1887
  1. Home
  2. Papers
  3. Browse by: "2009"

Browse by: "2009"

Index

Title Index

Year Index

/search?value51=igo%2Foecd&value6=2009&sortDescending=false&sortDescending=false&value5=2009&value53=status%2F50+OR+status%2F100+OR+status%2F90&value52=&value7=&value2=&option7=&value4=subtype%2Farticle+OR+subtype%2Fworkingpaper+OR+subtype%2Fpolicybrief&option5=year_from&value3=&option6=year_to&publisherId=%2Fcontent%2Figo%2Foecd&option3=&option52=&sortField=sortTitle&sortField=sortTitle&option4=dcterms_type&option53=pub_contentStatus&option51=pub_igoId&option2=
This paper discusses issues related to the teaching and assessment of 21st century skills and competencies in OECD countries drawing on the findings of a questionnaire study and other relevant background material such as white papers or curriculum documents. Although all OECD countries were invited to participate in the questionnaire survey, responses were received from seventeen countries or regions, and the paper focuses primarily on this group. The paper presents a short discussion of the importance and relevance of 21st century skills and competencies in the current policy debate and the definitions and conceptual frameworks that have been used in the literature, and proposes a new three-dimensional framework, consisting of the dimensions of information, communication and ethics and social impact. The findings of the questionnaire survey show that most countries or regions cover 21st century skills and competencies in their regulations, guidelines or recommendations for compulsory education. However, there are few specific definitions of these skills and competencies at national or regional level and virtually no clear formative or summative assessment policies for these skills. The only evaluation regarding their teaching is often left to external inspectors as part of their whole school audits. Similarly there are few teacher training programmes that target the teaching or development of 21st century skills, although there exist several teacher training initiatives that focus on developing teachers’ ICT pedagogical skills, most of them optional. The paper discusses the implications of these findings especially with regard to the particular role of ICT in the development of these skills and competencies, and issues related to assessment practices and teacher training.
This report develops a conceptual framework for the assessment of costs and benefits associated with non-tariff measures that allows an evidence-based comparative assessment of alternative regulatory approaches.
French
In the highly competitive international world of learning, universities make full use of favourable league table positions to strengthen their reputations. Yet are they, in so doing, entering into a Faustian Bargain in which the long-term cost outweighs the short-term gain? Success in league tables comes at a cost in terms of accepting the orthodoxies of others instead of pursuing particular institutional missions linked to the particular priorities of the local community.

Based on recent surveys of institutional experience and on a new analysis of the impact of league tables on English higher education, this paper argues that if, as seems likely, rankings are here to stay, the shortcomings of the present approach must be acknowledged and addressed.

By Peter W.A. West, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom

L’exploitation des classements nationaux et internationaux par les établissements d’enseignement supérieur : Un pacte avec le diable ?

Face à l’internationalisation du secteur éducatif, désormais hautement concurrentiel, les universités exploitent au maximum leur place dans les classements internationaux en vue d’accroître leur prestige. Mais cette stratégie ne revient-elle pas à conclure un pacte avec le diable, dont les coûts à long terme sont en réalité bien supérieurs aux avantages immédiats ? L’université qui choisit d’asseoir sa réputation sur ces classements accepte en effet, implicitement, de se plier aux règles fixées par ceux qu’elle cherche à émuler, au lieu de concentrer ses efforts sur certaines missions spécifiques, plus en adéquation avec les besoins particuliers de la communauté locale.

À la lumière de sondages récents menés auprès des établissements, et d’une nouvelle analyse de l’impact des classements sur le système d’enseignement supérieur britannique, ce rapport suggère que si la pratique des classements persiste – et c’est fort probable – le secteur n’aura d’autre choix que d’identifier leurs insuffisances et anomalies pour y apporter les améliorations nécessaires.

Par Peter W.A. West, Université de Strathclyde, Royaume-Uni

The twin problem of in-work poverty and persistent labour market difficulties of low-skilled individuals has been one of the most important drivers of tax-benefit policy reforms in OECD countries in recent years. Employment-conditional cash transfers to individuals facing particular labour-market challenges have been a core element of “make-work-pay” policies for some time and are now in use in more than half of the OECD countries. They are attractive because they redistribute to low-income groups while also creating additional work incentives. But like all social benefits, they have to be financed, which creates additional economic costs for some. This paper discusses the rationale for in-work benefits (IWB), summarises the main design features of programmes operated in OECD countries, and provides an update of what is known about their effectiveness in terms of reducing inequalities and creating employment. As policies aiming to promote self-sufficiency, wage subsidies and minimum wages share a number of the objectives associated with IWB measures. We review evidence on the effectiveness of minimum wages and wage subsidies and discuss links between these policies and IWBs. Finally, we outline some potential consequences of weakening labour markets for the effectiveness of make-work-pay policies.

