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Thriving middle classes are the backbone of democratic societies and strong economies, but in many countries, they face mounting pressure as their economic strength is eroding relative to higher-income households. Real wages and incomes for most middle-class households have grown only very slowly, and rising expenditures have been putting further pressure on living standards. Meanwhile, globalisation, digitalisation, and demographic change are eroding job opportunities for middle-skilled workers, who risk sliding into lower-paid employment. The COVID-19 crisis has accentuated socio-economic divides and may end up accelerating some of the above trends. This publication builds upon the OECD’s publications on the middle class (Under Pressure: The Squeezed Middle Class) and social mobility (A Broken Social Elevator? How to Promote Social Mobility). It demonstrates that the German middle class is similar in size as in peer countries, but substantially smaller than it was in the mid-1990s. Lower middle‑class households face an increased risk of slipping out of the middle; meanwhile, upward mobility into the middle has declined, particularly for workers in “typical” middle-class occupations. Employment growth forecasts point to further occupational polarisation. The review proposes policy options for strengthening the employability of middle-class workers, creating good-quality, future-oriented jobs, and boosting middle‑class disposable incomes.

Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, commonly known as the Nordic countries, have been leaders in the development of modern family and gender policy, and the explicit promotion of gender equality at home, at work, and in public life. Today, on many measures, they boast some of the most gender-equal labour markets in the OECD. This report shows that improvements in gender equality have contributed considerably to economic growth in the Nordic countries. Increases in female employment alone are estimated to account for anywhere between roughly 0.05 and 0.40 percentage points to average annual GDP per capita growth – equivalent to 3 to 20% of total GDP per capita growth over the past 50 years or so, depending on the country. The Nordic countries are closer than most to achieving gender equality in the labour market. But the last mile may well prove to be the longest one. To make further progress, a continued assessment of the effectiveness of existing public policies and workplace practices is needed. Only with resolve and a continued focus can Nordic countries ensure that men and women contribute to their economies and societies in gender equal measure.  

The taxation of professional services and other activities of an independent character under Article 14 of the OECD Model Tax Convention is problematic. For example, what activities and entities fall within Article 14 as opposed to the business profits Article (Article 7)? Is the distinction between those activities and entities satisfactory and easy to apply? What are the practical differences between taxation under Article 7 and 14? This report analyses those questions in detail and concludes that there is no practical difference between the two Articles or if any differences did in fact exist, there is no valid policy justification for them. It recommends that Article 14 be eliminated from the Model and describes the changes that would need to be made to the Articles and Commentary of the Model as a consequence.

This book brings together a collection of papers prepared for the Global Forum on Agriculture that took place at the OECD in December 2014. It reviews current knowledge about agricultural policy and agricultural trade policy settings, and questions its pertinence in light of the profound market and structural changes that have been taking place in the global agro-food sector in recent decades. It aims to inform and assist policy-makers and negotiators as they seek to overcome the problems that have made the agricultural pillar of the Doha Agenda trade negotiations particularly difficult. The data and analysis presented cover OECD countries and major G20 and emerging economies that account for the great bulk of global food production, consumption and trade.

The ACN Secretariat prepared this Guide as a reference document for monitoring teams, National Coordinators and other stakeholders involved in the 5th Round of Monitoring under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (IAP). It supplements the Assessment Framework (monitoring methodology and performance indicators) to facilitate the interpretation and application of the benchmarks. The Guide does not set any mandatory requirements for the IAP 5th Round of Monitoring reviews beyond the benchmarks

This document is an integral part of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) Work Programme 2023-2026. The document was approved at the 27th ACN Steering Group meeting on 17 November 2022.

At its 24th meeting in March 2019, the ACN Steering Group adopted the outline of the ACN Work Programme 2020-2024, that defines the ACN Performance Indicators as basis for the 5th Round of Monitoring under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan. At its 25th meeting in May 2020, the Steering Group decided to test the ACN Performance Indicators in the Pilot to finalise them for the launch of the 5th Round of Monitoring in 2021. This document outlines the methodology and the procedures of the Pilot in line with the IAP peer review methodology. The methodology for the 5th round of monitoring will be developed separately, based on the lessons learnt and the results of the Pilot.

At its 24th meeting in March 2019 the ACN Steering Group endorsed the outline of the Work Programme for 2020-2024, which provides for the new approach for the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan monitoring based on performance indicators. The ACN Secretariat has prepared the AntiCorruption Performance Indicators in consultation with the Expert Group, ACN countries and partners. The document was endorsed for pilot monitoring at the 25th Steering Group meeting held virtually on 28th May, 2020. Further, the Steering Group approved the amendments to the document, including Performance Area 7 Public Procurement and changes in several indicators by written procedure on 30 November, 2020.

This Practical Guide was developed with the financial assistance provided by the UK Department for International Development – DFID Central Asia with the aim to support the non-governmental actors in Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan in conducing anti-corruption Practical Guide: How to conduct monitoring by civil society OECD 5 monitoring. In the framework of this project so far 2 capacity building seminars for the civil society on monitoring processes have been organised in Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. The training materials developed for these seminars provided the basis for this Practical Guide.

The Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (IAP) is a sub-regional ACN programme of mutual reviews which involves nine countries. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine joined this initiative at the ACN General Meeting in September 2003 in Istanbul, Turkey. Kyrgyzstan joined the Action Plan in October 2003 and Kazakhstan – in December 2004. Uzbekistan joined the Action Plan in March 2010. Mongolia joined the Istanbul Action Plan at the ACN Steering Group in December 2012. Other ACN and OECD countries, international organisations, and civil society participate in the implementation of the Istanbul Action Plan as monitoring experts, donors and hosts of various events

Italy's National Action Plan for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) brings together the institutional mechanisms, evaluation frameworks and coherence tools needed to integrate sustainable development into government policy making. This Action Plan shows how to streamline existing mechanisms to improve policy coherence across levels of government and to involve civil society more closely in policy formulation. It also suggests how to make the most of complementarities across existing data collection efforts. The Action Plan includes suggestions for better linking mandates across departments and levels of government to avoid overlap and make greater progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Finally, it provides targets and measurable processes for each action to help track progress.

This report looks at the state of health in Italy.

This review underlines some important points of strength with respect to Italian SMEs and entrepreneurship, notably for medium-sized firms that very often excel in their market niches, have a strong propensity to business collaboration, as well as favourable access to finance. The review also looks at the challenges that lie ahead for Italy, hard hit by the global economic crisis, notably among micro and small firms. Recovery will mean, among other things, removing barriers to business growth, streamlining the complexity of the Italian tax system, and opening the business environment to competition, foreign direct investment and equity financing, as well as improving training and workforce skills.

This report sets out the main analysis and recommendations of the tourism policy review of Italy. It  assesses the current state of tourism performance in Italy, its framework conditions and business environment, the existing set of tourism policies and programmes, especially in the area of statistics, promotion and education and training.  The report presents a series of policy recommendations intended to support policy and programme development in Italy in order to develop and strengthen further the tourism sector and to provide inspiration to policy makers in other countries faced with similar challenges.  The report includes international learning models from  the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain and Switzerland.

Drawing on the OECD’s expertise in comparing country experiences and identifying best practices, this book tailors the OECD’s policy advice to the specific and timely priorities of Italy, focusing on how its government can make reform happen.