Browse by: "2022"

High levels of corruption and lack of transparency are key constraints to economic growth in many countries worldwide. This Country Profile for Croatia aims to map existing legal and institutional frameworks in the policy areas of anti-corruption, competition, and state-owned enterprises to identify policy challenges to a level playing eld. It also provides actionable policy recommendations which draw on a broad set of OECD analysis, guidelines, legal instruments and good practices as well as on additional data collected for the report. This Country Pro le, along those for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, is one output of the three year OECD project to promote fair market conditions for competitiveness in the Adriatic region, which is supported by the Siemens Integrity Initiative. Through Collective Action, government officials from the region as well as business leaders, anti-corruption experts and practitioners, civil society representatives and academics have engaged to jointly enhance integrity and transparency. These efforts are part of the engagement of the OECD South East Europe Regional Programme, which collaborates with the region since 2000 to advance private sector development, improve the investment climate and raise living standards for an inclusive and sustainable future for the people of South East Europe.

Rapid economic growth in Southeast Asia since the turn of the century has led to remarkably improved socio-economic conditions, with expanded and enhanced employment opportunities, gradually rising wages and better living standards. Yet, the dividends of this strong and multifaceted dynamism have not, so far, been evenly shared between men and women. Whereas economic growth and better targeted social policies have contributed to shrinking gender gaps in educational attainment, significant disparities remain in women’s labour force participation, job quality and earnings in the region. This report – developed jointly by the OECD, ASEAN and national stakeholders – seeks to better understand the causes behind these persistent gaps and advances policy solutions to help close them.

Compared to other OECD countries, the EU only attracts a small share of highly qualified migrants from abroad. This report presents a revised provisional Talent Pool scenario and includes a cost-effectiveness analysis as well as recommendations on the actions required to develop the Talent Pool.

This report assesses Croatia’s legal and policy framework for fighting transnational bribery based on the criteria applied to countries seeking accession to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. The report analyses Croatia’s criminal legislation and sanctions applicable to individuals and legal entities that commit bribery. It also examines Croatia’s track record in the investigation and prosecution of corruption offences and the overall enforcement framework. Rules on international co-operation, such as mutual legal assistance and extradition, and the non-tax deductibility of bribes are also examined. For each area of analysis, the report identifies areas for improvement and provides recommendations.

The European Commission and the OECD International Network on Financial Education (OECD-INFE) have released the joint EU/OECD-INFE financial competence framework for adults. The framework promotes a shared understanding of the financial competences adults need to make sound decisions on personal finance. It supports public policies, financial literacy programmes and educational materials to be developed by EU Member States, educational institutions, industry and individuals. It also supports the exchange of good practices by policy makers and stakeholders within the EU.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that scale up have long raised policy interest for their extraordinary potential in terms of job creation, innovation, competitiveness and economic growth. Yet, little is known about which firms could effectively become scalers, and what policies could effectively promote SME growth. This report is part of a series aiming to help policy makers unleash scalers’ potential. Building on new evidence from microdata work, it rethinks the nature and scope of scale up policies, suggesting the need for a broader and more cross cutting approach. The report then explores two thematic areas that are relevant for SME scaling up, i.e. SME data governance and their access to ‘scale up’ finance. Based on an international mapping of 369 institutions and 1174 policy initiatives across OECD countries, the analysis shows that SME and entrepreneurship policy is not among the core mandates of many implementing institutions, calling for sound coordination across the board and further mainstreaming of SME growth considerations in both policy areas. Moreover, national policy mixes vary significantly across countries, reflecting different approaches to promoting SME growth and to SME targeting, but also revealing possible policy blind spots.

This report presents a summary of the key challenges and opportunities related to financing that contributes to water security and sustainable growth distilling insights from the Roundtable on Financing Water and related analyses. It covers a broad range of water-related investments, including water and sanitation services, water resources management, agricultural water and managing water-related risks (“too much”, “too little” and “too polluted”). It summarises findings from analysis of investments needs and financing capacities, trends in development finance for water and explores how water risks generate financial impacts for corporates. The report highlights options to address the financing challenge by strengthening the enabling environment for investment, making the best use of existing sources of finance, strategic investment planning and mobilising additional finance via a range of financing approaches. Finally, the report sets out a vision for future OECD work on financing water and for the Roundtable on Financing Water.

