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Inducing environmental innovation is a significant challenge to policy-makers. Efforts to design public policies that address these issues are motivated by the fact that innovations can allow for improved environmental quality at lower cost. However, the relationship between environmental policy and technological innovation remains an area in which empirical evidence is scant.  Increased attention should be paid to the design characteristics of public policies that are likely to affect the ‘type’ of innovation induced.  The work presented in this book is brought together in five substantive chapters: environmental policy design characteristics and their role in inducing innovation, the role of public policies (including multilateral agreements) in encouraging transfer of environmental technologies, followed by three ‘sectoral’ studies of innovation in alternative fuel vehicles, solid waste management and recycling, and green (sustainable) chemistry. While particular focus has been placed on the role of environmental policy in bringing about the innovation documented, it is recognised that other factors play a key role in inducing innovation which has positive environmental implications.     

Achieving sustainable development goals at a global level will strongly depend on the rapid technological development and innovation, and the widespread diffusion and application, of cleaner technologies in non-OECD as well as OECD countries. But do the developing countries have the capacity and motivation to take advantage of cleaner technology options? What are their needs? And what are the barriers which must be addressed? Arresting the impending environmental imbalances and ecological instability and moving towards sustainable development call for establishing a new multilateral framework for co-operation in environmental science and technology.

The international mobility of highly skilled workers, in particular human resources in science and technology (HRST) such as scientists, engineers and IT experts, is currently an important policy issue in the majority of OECD countries. Accompanying the booming demand for skilled labour, especially from the information technology-related industries and professions, there is apparently a growing shortage of such workers in a number of OECD Member countries. In order to meet these shortages, an increasing number of countries are implementing measures to facilitate the recruitment of foreign skilled workers. Considering that improved knowledge and understanding of these issues are necessary for informing the policy agenda, the OECD held a seminar on "International Mobility of Highly Skilled Workers: From Statistical Analysis to the Formulation of Policies", in Paris on 11-12 June 2001. This seminar was organised by the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) and the Directorate for Education, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (DEELSA). The seminar targeted three main objectives, which are mirrored in the structure of the book: Provide data on the scale and characteristics of flows and stocks of skilled and highly skilled foreign workers in the OECD Member countries and certain non-member economies: South Africa, China, India, Israel, Russia and Chinese Taipei; to assess the quality of the data available and the concepts used, and to help improve their comparability. Analyse the mobility of skilled workers and HRST and their impact on the economy through case studies covering most of the major regions sending and receiving these workers. Examine appropriate migration policies aimed at facilitating the mobility of skilled workers in ways that are beneficial both to receiving and sending countries.

Global Value Chains (GVCs) have exploded in the past decade and refer to the international dispersion of design, production, assembly, marketing and distribution of services, activities, and products. Different stages in the production process are increasingly located across different economies, and intermediate inputs like parts and components are produced in one country and then exported to other countries for further production and/or assembly into final products. The functional and spatial fragmentation that has occurred within GVCs has significantly reshaped the global economic landscape, thereby raising some new major policy challenges for OECD countries and emerging countries alike: trade policy, competitiveness, upgrading and innovation and the management of global systemic risk.

Economic and financial crimes are growing in numbers, complexity and reach, making them increasingly difficult to investigate and successfully prosecute. This report details efforts in Latvia to strengthen its criminal justice system against financial and economic crimes. It highlights the range of challenges common to numerous jurisdictions, and describes progress made in Latvia to address these challenges through interagency cooperation mechanisms. Finally, it provides recommendations for areas requiring further attention.

Intellectual Property Rights can be instrumental for SMEs to protect and build on their innovations; position themselves competitively vis-à-vis larger enterprises in global markets; gain access to revenues; signal current and prospective value to investors, competitors and partners; access knowledge markets and networks; open up new commercial pathways; or segment existing markets.  However, while there is increasing recognition of their significance, as well as  the need for appropriate intellectual asset management for SMEs across OECD countries, there are few regulatory frameworks or specific instruments directed to SMEs. This is in part due the pace of technological innovation, which often exceeds the time it takes for policy makers to create appropriate responses to the changing landscape of intellectual property.   This study explores the relations between SME intellectual asset management, innovation and competitiveness in different national and sectoral contexts. It provides insights on the ability of SMEs to access and utilise the protection systems available to them and identifies key challenges for SMEs in appropriating full value from IPRs. It also investigates effectiveness of regulatory frameworks and policy measures to support SME access to IPRs, identifying best practices and proposing policy recommendations

Science and Technology is a key driver of economic growth, and it may also help provide answers for managing resources and reducing pollution, addressing climate change and preserving biodiversity, as well as  reducing disease and safeguarding health and well-being, while maintaining the general quality of life. This publication provides the proceedings of an international workshop, held in South Africa, intended to address how international co-operation in science and technology can further the three inter-related aspects (economic, social and environmental) of the development process. The workshop focused on good practices in international S&T partnerships, specifically in the areas of water and energy.

