Browse by: "2020"
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Insurance intermediaries have a key role in the efficient functioning of insurance markets, and minimising information asymmetries and risk of adverse selection is an important consideration. Intermediaries can analyse the needs of insurance consumers, and advise on appropriate solutions and policies that fit these needs. As with all principal-agent relationships, the needs and goals of intermediaries and policyholders are sometimes different and sometimes conflicting. This report examines how OECD and non-OECD countries are regulating and supervising insurance intermediation, focussing on market conduct rules as well as rules related to digitalisation of intermediation. It considers areas which require further investigation to address potential conflicts of interest.
Slovakia has introduced important reforms to strengthen its regulatory policy framework, but certain challenges remain. This report assesses the country’s regulatory management capacity by taking stock of regulatory policies, institutions and tools, including administrative simplification policies, ex ante and ex post evaluation of regulations, stakeholder engagement practices, multi-level regulatory governance arrangements and innovative approaches to regulation. The review describes trends and recent developments, identifies gaps in relation to good practices and offers policy recommendations based on best international practices to strengthen the government’s capacity to manage regulatory policy. Improving the entire regulatory policy cycle will ensure that regulations are built on a foundation of solid evidence and public participation and are designed to improve the security, health and well-being of citizens at a reasonable cost.
This report looks at the Philippines Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), focussing both on its principal functions as well as its position in the broader regulatory environment. It provides recommendations to assist the Philippines in embedding and improving its regulatory management system, with a specific focus on regulatory impact assessment.
When designing a policy, law, regulation or other type of “rule”, governments should always consider its likely effects. Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) provides crucial information to decision-makers on whether and how to regulate to achieve public policy goals. RIA examines the impacts and consequences of a range of alternative options. RIA also helps policy makers defend a decision not to intervene in markets where the costs of doing so outweigh the benefits. Regulatory Impact Assessment provides policy makers, civil servants and other public sector practitioners with a practical instrument for better designing and implementing RIA systems and strategies. The Principles cover a wide range of institutional organisations, tools and practices and present a list of critical steps as well as “dos and don’ts” for developing RIA frameworks. This report is part of the series OECD Best Practice Principles for Regulatory Policy produced under the auspices of the OECD Regulatory Policy Committee. As with other reports in the series, it extends and elaborates on principles highlighted in the 2012 Recommendation of the Council on Regulatory Policy and Governance.
The report provides a description and an assessment of the recent actions carried out by the Mexican government to enhance the quality of regulation and regulatory governance in the rail sector in Mexico. In particular, the report identifies and describes recent regulatory reforms in the rail sector; the progress in implementing OECD recommendations relative to rail regulation issued in 2017; the reforms that led to the Mexican Rail Regulatory Agency, as well as the legal powers granted. It also documents the current regulatory practices of this Agency. The reforms and practices are assessed against OECD principles and country experiences. Finally, the report provides recommendations for continuing the reform efforts.
To meet their policy objectives, regulations must be accompanied by a carefully designed and well-implemented enforcement strategy, including inspections. This report provides an assessment of the enforcement and inspections strategy in the environmental sector in Peru along with recommendations to strengthen this strategy. The report evaluates the policies and legal framework of the Environmental Evaluation and Enforcement Agency of Peru, as well as its practices and the resources employed in enforcement and inspections activities. It also offers policy options to improve performance. The benchmark for the comparative analysis is the OECD Regulatory Enforcement and Inspections Toolkit. Using a checklist of 12 criteria, this Toolkit provides a simple tool for assessing the inspection and enforcement system in a given jurisdiction, institution or structure.
The Territorial Review of Greece offers analysis and policy guidance to strengthen regional development and well-being. It examines Greece’s regional development framework, the EU Cohesion policy and multilevel governance in Greece. Since the global financial crisis, Greece has undertaken an impressive number of structural reforms. Recovery initiated in 2017 but the current COVID-19 pandemic is slowing down Greece’s efforts. The country is now facing a number of strategic development priorities including fostering digitalisation, improving entrepreneurial and business ecosystems, and addressing environmental challenges. These new priorities must also tackle existing social challenges and mitigate rising inequalities. The Review examines a range of policies that have the potential to propel inclusive growth in Greece’s regions and improve the quality of life for their residents. It stresses that policies for economic growth, social capital and environmental sustainability are more effective when they recognise the different economic and social realities where people live and work. OECD work illustrates the importance to align place based regional development strategies with sectoral policies (support for private investment, infrastructure and human capital policies) in each place to generate multiplier effects. To fulfil this task, Greece will need to continue advancing the reform of its institutional and fiscal multi-level governance system.