The world financial meltdown is causing a reassessment of the strong market ideology that dominated policy making since the days of Reagan and Thatcher. For universities, the issue is not whether to pay attention to market forces – most schools have no choice given that their economic viability depends on some combination of enrollments, sponsored research and the sale of other services.

The question is how to give the market its due while remaining true to our academic values. Balancing academic values and market forces is not easy, as we shall see. My purpose in this essay is to provide a conceptual overview that can explain the issues and point the way toward their resolution in today’s financially challenging environment.

Les valeurs académiques sur le marché

La fusion financière internationale provoque une réévaluation de la puissante idéologie de marché qui a dominé la politique depuis les époques Reagan et Thatcher. Pour les universités, la question n’est pas de savoir s’il faut prêter attention ou non aux forces du marché : la plupart des écoles n’ont pas ce choix puisque leur viabilité économique dépend à la fois des inscriptions, de la recherche subventionnée et de la vente d’autres types de services.

La question est de savoir comment donner son dû au marché tout en restant fidèles à nos valeurs académiques. Comme nous le verrons, trouver un équilibre entre les valeurs académiques et les forces du marché n’est pas chose facile. L’auteur de ce rapport cherche ici à fournir une vue d’ensemble conceptuelle permettant d’expliquer les problèmes et de suggérer des pistes de solutions dans l’environnement de défis financiers qui est aujourd’hui le nôtre.

Can an accrual budgeting system – a system in which budgetary spending authorisations to line ministries are formulated in accrual terms – serve the needs of good fiscal policy? If so, how must such a system be designed? This article addresses these questions and also considers the case for reformulating fiscal policy in terms of accrual rather than cash aggregates.

