Browse by: "2019"

This publication sets out the key findings of research commissioned by the OECD to better understand the attitudes, behaviour and experiences of financial consumers with regard to cryptoassets (specifically cryptocurrencies and ICOs) in order to inform the development of evidence-based financial consumer protection and financial education responses.

The Paris Agreement states that all countries should strive to formulate and communicate long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS) and the Paris Agreement’s accompanying decision invites countries to communicate a LT-LEDS by 2020. LT-LEDS are a fundamental tool available to countries to envision low-emission development in alignment with broader sustainability, socio-economic and climate change adaptation goals. This document aims to support countries’ efforts in the development of LT-LEDS, as it provides points of reflection for the establishment of an effective process for developing LT-LEDS. The document discusses potential elements to be included in a LT-LEDS; identifies and explores potential linkages between Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and LT-LEDS; examines governance options for setting up a LT-LEDS process and analyses countries’ experience to date in developing LT-LEDS. The paper also provides a set of guiding questions useful for the development of LT-LEDS.

Different options of methodological approaches for setting emission baselines are currently under consideration in the international climate negotiations. This paper examines options for baseline approaches for the Article 6.4 mechanism, and draws lessons from how baselines have been used for other market mechanisms. The paper highlights that the different approaches being discussed offer advantages and disadvantages in the context of Article 6.4. Moreover, the paper points out that a one size- fits-all approach to setting baselines is unlikely to be appropriate for the new mechanism, given the variety of possible mitigation activity types and contexts. In particular, analysis of Clean Development Mechanism projects shows that a single baseline approach led to wide variations in baseline levels, implying the need to revise some methodologies if they are to be applied to Article 6.4. The paper also discusses benefits and implications for host Parties participating in the Article 6.4 mechanism, which may affect how Parties achieve their NDCs.

This paper assesses the impact of exchange of information on foreign-owned bank deposits in international financial centres (IFCs). Based on a dataset with extended jurisdiction coverage and sample length, foreign-owned IFC deposits declined globally by 24% or USD 410 billion during the period from 2008 to 2019. The commencement of automatic exchange of information is associated on average with a statistically significant 22% reduction in IFC bank deposits held by non-IFC counterparty jurisdictions. The results show that exchange of information on request was associated with a reduction of around 10% during the early years of implementation. Robustness checks show that voluntary disclosure programmes do not drive the results. These findings highlight the effectiveness of the expansion of automatic exchange of informationand provide further evidence of the success of a comprehensive multilateral approach towards international tax transparency.

信頼は、ピア・プラットフォーム・マーケット（PPM）にとって重要な要素である。2016 年、OECDの消費者政策委員会（CCP）は、報告書「Protecting consumers in peer platform markets: Exploring the issues（ピア・プラットフォーム・マーケットの消費者を守るために：問題点の模索）」（OECD、2016a）を作成した。この2016 年版報告書では、ピア・プラットフォームがサービスの信頼度を高めて利用者を増やすために自ら構築してきたいくつかのメカニズム（例えば、レーティングやレビューなどのイニシアチブ）について検証し、さらなる調査や省察を行うための一連の疑問を提示した。PPM に対する消費者の信頼の役割と促進要因についてより深く理解するために、CCP はOECD 加盟国10 か国の消費者10,000 人を対象にオンライン調査を実施した。

This paper describes and evaluates a multistage adaptive testing (MSAT) design that was implemented for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 main survey for the major domain of Reading. Through a simulation study, recovery of item-response theory model parameters and measurement precision were examined. The PISA 2018 MSAT design resulted in a parameter recovery as good as the operational benchmark, and measurement precision was improved by 4 to 5% with gains up to 10% at the extreme performance levels.

A statistically significant relationship between the unemployment gap and inflation can be found for a clear majority of OECD countries, but the magnitude of the effect is typically weak. A corollary is that the effect of labour market slack on inflation can often be dominated by other shocks, including imported inflation. The current Secretariat Phillips curve specification assumes inflation expectations are anchored at the central bank’s target, although some experimentation suggests that alternative proxies for expectations sometimes work better and there is some evidence that persistent under-shooting of inflation has led to some de-anchoring of expectations from the target, especially in the euro area. For most OECD countries, a measure of the global output gap is both statistically significant and strongly preferred to a domestic gap measure in explaining the wedge between headline and core inflation, although domestic gaps are strongly preferred in explaining core inflation. Various forms of non-linearity in the Phillips curve provide possible explanations for recent weak inflation outcomes, but statistical testing provides only limited support for such explanations.

This paper reviews ex-post empirical assessments on the impact of carbon pricing on competitiveness in OECD and G20 countries in the electricity and industrial sectors. Most of these assessments find no statistically significant effects of carbon pricing or energy prices on different dimensions of competitiveness, including net imports, foreign direct investments, turnover, value added, employment, profits, productivity, and innovation. When statistically significant results have been found, the magnitude of such effects tends to be small - either positive or negative. Thus, concerns about negative short-term effects of carbon pricing on firms’ or sectors’ international competitiveness have not come to pass, at least to date. These findings are in part because carbon price levels have been low and because of exemptions to carbon taxes for industry, or generous levels of free allowances to firms covered by emissions trading schemes.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an area of research and technology application that can have a significant impact on public policies and services in many ways. In just a few years, it is expected that the potential will exist to free up nearly one-third of public servants’ time, allowing them to shift from mundane tasks to high-value work. Governments can also use AI to design better policies and make better decisions, improve communication and engagement with citizens and residents, and improve the speed and quality of public services. While the potential benefits of AI are significant, attaining them is not an easy task. Government use of AI trails that of the private sector; the field is complex and has a steep learning curve; and the purpose of, and context within, government are unique and present a number of challenges.

