components covered include economic and social rights, the system of government, multi-level governance, constitutional review, fiscal governance and the role and functioning of central banks.

Consumption Tax Trends provides information on Value Added Taxes/Goods and Services Taxes (VAT/GST) and excise duty rates in OECD member countries. It also contains information about international aspects of VAT/GST developments and the efficiency of this tax. It describes a range of other consumption taxation provisions on tobacco, alcoholic beverages, motor vehicles and aviation fuels.

Ageing populations and rising skill demands have heightened expectations that higher education systems will widen their offer of continuing education and training (CET) for adults aiming to renew or augment their skills at an advanced level. CET is becoming increasingly important for maintaining a highly skilled workforce also in Germany, and particularly in the state of Brandenburg. However, Brandenburg’s public higher education institutions have so far been only marginal providers. To expand their offer of CET, they would require more legal certainty about the use of public funding in light of European Union (EU) state aid policy. EU state aid policy ensures public subsidies (state aid) are not used by state agencies to crowd out markets (economic activity). There are no clear EU, federal or state-level directions about whether CET is a non-economic activity and thus exempt from EU state aid rules. This report analyses the reasons for this legal uncertainty and provides recommendations to the state government and public higher education institutions in Brandenburg about how to clarify the status of continuing education and training as a state-aided activity. It also proposes pointers for interpretation and future reform of the EU framework on state aid, and provides impulses for policy action in other German states and at the federal level.

Asian corporations and their ability to access financing deserve special attention due to their importance in global markets, their integration into regional and global supply chains, and their ownership structures. This report covers some of the long-term trends observed in the listed corporate sector and capital markets in Asia. It also looks at how Asian companies used market-based financing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the main fiscal and regulatory measures Asian authorities took to support the corporate sector’s access to finance during this period.

Corporate Tax Statistics is an OECD flagship publication on corporate income Tax, and includes information on corporate taxation, MNE activity, and base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) practices. This publication includes data on corporate tax rates, revenues, effective tax rates, and tax incentives for R&D and innovation amongst other data series. Corporate Tax Statistics also includes anonymised and aggregated country-by-country reporting data providing an overview on the global tax and economic activities of thousands of multinational enterprise groups operating worldwide. Corporate Tax Statistics was a key output of Action 11 of the OECD/G20 BEPS Project, which sought to improve the measurement and monitoring of tax avoidance. This fourth edition of the database contains an expansion of the anonymised and aggregated statistics Country by Country Reporting Data as well as, for the first time, information on standard withholding tax rates for OECD and IF member jurisdictions.

Under the Action 13 Minimum Standard, jurisdictions have committed to foster tax transparency by requesting the largest multinational enterprise groups (MNE Groups) to provide the global allocation of their income, taxes and other indicators of the location of economic activity. This unprecedented information on MNE Groups’ operations across the world has boosted tax authorities’ risk-assessment capabilities. The Action 13 Minimum Standard was translated into specific terms of reference and a methodology for the peer review process. The peer review of the Action 13 Minimum Standard has completed four annual reviews in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. These cover the three key areas under review: the domestic legal and administrative framework, the exchange of information framework, and the confidentiality and appropriate use of Country-by-Country (CbC) reports. This fifth annual peer review report reflects the outcome of the fifth review which considered all aspects of implementation. It contains the review of 134 jurisdictions which provided legislation or information pertaining to the implementation of CbC Reporting.

As data become an important resource for the global economy, it is important to strengthen trust to facilitate data sharing domestically and across borders. Significant momentum for related policies in the G7, and G20, has gone hand in hand with a wide range of – often complementary – national and international initiatives and the development of technological and organisational measures. Advancing a common understanding and dialogue among G7 countries and beyond is crucial to support coordinated and coherent progress in policy and regulatory approaches that leverage the full potential of data for global economic and social prosperity. This report takes stock of key policies and initiatives on cross-border data flows to inform and support G7 countries’ engagement on this policy agenda.