Euro area entry calls for more fiscal flexibility to absorb cyclical shocks that cannot be dealt with by the common monetary policy. At the same time fiscal consolidation must not be put at risk, especially given rising ageing related costs. The current fiscal framework could be improved by introducing multi-year expenditure ceilings and by removing pro-cyclical elements in fiscal rules. An adjustment account that serves to register breaches of fiscal rules and eliminates them over time could help in coping with projection errors. To ensure long-term sustainability of public finances it is essential not to dilute the substantial improvements in the long-term balance of the definedbenefit pillar associated with past pension reforms. The government should consider making participation in the defined contribution pillar mandatory for new labour market entrants or, at the very least, make it the default option. For current workers the pillars should remain closed. Moreover, further parametric changes such as increasing the retirement age in line with life expectancy gains and reducing unsustainable elements in the pension formula would improve the balance of the defined benefit pillar.
Despite progress over the past two decades Mexico?s health and education indicators remain well below the average of the OECD and some of its Latin American emerging market peers. Health insurance coverage is incomplete, especially for low-income families, and access to health services is highly uneven. There are several separate vertically integrated insurance networks, which increases administrative costs and results in an inefficient use of facilities. In education, lower secondary schools enroll only two thirds of the relevant age group and the quality of education is low, as indicated by poor PISA scores. This reflects poor teaching quality, a consequence of non-transparent teacher selection processes until recently, and limited school autonomy in budgeting, instruction and personnel decisions. Accountability to the government and parents is also low as there is no national exit exam after secondary education and the existing evaluation schemes are fragmented. Recent health and education reforms have started to address these issues, but more needs to be done to increase the efficiency of spending by increasing the coverage of health insurance, reducing the fragmentation of the health system, increasing enrolment in lower secondary education, and improving the quality of teaching.
This report examines the performance of the Public Employment Service (PES) and the effectiveness of activation strategies in Finland. It covers the role of the key actors, the placement function of the PES, the structure of out-of-work benefits and the related incentives and disincentives for taking up work, and provides an overview of the different active labour market programmes (ALMPs).
In Ireland the placement function of the Public Employment Service (PES) is primarily within FÁS, the Training and Employment Authority, which is supervised by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE). But employment counselling services are also provided by the “Local Employment Service” (which has partly-separate funding and management arrangements); Facilitators within the Department of Social and Family Affairs (who implement an “Activation Programme”, which however lacks participation requirements); and the “Services to the Unemployed” activity within the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (which is managed through a third Department). The number of staff in FÁS Employment Services and the Local Employment Service, relative to the number of wage and salary earners in the economy, appears to be relatively low, about half the average level of staffing of institutions responsible for the placement function in Australia and Northern and Western Europe (countries which also have high benefit coverage rates for unemployment).
This report examines the performance of the Public Employment Service (PES) and the effectiveness of activation strategies in Norway. It covers the role of the key actors in labour market policies, the placement function of the PES, the structure of benefits for the working-age population out of work and the related incentives and disincentives for taking up work, and provides an overview of the different active labour market programmes. Over the past few years, labour market conditions in Norway have been better than in most OECD countries, reflecting strong economic and productivity growth. The global financial and economic crisis and the significant decline in oil and gas prices observed since the second half of 2008 are affecting the short-term economic prospect, with some deterioration in labour market conditions. Despite its relatively strong labour market performance, the main challenge for Norway is to mobilise underutilised labour, as nearly a fifth of the working-age population is out of work and receiving health-related benefits. In contrast, the take-up of unemployment benefits has been limited despite their generosity – both in terms of duration and net replacement rates – by strict eligibility criteria and the implementation of mobility and other mutual obligation requirements in Norway. The Norwegian Government has put forward several major policy reforms to contain benefit dependency and to prevent people from leaving the labour market too early or on a long-term or permanent basis. In 2006, a new institution – NAV – was launched, merging the State PES and the National Insurance Administration, and bringing them together in front-line offices with municipal services providing coordinated services for all clients. Several other changes to activation strategies are also underway. The new NAV employment services are systematising their early intervention and follow-up strategies for all jobseekers. Greater incentives have also been built into labour market programmes in particularly for social assistance clients. In spite of these important reforms, there remain a number of challenges to counteract sickness absence. It is now widely recognised that long-term sick leave is the initial step to disability benefit in many OECD countries. Early intervention in the form of case-by-case monitoring of sickness absence in Norway – which requires collaboration between employees, employers and NAV – has so far not been successful in delivering the desired outcomes. Finally, vocationally disabled people represent the largest group of participants in labour market programmes. Half of them engage in lengthy retraining in mainstream education and training courses. But further efforts have to be made to tailor active programmes to the needs of this group as well as other jobseekers such as older workers and immigrants.
House prices have risen strongly in past years, helped by rising incomes and declining interest rates. At the same time, construction of new dwellings has remained fairly muted and has only recently shown signs of picking up. A characteristic feature of the Slovak housing market, and a consequence of the privatization programme initiated in the early 1990s, is the virtual absence of a private rental market. As euro membership will most likely go along with easier financial conditions and also entails limited availability of national policy tools, current housing policies will have to be adjusted. The challenges are to avoid overheating of the housing market in the medium term, in part by making supply more reactive to demand, and to phase out the hurdles that are currently impeding the private rental market, which would facilitate labour mobility. This Working Paper relates to the 2009 OECD Economic Survey of the Slovak Republic.
This paper reviews the impact of ageing on private pensions, in particular on the payout phase, assesses the part that annuities can play in financing retirement, and examines the role of financial markets in facilitating the allocation of assets accumulated in defined contribution pension plans.
A comprehensive set of recommendations for consideration is provided at the end of the paper.

The purpose of this article is to explore how time resources for research are allocated among academic staff members in institutions where research qualifications differ much between individuals. Norwegian university colleges are used as a case. These resources, which can be regarded as scarce goods, are of two kinds: the share of working hours that can be used for research, and definitive periods during which one is free to dedicate work hours to research. 

Of the many factors to consider when allocating scarce resources between individuals, the article distinguishes between the following: a) type of good; b) decision-making levels; c) size of the good; d) circle of recipients; e) allocation principles; f) allocation criteria; and g) allocation procedures. The article concludes that the allocation of time resources for research among individual staff members is to a large extent made up of compromises between different allocation principles, allocation criteria and allocation procedures, and can be understood only in reference to the historical and social context of each institution and its various departments.

L’affectation des ressources temporelles pour la recherche entre membres du personnel enseignant : le cas des instituts universitaires norvégiens

Cet article analyse la méthode d’affectation des ressources temporelles entre les différents chercheurs dans les établissements où ceux-ci ont des degrés de qualification différents. Ce rapport est illustré par l’étude de cas des instituts universitaires norvégiens. Ces ressources temporelles, que l’on peut considérer comme des ressources rares, sont de deux types : elles peuvent tout aussi bien désigner la répartition des heures de travail utilisables pour la recherche que des périodes déterminées durant lesquelles l’individu est libre de consacrer son temps à la recherche.

