Browse by: "2015"

This joint report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is the eighth in a series of studies on electricity generating costs. As policy makers work to ensure that the power supply is reliable, secure and affordable, while making it increasingly clean and sustainable in the context of the debate on climate change, it is becoming more crucial that they understand what determines the relative cost of electricity generation using fossil fuel, nuclear or renewable sources of energy. A wide range of fuels and technologies are presented in the report, including natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, solar, onshore and offshore wind, biomass and biogas, geothermal, and combined heat and power, drawing on a database from surveys of investment and operating costs that include a larger number of countries than previous editions.
 
The analysis of more than 180 plants, based on data covering 22 countries, reveals several key trends, pointing, for example, to a significant decline in recent years in the cost of renewable generation. The report also reveals that nuclear energy costs remain in line with the cost of other baseload technologies, particularly in markets that value decarbonisation. Overall, cost drivers of the different generating technologies remain both market-specific and technology-specific.
 
Readers will find a wealth of details and analysis, supported by over 200 figures and tables, underlining this report’s value as a tool for decision makers and researchers concerned with energy policies, climate change and the evolution of power sectors around the world.
 

This cross-country report on prevention of public sector corruption analyses the preventive measures that have proven to be effective and successful in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The review focuses on twenty-one countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and includes examples from OECD countries. The report is based on questionnaires that were completed by governments, NGOs and international partners in participating countries. In addition, good practice examples presented during expert seminars in 2013 and 2014, contributions by the Advisory Group and additional research also feature in the report. The majority of the report was prepared in 2014.

This report includes changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention to prevent treaty abuse. It first addresses treaty shopping through alternative provisions that form part of a minimum standard that all countries participating in the BEPS Project have agreed to implement.  It also includes specific treaty rules to address other forms of treaty abuse and ensures that tax treaties do not inadvertently prevent the application of domestic anti-abuse rules. The report finally includes changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention that clarify that tax treaties are not intended to create opportunities for non-taxation or reduced taxation through tax evasion or avoidance (including through treaty-shopping) and that identify the tax policy considerations that countries should consider before deciding to enter into a tax treaty with another country.

This report includes changes to the definition of permanent establishment in the OECD Model Tax Convention that will address strategies used to avoid having a taxable presence in a country under tax treaties. These changes will ensure that where the activities that an intermediary exercises in a country are intended to result in the regular conclusion of contracts to be performed by a foreign enterprise, that enterprise will be considered to have a taxable presence in that country unless the intermediary is performing these activities in the course of an independent business. The changes will also restrict the application of a number of exceptions to the definition of permanent establishment to activities that are preparatory or auxiliary nature and will ensure that it is not possible to take advantage of these exceptions by the fragmentation of a cohesive operating business into several small operations; they will also address situations where the exception applicable to construction sites is circumvented through the splitting-up contracts between closely related enterprises.

This publication provides governments with guidance on the policy options that are available to make the most of private investment opportunities in clean energy infrastructure, drawing on the expertise of climate and investment communities among others. It identifies key issues for policy makers to consider, including in investment policy, investment promotion and facilitation, competition policy, financial markets, and public governance. It also addresses cross-cutting issues, including regional co-operation and international trade for investment in clean energy infrastructure.

This document is intended as a guide to developers of new test methods that are analogous to existing, fully validated test methods in that they are based on similar scientific principles and predict the same effect(colloquially referred to as “me too” tests) .This document contains the Performance Standards (PS) for the human recombinant estrogen receptor (hrER) binding assay. These PS accompany the Performance-Based Test Guideline (PBTG) for human recombinant estrogen receptor in vitro assays to detect chemicals with ER binding affinity (TG 493). The PS are intended for the developers of new or modified test methods, similar to the validated reference methods.

The purpose of Performance Standards (PS) is to provide the basis by which new similar or modified test methods, both proprietary (i.e. copyrighted, trademarked, registered) and non-proprietary,can be deemed to be structurally and mechanistically similar to a Validated Reference Method (VRM) and demonstrate to have sufficient reliability and relevance for specific testing purposes (i.e., scientifically valid), in accordance with the principles of Guidance Document No. 34. This document contains the Performance Standards (PS) for the validation of similar or modified RhE methods for skin irritation testing as described in TG 439. In the past, PS were usually annexed to TGs. However, in view of separating information on the use of a test method as contained in the TG from information needed to validate test methods as contained in the PS, TGs and PS will now both be stand alone documents.