Fostering SME development and digital transformation helps increase productivity, in turn fostering stronger, more diversified and dynamic economies. The Government of Georgia has made significant policy efforts in recent years to build an environment conducive to private-sector development and entrepreneurship, and to support small and medium-sized enterprises in particular. The OECD has supported this reform impetus, working closely with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development to help identify gaps and develop relevant measures to create a conducive policy environment for Georgian SMEs.

Brazil made significant progress in managing water resources since the adoption of the National Water Law in 1997 and the creation of the National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA) in 2000. Nevertheless, water security challenges persist and will be aggravated by megatrends such as climate change, population growth, urbanisation, and the economic, social and environmental consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report calls for a modern approach to water security, balancing supply and demand management, grey and green infrastructure, and risk management and resilience while embracing a holistic view that connects water to other strategic areas such as environment, land use and territorial development. The report builds on a decade of policy dialogue between the OECD and the National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA) of Brazil. It provides an action plan to support the country to: (1) shift from a risk-based approach to a resilience approach to understand vulnerabilities and minimise the duration and magnitude of failures; (2) make river basin organisations deliver and use economic instruments to tackle water risks; and (3) accompany infrastructure development with regulatory oversight and monitoring.

The Regulation 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union (the EU Regulation) became fully applicable on 11 October 2020. It contains legally binding rules that engage national authorities from EU Member States (Member States) and the European Commission (the EU Commission) in cooperation on screening of foreign direct investment into the Union. This report summarises the findings of analytical work undertaken by the OECD, which consisted of desk research and interviews with many actors involved in or concerned by investment screening, including Member States’ authorities, the EU Commission, and other stakeholders. The study was carried out between October 2021 and June 2022 and reflects information as of 30 June 2022

Conducted jointly with UNESCO, UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), UNICEF and the World Bank, the fourth round of the Survey on National Education Responses to COVID-19 School Closures took place in April–July 2022. With responses from Ministries of Education in 93 countries, findings show education systems’ concerted effort to reach out to students and bring them back to school; the reinforcing of digitalised modes of learning; dialogue with families on the quality and cost-benefits of education; and long-term investments in the resilience of education systems.

After a long period of employment growth that led to the lowest unemployment rate since the German reunification, Berlin’s labour market is now tightening. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, global labour market megatrends such as the automation of production processes and the increasingly advanced digital skills required to perform many jobs pose new challenges to Berlin’s policymakers. Preparing and improving its adult learning system to adapt to the rapidly changing demand for skills will be vital for the future competitiveness of Berlin’s economy and socio-economic mobility. The report Future-Proofing Adult Learning in Berlin, Germany analyses strengths and bottlenecks in Berlin’s adult learning programmes. It stresses the importance of developing a long-term vision for continuing education and training in Berlin that brings together different actors from an adult learning landscape that offers a wide range of diverse services. It further highlights the need to expand local adult learning programmes that account for the city’s highly dynamic population and labour market.

Over the coming years, significant infrastructure investment will be required to sustain economic growth and improve well-being in many regions and cities. Subnational governments will have a key role to help provide this infrastructure - they are responsible for almost 60% of total public investment in G20 countries. This G20-OECD Policy Toolkit, developed with input from the Asian Development Bank, aims to support inclusive and quality infrastructure investment by subnational governments across developing, emerging and developed countries. It outlines key elements of creating an enabling environment for subnational infrastructure investment. It then details common and innovative funding sources, financing instruments and investment approaches. Rather than recommending specific instruments, it provides a ‘toolkit’ of options for policymakers and practitioners. The Policy Toolkit is supported by 23 case studies.

This Roadmap provides a follow-up to the 2021 report to the G20 on Developing Countries and the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS. It takes stock of progress since 2021 and sets out key priorities. It also provides a Roadmap to guide actions by interested G20 members and other stakeholders to help developing countries to maximise the benefits of multilateral engagement on international tax, and capitalise on advances in tax policy and tax administration to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are prerequisites to the realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This Guidance is a practical handbook for development partners supporting those global ambitions. Designed around the programme cycle and beyond, it provides practical steps for practitioners and examples of good practices, as well as checklists and recommendations on how to drive change.