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Partnership Forums are the means by which the OECD Development Assistance Committee provides a venue for non-governmental actors to express their points of view and to offer their own contributions to development policy and strategy. In December 2000, the DAC and the Development Centre held a Forum on ways of integrating civil society into policy formation in developing countries, and to identify obstacles to such involvement. Participants agreed that civil society's role in poverty-reduction strategies had been an important element in succesful implementation.
This book contains 8 papers presented at the Forum, covering experience in a variety of countries with a variety of stakeholders. The wide-ranging discussion concluded that civil-society participation in policy making not only enhances efficiency in implementation, but also contributes to the creation of more pluralistic and democratic political systems.
This report provides trends and evolutions in the ownership and governance of state-owned enterprises across nearly 59 jurisdictions worldwide. It complements the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises and provides comparable information across jurisdictions to support more effective implementation of the Guidelines.
The OECD SOE Compendium serves as a one-stop-shop of country-by-country, easily accessible and up-to-date information on individual countries’ institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks for state ownership of enterprises. Its target audience includes government officials involved in the oversight of SOEs, as well as SOE boards and management, and the broader policy and business communities that interact with the SOE sector on a regular basis. By providing such a reference resource, the Compendium facilitates greater awareness and more effective implementation of the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises.
This report finds that there is a growing trend toward an overall increase in establishing mechanisms for ensuring transparency and accountability of the state’s exercise of ownership rights including: developing a clear rationale for state enterprise ownership, a centralised or co-ordinated state enterprise ownership function, and regular and publicly disclosed aggregate reporting on the SOE sector.
The report shows some unique Indian characteristics with respect to the ownership landscape and the presence of institutional investors in Indian capital markets.
Following a general update of the Genetic Toxicology TGs in 2015, the present Document was written to provide succinct and useful information to individuals unfamiliar with genetic toxicology testing, as well as experienced individuals wishing to obtain an overview of the recent changes that were made to the TGs during the recent round of revisions. It provides: 1) general background and historical information on the OECD genetic toxicology TGs; 2) a brief overview of the important types of genetic damage evaluated by these tests; 3) a description of the retained TGs; and 4) the issues and changes addressed therein during the revision process.
This document presents an Overview of the set of OECD Genetic Toxicology Test Guidelines (TGs) and updates performed in 2014-2015. The projects for the global update of the Genetic Toxicology TGs and the development of an accompanying document were included in the work plan of the Test Guidelines Programme in 2011. Following an initial publication in July 2016, a second edition of document was publishedin 2017 with the inclusion of an annex presenting a document developed during the update of the set of Test Guidelines on genotoxicity and supporting the WNT decision to implement revised criteria for the selection of the top concentration in the in vitro mammalian cell assays on genotoxicity (Test Guidelines 473, 476 and 487).
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become, in the last two decades, a global threat that poses potentially dramatic health and economic consequences. AMR is referring to antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal resistance. Although it remains a complex issue, antibacterial resistance is, presently, of greatest concern and the main drivers of AMR are antimicrobial overuse and misuse in human, animal, agricultural and environmental sectors and the spread of resistant bacteria and resistance determinants within and between these sectors and across countries. This document aims to provide an overview of how OECD member countries assess AMR of microorganisms used as biopesticides and summarise the available approaches. The aspiration is that the document also highlights the main issues to be considered during the evaluation of the AMR potential of microorganisms used as plant protection products.
This publication examines the legislation and regulations governing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in Eastern European countries. It covers eleven countries from Central and Eastern Europe and five countries from the Community of Independant States. The chapters follow a systematic format making it easier for the reader to research and compare information. This study will be updated regularly.
This document provides an overview of country and regional registration/re-registration procedures for agricultural pesticides, and relevant documents. Such document helps government regulators gain a better understanding of the processes followed in other governments in which they may work share, as well as the relevant documents produced during each step of the process
The aim of this report is to give an overview of existing guidance on Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA) and their component parts. While the number of documents, from different sources, directly or indirectly related to guidance on IATA, is proliferating, the information is fragmented and hard to find. This overview document is expected to contribute to a common understanding of IATA, by explaining key concepts and providing basic definitions, and to support easier access to existing resources.
Failure at school: an old problem in a new context? In most OECD countries, there is some reluctance to acknowledge the problem of failure at school. And when the problem is acknowledged, it is not always easy to find effective means for combating it or, even, to agree on indicators of failure that would demonstrate its scale. What are the different manifestations of educational failure today? And what are the policies needed to address them?