The purpose of Performance Standards (PS) is to provide the basis by which new similar or modified test methods, both proprietary (i.e. copyrighted, trademarked, registered) and non-proprietary,can be deemed to be structurally and mechanistically similar to a Validated Reference Method (VRM) and demonstrate to have sufficient reliability and relevance for specific testing purposes (i.e., scientifically valid), in accordance with the principles of Guidance Document No. 34. This document contains the Performance Standards (PS) for the validation of similar or modified RhE methods for skin corrosion testing as described in TG 431.

The purpose of Performance Standards (PS) is to provide the basis by which new similar or modified test methods, both proprietary (i.e. copyrighted, trademarked, registered) and non-proprietary, can be deemed to be structurally and mechanistically similar to a Validated Reference Method (VRM) and demonstrate to have sufficient reliability and relevance for specific testing purposes (i.e., scientifically valid), in accordance with the principles of Guidance Document No. 34. This document contains Performance Standards which allow determining the validation status (reliability and relevance) of similar and modified skin corrosion test methods that are structurally and mechanistically similar to the TER test method in OECD Test Guideline 430.

The purpose of PS is to provide the basis by which new or modified test methods, both proprietary (i.e. copyrighted, trademarked, registered) and non-proprietary can demonstrate to have sufficient reliability and relevance for specific testing purposes. This document includes Performance Standards (PS) for the assessment of proposed similar or modified in vitro skin sensitisation ARE-Nrf2 luciferase test methods.

This document includes the Performance Standards (PS) for stably transfected transactivation in vitroassays to detect estrogen receptor (ER) antagonists. These PS accompany the Performance-Based Test Guideline (PBTG) for Transfected Transactivation In Vitro Assays to Detect Estrogen Agonists and Antagonists (TG 455). The PS are intended for the developers of new or modified test methods, similar to the validated reference methods.

The 10-year anniversary edition of Pensions at a Glance highlights the pension reforms undertaken by OECD and G20 countries over the last two years. Two special chapters provide deeper analysis of first-tier pension schemes and of the impact of short or interrupted careers, due to late entry into employment, childcare or unemployment, on pension entitlements. Another chapter analyses the sensitivity of long-term pension replacement rates on various parameters. A range of indicators for comparing pension policies and their outcomes between OECD and G20 countries is also provided.

Pension Markets in Focus provides detailed and comparable statistics on retirement savings around the world. This annual statistical report contributes to the effort of making data on retirement savings available, as the OECD Core Principles of Private Pension Regulation advocates for, to enable regulators and stakeholders to evaluate the design and operation of pension systems relative to their goals. These statistics can support policy discussions through international comparisons and peer learning, and are the basis of policy recommendations in the OECD series of Pension Reviews. These statistics can also be helpful to private sector representatives, journalists, academics and anyone interested in funded pension systems.

The Korean shipbuilding industry made a significant contribution to the country’s rapid industrialisation in the post-World War 2 period, and it is now one of the top global players, leading by value and second only to China by volume. Korean shipbuilders’ output approximately tripled from 2000 until 2011, when the effects of the global financial crisis began to be reflected in yard activity, and the Korean industry accounted for 35% of global vessel completions (in gross tonne terms) in 2013. The shipbuilding industry forms an integral part of a wider maritime cluster, with marine equipment and steel comprising key inputs. The industry produces a wide variety of shiptypes, but there is a significant share of high-value, large vessels, such as container ships, very large crude oil tankers, and gas tankers. The prominence of high-value outputs has been supported by the industry’s R&D spending and skilled workforce.

The computer code system PENELOPE (version 2014) performs Monte Carlo simulation of coupled electron-photon transport in arbitrary materials for a wide energy range, from a few hundred eV to about 1 GeV. Photon transport is simulated by means of the standard, detailed simulation scheme. Electron and positron histories are generated on the basis of a mixed procedure, which combines detailed simulation of hard events with condensed simulation of soft interactions. A geometry package called PENGEOM permits the generation of random electron-photon showers in material systems consisting of homogeneous bodies limited by quadric surfaces, i.e., planes, spheres, cylinders, etc. This report is intended not only to serve as a manual of the PENELOPE code system, but also to provide the user with the necessary information to understand the details of the Monte Carlo algorithm.

Presented to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in September 2015, this report discusses the scope for capital markets to provide a source of financing for SMEs and identifies options for capital market financing of SMEs given the size and nature of these businesses as well as the nature and operations of capital market financing and the participants in capital markets.

The Open Government Review of Morocco is the first of its kind analysing a country’s open government policies and practices and their institutional and legal frameworks for implementation against OECD instruments. By bringing together a multitude of OECD instruments and expertise in different areas of public governance, the Review provides Moroccan policy makers, public sector officials and civil society activists with practical indications on how to improve and successfully implement their national open government agenda. In addition, the Review contains a list of recommendations on which to build Morocco’s Action Plan for the Open Government Partnership.