This report highlights key issues to facilitate understanding of how a systemic approach to technology-based school innovations can contribute to quality education for all while promoting a more equal and effective education system. It focuses on the novel concept of systemic innovation, as well as presenting the emerging opportunities to generate innovations that stem from Web 2.0 and the important investments and efforts that have gone into the development and promotion of digital resources. It also shows alternative ways to monitor, assess and scale up technology-based innovations. Some country cases, as well as fresh and alternative research frameworks, are presented.

This book analyses the role of networks in innovation and technology diffusion. It reviews policy initiatives to promote efficient networking in selected OECD countries, and draws the main implications for public policy. It provides both fresh conceptual insights and new factual information on this important mechanism of innovation-led growth.

The growth potential of countries increasingly depends on the effectiveness of their innovation systems in creating, diffusing and using knowledge. A large share of market-based or informal knowledge flows occur within industrial clusters that can be seen as reduced-form innovation systems. Policies to stimulate innovation at national and local levels must both build on and contribute to the dynamics of innovative clusters. This book presents a series of papers written by policy makers and academic experts in the field, that demonstrate why and how this can be done in different national contexts.

The Dutch food, agriculture and horticulture sector is innovative and export oriented, with high value-added along the food chain and significant world export shares for many products. Continuous adoption of innovation has permitted to reach high levels of productivity and sustained productivity growth, in particular at the farm level, in a context of increasing environmental regulatory constraints. The challenge is whether marginal improvements in current technologies and know-how will be enough to pursue current rates of productivity growth – sustainably – and whether the innovation system will be able to generate the new ideas that are needed to face future challenges, including those linked to climate change.

Agricultural innovation in Sweden has sought to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the agri-food sector by ensuring a high level of environmental and animal welfare standards, while raising the productivity and financial viability of farms. The policies enacted to date have contributed to a high level of consumer confidence in the quality and methods of food production, but challenges remain. These include adapting new technologies that will further strengthen the high environmental, animal welfare and food standards within a more balanced regional and open trading system. In view of the high production costs in Sweden, there is a need to continue with structural adjustments and better targeted investments in the agri-food sector, as well as to improve the level of interactions between research institutions and farmers to ensure that innovative techniques are adopted by all participants.

Latvia, a member of the European Union since 2004, is a small, dynamic and open economy that has successfully transitioned from central planning to a market economy. The reforms undertaken have driven progress, although from generally low levels and at a slower pace in agriculture than for the economy as a whole. This report examines the conditions under which farms and businesses in the food and agriculture sector in Latvia undertake innovation to become more productive and environmentally sustainable. It identifies opportunities as well as challenges that need to be addressed. These include economy wide skills shortage, emigration and population decline and urban concentration of population and services. At the sectoral level, these include the use of agricultural payments to support a large number of non-commercial farms and the high level of unpaid farm labour. To meet these challenges, agricultural innovation can be harnessed to improve the sector’s productivity, as well as the sustainability and efficiency of the food system. This report provides a series of recommendations that should allow agricultural policies to contribute to a well-functioning innovation system that can meet the challenges that lie ahead.

Estonian agriculture has undergone significant growth and structural change since the 1990s in a policy and regulatory environment that has been mostly supportive of investment. The implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy has contributed to the modernisation of the country's agriculture, leading to high productivity growth with relatively limited environmental pressure. High educational levels and strong public research institutions have also provided a fertile environment for innovation in Estonia, although Estonian agri-food companies struggle to participate in food and agricultural research activities. Attracting and retaining people in the agriculture sector at a time of growing labour and skills shortages in rural areas is an increasing challenge. Further innovation and adaptation will be needed to sustain and expand agriculture and food in Estonia.

The Canadian food and agriculture sector is for the most part competitive and export-oriented: although challenges and opportunities vary significantly between regions, primary agriculture benefits from an abundance of natural resources and faces limited environmental constraints. Negative environmental impacts of agriculture relate mainly to local water pollution by agricultural nutrients. Productivity growth, resulting from innovation and structural change, has driven production and income growth without significantly increasing pressure on resource use. Nonetheless, the capacity to innovate is crucial to take advantage of the growing and changing demand for food and agricultural products at the global level.

Agriculture and the agro-processing sector in Brazil have shown impressive growth over the past two decades. This has largely been driven by productivity improvements and structural adjustment resulting from broad economic reforms, as well as new technologies developed by agricultural science. Government policy and industry initiatives are increasingly focused on the sustainability of agricultural development.

Australia’s agriculture and food industries are well placed to contribute to the economy’s future growth given the robust prospects of global food demand and the continuing high international competitiveness of these sectors. There are, however, important challenges that call for new ways to exploit agricultural resources and human capital. The decade-long decline in agricultural productivity growth needs to be overcome, coupled with the need to accommodate uncertainties about the impacts of climate change and to respond to societal demands in the areas of sustainable development and animal welfare. The agro-food sector also needs to absorb exchange-rate and cost pressures created by the mining boom. To tap additional opportunities of the higher value food segments, Australian agri-businesses need new knowledge and capabilities to seize demand signals and value opportunities, particularly from more affluent consumers in Asian markets.