L’objectif de cette note est d’analyser les raisons pour lesquelles la libéralisation du commerce mise en œuvre par les États ouest-africains n’a pas conduit à un renforcement de leurs frontières, mais, au contraire, à une détérioration de leur capacité à contrôler les mouvements régionaux. La note montre que l’évolution observée en Afrique de l’Ouest contraste fortement avec celle du reste du monde, où la libéralisation du commerce s’est accompagnée d’un renforcement des capacités des États et des institutions régionales en matière de sécurité. Dans une première partie, la note montre que l’Afrique de l’Ouest est une région pionnière en matière d’intégration régionale. Un écart particulièrement important peut cependant être observé entre les normes et règlements officiellement adoptés par les pays membres des organisations régionales et leur application effective dans les régions frontalières. Une seconde partie montre que les régions frontalières sont désormais les espaces les plus meurtriers d’Afrique du Nord et de l’Ouest. Les initiatives de réponses sécuritaires n’ont pourtant eu qu’un effet limité sur les conflits régionaux les plus récents, dont la gestion reste souvent déléguée aux Nations Unies et aux armées occidentales.

Triangulation – a combined use of different assessment methods or sources to evaluate psychological constructs – is still a rarely used assessment approach in spite of its potential in overcoming inherent constraints of individual assessment methods. This paper uses field test data from a new OECD Study on Social and Emotional Skills to examine the triangulated assessment of 19 social and emotional skills of 10- and 15-year-old students across 11 cities and countries. This study assesses students’ social and emotional skills combining three sources of information: students’ self-reports and reports by parents and teachers. We examine convergent and divergent validities of the assessment scales and the analytical value of combining information from multiple informants. Findings show that students’, parents’ and teachers’ reports on students’ skills overlap to a substantial degree. In addition, a strong ‘common rater’ effect is identified for all three informants and seems to be reduced when we use the triangulation approach. Finally, triangulation provides skill estimates with stronger relations to various life outcomes compared with individual student, parent or teacher reports.

Smart cities represent the future of urban development in Emerging Asia as more and more cities and countries resort to smart technologies to build more efficient and liveable urban environments, boost economic growth, foster well-being and facilitate citizen engagement. Policy makers in the region have adopted plans to develop and promote the use of technology to organise and run urban areas. Governments have also provided significant financial backing to smart city projects, acknowledging the importance of public support in this field. The development of smart cities offers significant prospects to tackle enduring issues faced by Emerging Asian cities in policy areas such as transport, the provision of public services, education, healthcare and utilities.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping economies, promising to generate productivity gains, improve efficiency and lower costs. At the same time, AI is also fuelling anxieties and ethical concerns. As AI’s impacts permeate our societies, its transformational power must be put at the service of people and the planet. This document presents the work conducted by the Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence at the OECD (AIGO) to scope principles to foster trust in and adoption of AI. In particular, this paper presents a common understanding of what is an AI system as well as a framework that details the stages of the AI system lifecycle. This work informed the draft Recommendation of the Council on Artificial Intelligence. On 22 May 2019, the OECD Council adopted the Recommendation – also referred to as the OECD AI Principles – at the Ministerial level.

This paper provides an initial assessment of the shipbuilding industry in the context of global value chains by presenting new descriptive evidence on value added generation and sourcing patterns of intermediate inputs for ship construction of major shipbuilding economies. The findings reveal that shipbuilding relies heavily on intermediate inputs as around 70-80% of the final output value of ship production is generated through supplier sectors. Concerning sourcing activity, China appears to be the most self-sufficient among the four jurisdictions studied, followed by Japan and the EU28, while Korea seems to be more globally integrated. The analysis also explores variations among the four economies in the cost structure of shipbuilding inputs, which might partly be explained by differences in the ship types produced.

L’élaboration et la mise en œuvre de la réforme de l’administration publique (RAP) et des stratégies sectorielles sont des processus qui nécessitent l’identification des problèmes fondamentaux auxquels l’administration d’un pays donné est confrontée, en définissant des objectifs clairs pour les résoudre et en les traduisant en actions spécifiques. Ce manuel a été conçu pour la préparation, la mise en œuvre, le suivi, le reporting et l'évaluation des stratégies de RAP et du secteur. Il a été conçu pour aider les gouvernements et les administrations publiques qui se sont engagés à atteindre les objectifs de l'Objectif de développement durable n°.16 et les Principes d'administration publique de SIGMA. Le manuel fournit des informations et des conseils pratiques, ainsi que des outils faciles à utiliser pour les personnes impliquées dans le développement et la mise en œuvre de stratégies de RAP et des stratégies sectorielles. Il a été développé en rassemblant, en examinant et en compilant les leçons apprises, les recommandations, les conseils et les outils développés et promus par SIGMA et la Direction de la gouvernance publique de l’OCDE.

This paper describes the use of regulatory impact assessment (RIA) and cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for transport planning in Sweden and discusses the arguments for and against its use. The paper considers four main aspects: First, the Swedish planning context and existing requirements regarding the use of RIA. Second, the current focus of research regarding CBA for infrastructure investments in the Swedish transport sector and the need for greater focus on issues concerning regulation. Third, the difficulty to quantify and place monetary values on effects. Fourthly, the paper discusses the need to align incentives at all levels and across agencies.