De tous les facteurs dont il faut tenir compte, lorsqu’il s’agit de répartir des ressources rares entre plusieurs individus, l’article distingue les différents aspects du processus de décision : a) le type de bien ; b) les niveaux de prise de décision ; c) la taille du bien ; d) le groupe de destinataires ; e) les principes d’affectation ; f) les critères d’affectation ; et g) les procédures d’affectation. L’article parvient à la conclusion que l’affectation des ressources temporelles pour la recherche au sein d’une équipe est, dans une large mesure, faite de compromis entre différents principes, critères et procédures, et ne peut être comprise qu’à la lumière du contexte historique et social d’un établissement et des départements qui le composent.

Contemporary education design strongly emphasises stimulating, adaptable learning environments, with spaces able to support various styles of teaching and learning. Delivering successful school buildings requires a close collaborative relationship between the architect and all key stakeholders from initial briefing through to project handover. The brief should identify the opportunities and challenges to create an exciting architectural solution which is functional, aspirational and contextually responsible. The design should demonstrate adaptability and flexibility, maintainability, attention to siting, a culture of community, and sustainability. The building programme and budget also require special attention. The photographs throughout this article show a variety of examples of educational facilities in Perth, Australia, across both the primary and secondary levels. They demonstrate the role architecture can play in creating stimulating learning environments and communities of excellence.
French
This paper presents an evaluation of the tax-transfer treatment of married couples in 15 EU countries using the EUROMOD microsimulation model. First, we show that many tax-transfer schemes in Europe feature negative jointness defined as a situation where the tax rate on one person depends negatively on the earnings of the spouse. This stands in contrast to the previous literature on this question, which has focused on a specific form of positive jointness. The presence of negative jointness is driven by family-based and means-tested transfer programs combined with tax systems that usually feature very little jointness. Second, we consider the labour supply distortion on secondary earners relative to primary earners implied by the current tax-transfer systems, and study the welfare effects of small reforms that change the relative taxation of spouses. By adopting a small-reform methodology, it is possible to set out a simple analysis based on more realistic labour supply models than those considered in the existing literature. We present microsimulations showing that simple revenue-neutral reforms that lower the tax burden on secondary earners are associated with substantial welfare gains in most countries. Finally, we consider the tax-transfer implications of marriage and estimate the so-called marriage penalty. For most countries, we find large marriage penalties at the bottom of the distribution driven primarily by features of the transfer system.

Finding a good forecasting model in a data-rich environment is a complex problem which challenges forecasters and statistical methods. In such an environment, automated modelling strategies are necessary for an efficient use of the information in the data. In contrast to frequently applied methods used for large data sets we propose a model selection approach for dynamic single equation regressions that are used to make forecasts. This paper proposes a new approach for quantitative forecasting that is able to deal with both an increasing number of variables that are potentially important for forecasting, as well as an increasing number of observations simultaneously. Another characteristic of the proposed approach is that evaluation of the goodness of forecast models is based on different criteria. As we are interested in finding forecast models with high-quality criteria we define the search for a forecast model as a multi-criteria optimization problem. We define the quality criteria in our goal function by in-sample measures and out-of-sample measures, as well as by a balance between them, and apply a genetic algorithm to solve this complex, global and discrete multi-criteria optimization problem. The efficiency of the approach is illustrated by forecasting German industrial production based on a data set containing key economic indicators and leading indicators. It is shown that, for short forecast horizons, the proposed approach provides forecasts with a high accuracy.

A dynamic factor model is applied to a large panel dataset of Singapore’s macroeconomic variables and global economic indicators with the initial objective of analysing business cycles in a small open economy. The empirical results suggest that four common factors – which can broadly be interpreted as world, regional, electronics and domestic economic cycles – capture a large proportion of the co-variation in the quarterly time series. The estimated factor model also explains well the observed fluctuations in real economic activity and price inflation, leading us to use it in forecasting Singapore’s business cycles. We find that the forecasts generated by the factors are generally more accurate than the predictions of univariate models and vector autoregressions that employ leading indicators.

The PMP is the tool created to comply with the obligation established by the 2007 reform (the Integral Fiscal Reform, IFR) to achieve 20% savings by the end of the current administration, at a rate of 5% per year. It is a programme for reducing administrative expenses and energy costs.

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error