For national governments, the importance of regional development policies reflects two important realities: first, people’s well-being is strongly influenced by where they live and work; and, secondly, it is often possible to identify opportunities and potential policy complementarities at local or regional level that are not apparent from national capitals. Leveraging this potential creates a double dividend, increasing both aggregate productivity and inclusion. This Policy Insight discusses how Kazakhstan can improve its regional development policy by adopting a more bottom-up, place-based approach in areas where a high degree of centralisation has sometimes prevailed. It suggests the development of place-based policy processes and tools to support economic activities based on the identification and mobilisation of local strengths and assets, and to realise further agglomeration potential. It also discusses ways to strengthen a multilevel governance framework that enables the delivery of such policies.
This report examines the difference in which public transport planning is undertaken and services are delivered. The report focuses primarily on urban public transport markets, with some consideration given to intercity markets. Case studies and examples address bus, tram, metro and urban or regional rail. It discusses how well different models of transport organisation deliver value for money, encourage and harness innovation, and help systems prepare for the challenges and opportunities on the horizon. Recommendations highlight the key main factors for successful reform of public transport systems.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 added urgency to the need to address long-standing pressures on health systems, linked to growing citizens’ expectations, population ageing and more complex and costly health care needs. As the first point of contact, primary health care that provides comprehensive, continuous, and co-ordinated care is key to boosting preventive care, treating those who need care, and helping people become more active in managing their own health. It has the potential to improve health system efficiency and health outcomes for people across socio-economic levels, and make health systems people-centred. This report examines primary health care across OECD countries before the COVID-19 pandemic, and draws attention to how primary health care is not living up to its full potential. Doing things differently – through new models of organising services, better co-ordination among providers, better use of digital technology, and better use of resources and incentives – helps to improve care, reduce the need for hospitalisations, and mitigate health inequalities. This report identifies key policy challenges that OECD countries need to address to realise the full potential of primary health care, and reviews progress and innovations towards transforming primary health care.
This report provides examples and recommendations to help overcome obstacles to engage low-skilled workers and their employers in skills development. England has implemented impressive measures aimed at helping workers and employers to upskill. Nonetheless, there remains room for improvement. More can be done to identify workers with low basic skills, raise awareness of why improving those skills is important, increase the accessibility to relevant courses, ensure these courses are flexible enough to accommodate adult learners who are already employed, and finally make the provision relevant to career aspirations.
This report urges England to establish and promote a vision for raising the skills of low-skilled workers, identify their needs more systematically, and provide targeted guidance and information to them and their employers. It highlights that accessible and flexible adult learning opportunities in the workplace, home, community and by other means such as online and distance learning can better meet the varied needs of low-skilled workers. It also makes the case for the use of contextualised learning approaches, which create connections between basic skills and vocational context, and a more effective use of basic skills in workplaces to maintain, develop and realise the benefits of prior skills investments.
Africa is facing a monumental task to prioritise, accelerate and scale up quality infrastructure development. It can take several decades for an infrastructure project to go from idea to operation, but with 28 African countries having doubled their population in the 25 years between 1990 and 2015, the UN projects that another 26 countries will double their population between 2017 and 2050. The status quo will clearly not suffice to meet Africa’s demographic challenges and its development objectives, as enshrined in the African Union (AU)’s Agenda 2063. With this background, this report identifies the impediments to progress as well as emerging new practices and sets out strategic recommendations for the way ahead. It draws on recent analyses and entrepreneurial initiatives, case studies and high-level expert meetings. While the report is independent, it is also inspired by and supports the innovative infrastructure business models being developed by the AUC and the AU Development Agency-New Partnership for Economic Development (AUDA-NEPAD) in the context of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) for building up integrated regional economic corridors.
The experience of children under age 3 with early childhood education and care (ECEC) is crucial for their learning, development and well-being and for parents’ return to work. Despite increasing recognition of the importance of ECEC for the youngest children, little is known about this sector.
The OECD Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) is the first international survey that focuses on the ECEC workforce. It asks staff and leaders about themselves and their settings, including the practices they use with children and their views on the sector. This thematic report focusses on ECEC for children under age 3, an option of the Survey in which four countries (Denmark, Germany, Israel and Norway) participated. The report answers many questions that are important for parents, actors in the field, and policy makers.
This report describes the results of an OECD survey submitted to the regulators responsible for the enforcement of corporate governance-related provisions in the six countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru) that participate in the Latin American Corporate Governance Roundtable Task Force on Equity Market Development (“Task Force”). The report aims to identify common and differing approaches to enforcement challenges in the region as well as common objectives, obstacles and relevant experiences, thereby contributing to a better understanding of public enforcement environments in the region and potential avenues for improving them. Building on previous work by the OECD in 2009 and 2004, this report also provides information on changes in the public enforcement of corporate governance-related provisions in Latin America.
