Browse by: "2014"
Index
Title Index
Year Index
- Au lendemain de la crise financière de 2008, un nombre significatif de pays ont réduit leurs dépenses publiques d’éducation. Malgré l’augmentation du PIB dans la plupart des pays de l’OCDE entre 2009 et 2010, les dépenses publiques au titre des établissements d’enseignement ont chuté dans un tiers d’entre eux.
- Entre 2009 et 2011, les salaires des enseignants ont été soit gelés, soit réduits dans 12 des 25 pays de l’OCDE qui disposent de données, ce qui pourrait avoir pour effet de décourager les étudiants très performants qui souhaitaient embrasser cette carrière.
- La demande d’enseignement et de formation est en constante augmentation alors même que les mesures d’austérité font pression sur les ressources allouées à l’éducation. Dans les années à venir, les établissements d’enseignement devront obtenir davantage de résultats, mais avec des moyens plus restreints.
- Dans les pays de l’OCDE, durant les deux semaines précédant les épreuves PISA, 18 % des élèves ont séché au moins un cours, et 15 % des élèves au moins une journée entière de classe.
- Dans les systèmes d’éducation très performants, rares sont les élèves qui sèchent des cours ou des journées entières de classe.
- Dans les pays de l’OCDE, les élèves qui sèchent des cours ou des journées entières de classe obtiennent un score en mathématiques inférieur de respectivement 32 et 52 points.
- L’absentéisme touche tous les élèves, qu’ils soient issus de milieux socio economiques favorisés ou défavorisés.
Nos países membros da OCDE, 18% dos estudantes faltaram às aulas pelo menos uma vez nas duas semanas anteriores à prova do PISA, e 15% dos estudantes perdeu um dia de aula ou mais no mesmo período de tempo. Em sistemas escolares com alto desempenho escolar poucos estudantes faltam a aulas ou a dias de aula. Para os estudantes dos países membros da OCDE, o ato de perder aulas está associado a uma pontuação 32 pontos mais baixa em matemática, enquanto perder dias de aula está associado a um resultado 52 pontos abaixo. O absenteísmo escolar é observado entre todos os alunos, sejam eles socioeconomicamente favorecidos ou desfavorecidos.
- Across OECD countries, 18% of students skipped classes at least once in the two weeks prior to the PISA test, and 15% of students skipped a day of school or more over the same period.
- Few students in high-performing school systems skip classes or days of school.
- For students in OECD countries, skipping classes is associated with a 32-point lower score in mathematics, while skipping days of school is associated with a 52-point lower score.
- Truancy is observed among all students, whether advantaged or disadvantaged.
Some countries have successfully regulated their mining sectors without resorting to highly distortive policies such as export restrictions. One such country is Botswana. This paper examines some of the policies in place in Botswana that have contributed to the governance and management of its substantial minerals sector. Lessons are drawn for minerals-rich countries keen to manage their raw materials sectors for increased economy-wide growth.
The main hallmarks of the global financial crisis were too-big-to-fail institutions taking on too much risk with other people’s money while gains were privatised and losses socialised. It is shown that banks need little capital in calm periods, but in a crisis they need too much – there is no reasonable ex-ante capital rule for large systemically important financial institutions that will make them safe. The bank regulators paradox is that large complex and interconnected banks need very little capital in the good times, but they can never have enough in an extreme crisis. Separation is required to deal with this problem, which derives mainly from counterparty risk. The study suggests banks should be considered for separation into a ring-fenced non-operating holding company (NOHC) structure with ring-fencing when they pass a key allowable threshold for the gross market value (GMV) of derivatives, a case which is reinforced if the bank has high wholesale funding and low levels of liquid trading assets. The pricing of derivatives and repos would become more commensurate with the risks if the NOHC proposal were to be pursued as a unifying strategy for the different national approaches. Most of the objections to this structure are summarised and rebutted. Other national proposals for separation in Switzerland, the Volcker rule, the Vickers rule, and the Liikanen proposal are argued to be inferior to the ring-fenced NOHC proposal, on the grounds that empirical evidence about what matters for a safe business model is not taken properly into account.
JEL classification: G01, G15, G18, G20, G21, G24, G28
Keywords: Financial crisis, derivatives, bank business models, distance-to-default, structural bank separation, banking reform, GSIFI banks
The main hallmarks of the global financial crisis were too-big-to-fail institutions taking on too much risk with other people’s money: excess leverage and default pressure resulting from contagion and counterparty risk. This paper looks at whether the Basel III agreement addresses these issues effectively. Basel III has some very useful elements, notably a (much too light “back-up”) leverage ratio, a capital buffer, a proposal to deal with pro-cyclicality through dynamic provisioning based on expected losses and liquidity and stable funding ratios. However, the paper shows that Basel risk weighting and the use of internal bank models for determining them leads to systematic regulatory arbitrage that undermines its effectiveness. Empirical evidence about the determinants of the riskiness of a bank (measured in this study by the Distance-to-Default) shows that a simple leverage ratio vastly outperforms the Basel Tier 1 ratio. Furthermore, business model features (after controlling for macro factors) have a huge impact. Derivatives origination, prime broking, etc., carry vastly different risks to core deposit banking. Where such differences are present, it makes little sense to have a one-size-fits-all approach to capital rules. Capital rules make more sense when fundamentally different businesses are separated.
JEL classification: G01, G15, G18, G20, G21, G24, G28
Keywords: Financial crisis, Basel III, derivatives, bank business models, distance-todefault, structural bank separation, banking reform, GSIFI banks
The results of an IMF study on controls on capital inflows in emerging economies, using a probit regression approach, are first replicated and tested for stability. The IMF results, downplayed by the authors, have been used by others to suggest controls can be helpful in a crisis situation. However, the stability findings suggest the results are not sufficiently robust to make strong claims in this regard. The same 37 countries and the IMF capital control measures are then used in a panel regression study to examine the impact of capital inflows on annual real GDP growth around the Global Financial Crisis. The results between the pre-crisis and the crisis periods are inconsistent with the IMF study – finding that capital restrictions on inflows (particularly debt liabilities) are most useful in good times when inflows to emerging markets are strong and upward pressure on managed exchange rates and reserves accumulation is greatest. However, lower controls on bonds and on FDI inflows seem to be associated with better growth outcomes during the crisis period studied. These findings are more consistent with studies that see capital controls as part of exchange rate targeting policies and concerns about excess reserves accumulation.
JEL Classification: C23, C25, F21, F43, G01
Keywords: Capital controls, economic growth, emerging economies, financial crisis
The paper explores the issue of macro-prudential policies in the light of empirical evidence on the determinants of bank systemic risk, and the effectiveness of capital controls. In many ways this reflects a step back in time towards sector approaches to monetary policy that were so prevalent in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Complexity and interdependence is such that proposals on these issues should be treated with care until much more is understood about the issue.
JEL Classification: C23, C25, F21, F43, G01.
Keywords: Macro-prudential policies, capital controls, economic growth, emerging economies, financial crisis.
The OECD Competition Committee debated Definition of Transaction for the Purpose of Merger Control Review in June 2013. This document includes an executive summary of that debate and the documents from the meeting: an analytical note by the OECD staff and written submissions: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, the European Union, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, South Africa, Chinese Taipei, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, BIAC and a summary of the discussion.