Browse by: "2019"

The Western Balkan economies have been implementing reforms to improve their competitiveness since the early 2000s. These reforms contributed to economic growth by removing barriers to trade and investment and facilitating the region’s integration into global markets. This led to a doubling of the size of their economies and a six-fold increase of their export volumes.Although the region has considerably reinforced its integration into global value chains, remaining non-tariff trade barriers and regulatory restrictions continue to hamper full access to foreign markets. Many industries in the Western Balkans remain fragile, their technology largely outdated and their products not sufficiently competitive outside the region. Their improved macroeconomic performance has only partially accelerated the structural transformation of domestic producers and their integration into global value chains. Limited business opportunities are a cause of high unemployment, pressing young and talented people to search for better opportunities abroad. At the same time, the Western Balkans face an issue common to all middle-income economies – pressure from countries with lower production costs. Therefore, a shift towards higher technological standards is needed to compete in international markets.The prospects of accession to the European Union (EU) and the alignment with the EU acquis represent excellent opportunities for the Western Balkans to fully embed their economies in European value chains, benefitting from increased investment flows and an upgrade of their manufacturing infrastructure. Against this backdrop, the Berlin Process represents a unique occasion for EU Member States to support the Western Balkans in their ongoing reform efforts, and for the Western Balkan economies to intensify mutual co operation and gain recognition for their endeavours. The OECD is launching this new study on trade and investment in the Western Balkan economies on the occasion of the 2019 Poznań Summit of the Berlin Process, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, to help the region target the most strategic sectors for inclusive and sustainable growth. This publication was prepared within the OECD South East Europe regional programme, which supports governments in the region to foster sustainable growth, investment and employment through reforms promoting competitiveness and private sector development. This report represents a tangible contribution to the region’s ongoing process of economic reform, which aims to foster inclusive and sustainable growth for the benefit of all the citizens of the Western Balkans.

Middle-class households feel left behind and have questioned the benefits of economic globalisation. In many OECD countries, middle incomes have grown less than the average and in some they have not grown at all. Technology has automated several middle-skilled jobs that used to be carried out by middle-class workers a few decades ago. The costs of some goods and services such as housing, which are essential for a middle-class lifestyle, have risen faster than earnings and overall inflation. Faced with this, middle classes have reduced their ability to save and in some cases have fallen into debt. This report sheds light on the multiple pressures on the middle class. It analyses the trends of middle-income households through dimensions such as labour occupation, consumption, wealth and debt, as well as perceptions and social attitudes. It also discusses policy initiatives to address the concerns raised by the middle class, by protecting middle-class living standards and financial security in the face of economic challenges.

This study examines the value, scope and trends of trade in counterfeit and pirated goods. First, it presents the overall scale of this trade and discusses which parts of the economy are particularly at risk. Next, it looks at the main economies of origin of fakes in global trade. Finally, it analyses recent trends in terms of changing modes of shipment and the evolution of trade flows.

This report updates the data published in the 2015 OECD Compendium of Agri-environmental Indicators to present a summary of the environmental performance of agriculture in OECD countries as of end-2015. It also includes new and innovative material to further strengthen its relevance as a reference document. In particular, the four thematic chapters each cover a targeted set of indicators for which data coverage is generally more consistent across time in OECD countries and that capture the main pressures agriculture exerts on the environment. The thematic chapters cover the following areas: the interlinked issues of land use, pesticides and farmland birds; ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions, the main air pollutants from agricultural activities; nitrogen and phosphorus balances, two indicators that signal air and water pollution; and water use and irrigation in agriculture.

Behavioural insights (BI) are lessons derived from the behavioural and social sciences, including decision making, psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, organisational and group behaviour. Public bodies around the world are increasingly using BI to design and implement better public policies based on evidence of the actual behaviour and biases of citizens and businesses. This toolkit provides practitioners and policy makers with a step-by-step process for analysing a policy problem, building strategies, and developing behaviourally informed interventions.

This brochure is published within the framework of the Scheme for the Application of International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables established by OECD in 1962. It comprises explanatory notes and illustrations to facilitate the uniform interpretation of the Tomatoes Standard. This brochure illustrates the standard text and demonstrates the quality parameters on high quality photographs. Thus, it is a valuable tool for the inspection authorities, professional bodies and traders interested in international trade of tomatoes.

This report explores the main reasons behind the unreliable supply of Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) in health-care systems and policy options to address the issue. Tc-99m is used in 85% of nuclear medicine diagnostic scans performed worldwide – around 30 million patient examinations every year. These scans allow diagnoses of diseases in many parts of the human body, including the skeleton, heart and circulatory system, and the brain. Medical isotopes are subject to radioactive decay and have to be delivered just-in-time through a complex supply chain. However, ageing production facilities and a lack of investment have made the supply of Tc-99m unreliable. This report analyses the use and substitutability of Tc-99m in health care, health-care provider payment mechanisms for scans, and the structure of the supply chain. It concludes that the main reasons for unreliable supply are that production is not economically viable and that the structure of the supply chain prevents producers from charging prices that reflect the full costs of production and supply.