In 2017, Colombia launched a novel public policy to stimulate the creative economy, building on the success of previous policy initiatives to support the cultural and creative sectors. The Orange Economy policy is unique for its transversal approach to supporting the creative economy and mainstreaming culture across diverse policy portfolios, beyond cultural policy. The report provides a comparative overview of Colombia’s culture and creative sectors relative to OECD peers and reviews progress in policy implementation. It provides a specific focus on Colombia’s push to foster creative districts as tool for local development across the country, including policy examples based on nine districts across the globe. The report maps the financial ecosystem for the creative economy in Colombia. Recommendations draw on international good practice to suggest ways Colombia can best leverage creative economy opportunities.

Illicit trade in counterfeit goods causes economic damage by reducing sales and profits as well as innovation incentives in legitimate industries. At the same time, some counterfeits can be of low quality and create significant additional risks, including health risks (fake pharmaceuticals or food products), safety risks (counterfeit automotive spare parts, fake batteries) and environmental risks (fake chemicals or pesticides). This study presents detailed information on the value of counterfeit trade in such dangerous fake goods, analyses changes in the volumes and composition of the goods, and maps key trade routes. The evidence in this report can be used to raise awareness of the risks of this trade and its implications for health and environmental policy.

Accounting for nearly 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions and sometimes as much as 70% in large cities, buildings and construction are central to the low-carbon transition. Decarbonising buildings, especially the old stock, through energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy use, not only reduces carbon emissions, but also generates co-benefits in health, energy affordability and the labour market. Additionally, global mega-trends and the transition to a green recovery from COVID-19 provide impetus for stakeholders to take action. Cities and regions have a key role to play and can leverage prerogatives in regulation, public procurement and stakeholder engagement, while addressing multiple governance, capacity and funding gaps. To accelerate and scale up their action, cities and regions need to work with national governments to create an effective governance mechanism. Drawing on the findings of a dedicated survey of cities and regions of all sizes from both OECD and non-OECD countries, this report explains their significant role, explores sub-national policy measures, identifies key obstacles, and provides policy recommendations and a checklist for both national and subnational governments to drive the decarbonisation of buildings in cities and regions.

In spite of progress made to date and the significant long-term ambition announced by many countries, climate policy actions remain insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement objectives. While several international initiatives aim to track and monitor climate policies, there is not yet a “go to” place for a comprehensive inventory of policy actions and best practices worldwide. Such a platform would also ideally serve to compare policies’ effectiveness reflecting the diversity of country circumstances. Progress in this direction would help to promote an ambitious but globally more coherent and better-coordinated approach to emission reductions through a broad range of policies. This report lays out a roadmap for data and analytical work to support this aim, with a view to enhancing global dialogue and building trust on issues spanning climate change mitigation policies and their macro-economic repercussions. Key elements to strengthen the assessment and comparison of countries’ climate change mitigation policies across countries include: broadening and deepening the stocktaking of mitigation policies; extending and agreeing on an operational methodology for estimating the impact of these policies on emissions and on potential metrics to compare them; and assessing the broader economic effects of different climate policies.

This publication is part of the OECD workstream on Preparing Regions for Demographic Change. It elaborates a case study for the Portuguese region of Alentejo and focuses on improving the delivery of educational services taking into account the multi-level governance context. The study highlights the need to better articulate and co-ordinate the delivery of educational services among levels of government to improve access and quality. It also sheds light on the decisive role that geography plays and the importance of adopting a spatial lens to mitigate the rising inequality present in Portugal in access to education services. Alentejo is a rural region that expects to lose 30% of its population between 2020 and 2080, hence it needs to put in place forward-looking and effective policy levers to delivery sustainable education services to citizens living in rural communities.

Increasingly, countries are recognising the contribution social enterprises make to economic and inclusive growth and sustainable development. While some form of legislation on social enterprises exists in 16 EU countries, and explicit policies or strategies to boost their development exist in the other 11 EU countries, policy makers recognise that legislation can help address current shortcomings and facilitate future social enterprise development. Based on consultations with more than 80 experts, policy makers and stakeholders from 10 European countries, this manual explains the rationale behind legal frameworks for social enterprises, identifies the critical factors for legal framework design and recommends actions to ensure legislation fully meets the needs of social enterprises. It lays out the fundamental steps related to the life cycle of legal frameworks and provides options that policy makers can use in the design and implementation process.