This study aims at identifying and better understanding the theoretical linkages and operational complementarities between two initiatives in the mining sector: the EITI and the OECD DDG. The overall objective is to determine how the OECD and EITI can improve the impact and reach of both initiatives, in terms of supply chain management and reporting.
All OECD economies are undergoing rapid population ageing, leading to more age diversity in workplaces than ever before as people are not only living longer but working longer. Greater diversity of experience, generations and skills gives employers an important opportunity to harness the talent that different age groups bring to the workplace and improve productivity and profitability. What can employers do to maximise the benefits of a multigenerational workforce? This report presents a business case for embracing greater age diversity at the workplace and debunks several myths about generational differences in work performance, attitudes and motivations towards work. It points to key employer policies and offers practical examples in three key areas to support and promote an age-inclusive workforce. This includes designing and putting in place all-age and life-stage policies covering the full span of workers careers through best practice in recruitment, retention and retirement, as well as the promotion of life-long learning and good health at work.
In 2018, the Government of the Republic of Moldova adopted the 2018-2020 Action Plan for the implementation of its 2012-2020 SME Development Strategy. The Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure requested the OECD’s assistance in supporting the implementation of the Action Plan, with a particular emphasis on actions promoting integration of Moldovan food producers into global value chains. This work summarises the main findings of this joint work and provides anlaysis and policy recommendations to: (i) increase the competitiveness of Moldovan food producers, (ii) facilitate supply chain linkages between local food processors and supermarkets, and (iii) improve SME access to foreign markets.
This report takes stock of processes that promote the systematic use of evidence in decision making in Austria’s education system. It builds on an online survey among over 6500 decision makers, drawing on responses from executives in the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research; regional education directorates; school supervision and school leaders. The report identifies what it takes to strengthen the opportunity, capability and motivation of decision makers at all levels of the education system to use evidence effectively for their respective practice – including teaching and quality assurance. It assesses respective strengths and weaknesses in current processes and in opportunities available to decision makers. The report develops possible next steps to inform further discussions.
The publication is part of OECD work on strategic education governance, which supports countries in identifying the best ways to achieve national objectives in a context of multi-level governance structures and complex environments. The work identifies and promotes effective governance processes in the domains of accountability, capacity, knowledge governance, stakeholder involvement, strategic thinking and adopting a whole-of-system perspective. This publication will be of interest to policy makers, education leaders, the education research community and all those interested in education governance.
This joint report by the International Energy Agency and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency is the ninth in a series of studies on electricity generating costs. As countries work towards ensuring an electricity supply that is reliable, affordable and increasingly low carbon, it is crucial that policymakers, modellers and experts have at their disposal reliable information on the cost of generation. This report includes cost data on power generation from natural gas, coal, nuclear, and a broad range of renewable technologies. For the first time, information on the costs of storage technologies, the long-term operation of nuclear power plants and fuel cells is also included. The detailed plant-level cost data for 243 power plants in 24 countries, both OECD and non-OECD, is based on the contributions of participating governments and has been treated according to a common methodology in order to provide transparent and comparable results.
Low-carbon electricity systems are characterised by increasingly complex interactions of different technologies with different functions in order to ensure reliable supply at all times. The 2020 edition of Projected Costs of Generating Electricity thus puts into context the plain metric for plant-level cost, the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE). System effects and system costs are identified with the help of the broader value-adjusted LCOE, or VALCOE metric. Extensive sensitivity analyses and five essays treating broader issues that are crucial in electricity markets round out the complementary information required to make informed decisions. A key insight is the importance of the role the electricity sector plays in decarbonising the wider energy sector through electrification and sector coupling.
The key insight of the 2020 edition of Projected Costs of Generating Electricity is that the levelised costs of electricity generation of low-carbon generation technologies are falling and are increasingly below the costs of conventional fossil fuel generation. Renewable energy costs have continued to decrease in recent years and their costs are now competitive, in LCOE terms, with dispatchable fossil fuel-based electricity generation in many countries. The cost of electricity from new nuclear power plants remains stable, yet electricity from the long-term operation of nuclear power plants constitutes the least cost option for low-carbon generation. At the assumed carbon price of USD 30 per tonne of CO2 and pending a breakthrough in carbon capture and storage, coal-fired power generation is slipping out of the competitive range. The cost of gas-fired power generation has decreased due to lower gas prices and confirms the latter’s role in the transition. Readers will find a wealth of details and analysis, supported by over 100 figures and tables, that establish the continuing value of the Projected Costs of Generating Electricity as an indispensable tool for decision-makers, researchers and experts interested in identifying and comparing the costs of different generating options in today’s electricity sector.