This book aims to develop a deeper understanding of the nature of failure at school in OECD countries. It restates the problem as it confronts policy-makers today and presents new findings. It proposes a set of national and international indicators of failure and compares various forms of intervention aimed at improving student achievement in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The phenomenon of social exclusion has become one of the outstanding problems on the eve of the 21st century. Even with the long-term trend towards rising general levels of affluence across OECD countries, large sections of our societies are missing out and for some prospects are getting worse. Learning -- in formal education and in a wide range of other community and enterprise settings -- represents one of the most important means of overcoming exclusion. While much is known about the impact of schooling for young people, the relationships between exclusion and adult learning are less well examined.
This study seeks to address this gap, focusing on 19 innovative learning initiatives that are making the difference in six countries: Belgium (Flemish Community), Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom (England). How well do these initiatives meet the learning needs of adults at risk of exclusion? How are they organised and what are their innovative features? These are the key questions answered, taking into account not only the point of view of the analysts, organisers and administrators, but also that of the adult learners themselves.
International trade has grown rapidly in recent years, thanks in part to the progressive reduction of tariffs and quotas through successive rounds of multilateral trade liberalisation. However, this progress brings to light one of the remaining weak links of international trade, which prevents countries from drawing full benefits from the advantages of open global markets: border bottlenecks generated by inefficient, outdated and complex trade procedures and formalities. This book brings together six studies that examine to what extent and in which ways the costs of inefficient border processes influence trade and investment flows, how institutional and political factors affect the design and implementation of efficiency-enhancing measures, whether the expected benefits of these measures enough to justify the expenses of putting them in place, and whether the expenses involved are within the reach of developing and least developed countries, especially in light of other development priorities.
The perceived potential of clean energy to support employment in the post-crisis recovery context has led several OECD and emerging economies to design green industrial policies aimed at protecting domestic manufacturers, notably through local-content requirements (LCRs). These typically require solar or wind developers to source a specific share of jobs, components or costs locally. Such requirements have been designed or implemented in the solar- and wind-energy sectors in at least 21 countries, including 16 OECD countries and emerging economies, mostly since 2009.
Empirical evidence gathered in this report shows however that LCRs have actually hindered international investment across the solar PV and wind-energy value chains, by increasing the cost of inputs for downstream activities. This report also takes stock of other measures that can restrict international investment in solar PV and wind energy, such as trade remedies and technical barriers. This report provides policy makers with evidence-based analysis to guide their decisions in designing clean-energy support policies.
This guide draws on the experience of, and policy dialogue between, member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Middle East and North African countries (MENA). It reviews common barriers to designing and implementing a strategy for administrative simplification and offers 22 approaches to overcome them, providing a synthesis of good practices among policy makers and practitioners working on cutting red tape.
Ensuring that LGBTI people – i.e. lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and intersex individuals – can live as who they are without being discriminated against or attacked is a concern worldwide. Discrimination against LGBTI people remains pervasive, while its cost is massive. It lowers investment in human capital due to bullying at school. It also reduces economic output by excluding LGBTI talents from the labour market and impairing their mental health, hence their productivity. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the extent to which laws in OECD countries ensure equal treatment of LGBTI people, and of the complementary policies that could help foster LGBTI inclusion. The report first identifies the legislative and regulatory frameworks in the areas of civil rights, protection against discrimination and violence, as well as health that are critical for the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities. The report then explores whether these laws are in force in OECD countries and examines the margin for further improvement. Finally, the report investigates the broader policy measures that should accompany LGBTI-inclusive laws in order to strengthen the inclusion of LGBTI people.
This publication reflects the views of the IEA Secretariat but does not necessarily reflect those of individual IEA member countries. The IEA makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, in respect of the publication’s contents (including its completeness or accuracy) and shall not be responsible for any use of, or reliance on, the publication.
Unless otherwise indicated, all material presented in figures and tables is derived from IEA data and analysis. This publication and any map/figure/table included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Please note that this publication is subject to specific restrictions that limit its use and distribution. The terms and conditions are available online at iea.org/t&c
What is innovation and how should it be measured? Understanding the scale of innovation activities, the characteristics of innovative firms and the internal and systemic factors that can influence innovation is a prerequisite for the pursuit and analysis of policies aimed at fostering innovation. First published in 1992, the Oslo Manual is the international reference guide for collecting and using data on innovation. In this fourth edition, the manual has been updated to take into account a broader range of innovation-related phenomena as well as the experience gained from recent rounds of innovation surveys in OECD countries and partner economies and organisations.
The Oslo Manual is the foremost international source of guidelines for the collection and use of data on innovation activities in industry. This third edition has been updated to take account of the progress made in understanding the innovation process, the experience gained from the previous round of innovation surveys, the extension of the field of investigation to other sectors of industry and the latest revisions of international standard classifications.