The space economy is expanding and becoming increasingly global, driven by the development of ever-more governmental space programmes around the world, the multiplication of commercial actors in value chains, durable digitalisation trends, and new space systems coming of age. This report describes these emerging trends using new and internationally comparable data and indicators. It highlights the growing importance of space activities for the economy, for developing country strategies (based on original official development assistance statistics), for the pursuit of knowledge and scientific discoveries, and for society in general. To get the most out of space investments and promote sustained socio-economic growth, this report provides some recommendations to countries in building up their statistical evidence on space actors and activities.

This report looks at approaches to help ensure the effective taxation of those earning income from the sale of goods or services in the sharing and gig economy. It considers the different ways that tax administrations can best engage with platform sellers, sharing and gig economy platforms, and each other to enable more effective tax compliance. The report is divided into four chapters. The first chapter sets out the background to the sharing and gig economy and the role of online platforms. The second chapter provides some examples of current approaches that are being taken by OECD Forum on Tax Administration members that participated in this work. Chapter three sets out a range of options that tax administrations may wish to consider to help enable compliance in this sector. Finally, chapter four sets out three recommendations and considerations for possible further work: joint work between tax administrations and platforms on providing information and support to platform sellers; improving the evidence base to enhance understanding of the tax at risk in relation to platforms; and assisting in the possible development of a legislative model for standardised reporting by sharing and gig economy platforms.

This World Energy Outlook special report examines the role of fuel switching, primarily from coal to natural gas, to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and air pollutants. Four case studies, covering the United States, the European Union, the People’s Republic of China, and India, reveal the various opportunities, hurdles and limits of fuel switching as a way to address environmental challenges.

This report provides practical guidance to tax authorities on the design and implementation of a variety of solutions for digital platforms, including e-commerce marketplaces, in the effective and efficient collection of VAT/GST on the digital trade of goods, services and intangibles. In particular, it includes new measures to make digital platforms liable for the VAT/GST on sales made by online traders through these platforms, along with other measures including data sharing and enhanced co-operation between tax authorities and digital platforms. It builds on the solutions for the effective collection of VAT/GST on digital sales included in the International VAT/GST Guidelines and the 2015 BEPS Action 1 Final Report “Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy.” It is of particular relevance recognising the growing importance of the platform economy and notably the potential of digital platforms to significantly enhance the effectiveness of VAT/GST collection given their important role in generating, facilitating and/or executing online sales.

Migration has been at the centre of policy debates across the OECD in recent years. This synthesis report identifies eight pillars of policy-making that the Strength through Diversity project has revealed to be crucial if education systems to effectively support newcomers. For each pillar, the report details a set of principles driving the design and implementation of system-level policies and school-level practices. The eight pillars are: 1. consider the heterogeneity of immigrant populations, 2. develop approaches to promote the overall well-being of immigrants, 3. address the unique needs of refugee students, 4. ensure that motivation translates into a key asset for immigrant communities, 5. organise resources to reduce the influence of socio-economic status on the outcomes of immigrants, 6. provide comprehensive language support, 7. build the capacity of teachers to deal with diversity, and 8. break down barriers to social cohesion while ensuring effective service delivery.

Twenty-first century governments must keep pace with the expectations of their citizens and deliver on the promise of the digital age. Data-driven approaches are particularly effective for meeting those expectations and rethinking the way governments and citizens interact. This report highlights the important role data can play in creating conditions that improve public services, increase the effectiveness of public spending and inform ethical and privacy considerations. It presents a data-driven public sector framework that can help countries or organisations assess the elements needed for using data to make better-informed decisions across public sectors.

The Missing Entrepreneurs 2019 is the fifth edition in a series of biennial reports that examine how public policies at national, regional and local levels can support job creation, economic growth and social inclusion by overcoming obstacles to business start-ups and self-employment by people from disadvantaged or under-represented groups in entrepreneurship. It shows that there is substantial potential to combat unemployment and increase labour market participation by facilitating business creation in populations such as women, youth, the unemployed, and immigrants. However, the specific problems they face need to be recognised and addressed with effective and efficient policy measures. The 2019 edition contains two thematic policy chapters on the potential of digital entrepreneurship for making entrepreneurship more inclusive and increasing the scale-up potential of start-ups by entrepreneurs from disadvantaged groups. These thematic chapters discuss current policy issues and present the range of policy actions currently used in EU and OECD countries. The chapters also offer policy advice to national, regional and local policy makers. Finally, the report contains country profiles that highlight recent trends in entrepreneurship by women, youth, seniors and immigrants, key policy issues and recent policy actions in each of the 28 EU Member States.

Two thirds of the increase in asylum requests was driven by Portugal’s active participation in the EU emergency schemes.