Browse by: "F"

How did the transition from compulsory education to work change during the 1990s and which types of transition policies worked best? The experiences of 14 OECD countries are examined in this volume to address these two key questions, for as requirements for knowledge and qualifications and skills rise and populations age, few countries can afford to have their young people enter the labour force unequipped for longer term participation in changing career patterns.

Taking a broader view of transition outcomes than many previous comparative studies, this study reveals the complex and many-faceted national institutional arrangements that can result in successful transitions to working life. It argues not for single solutions or models, such as the adoption of apprenticeship, but for coherent national policy packages that draw from a limited number of key success ingredients: a healthy economy and labour market, well organised pathways from initial education to work and further study, opportunities to combine study and workplace experience, safety nets for those at risk, effective information and guidance systems, and policy processes involving both governments and other stakeholders.

It also looks at the ways that countries are trying to lay solid foundations for lifelong learning during the transition phase through changes to educational pathways and institutions and through adopting more learner-centred approaches to teaching and learning.

International development cooperation is in crisis. Questions abound: is it effective? Is it even useful? After ten years of "aid fatigue", here is a lucid, constructive book that sheds new light on the problems, and makes proposals for reform that are both thoughtful and innovative. Jean-David Naudet's analysis is a genuine contribution to the literature on aid. He combines the insight of the sociologist and the experience of the practitioner, with a few enlightening incursions into organization theory.

The book is both pragmatic and concrete, and is based on papers and workshops organized by the Club du Sahel as part of a detailed study of international development cooperation. It is direct in style and easy to read, with a wealth of quotations and examples.

Although it mainly covers the Sahel region, the analysis and proposals for reform are relevant to all of Africa and even other parts of the world. Similarly, the vivid picture it draws of the cooperation and aid relationship is reminiscent of the situation in many countries. "Mr. Naudet is to be congratulated for producing this provocative and hard-hitting book". Elliot Berg. Jean-David Naudet is at present working as an economist at DIAL (Développement et insertion internationale), a scientific interest grouping.

Hard-core cartels are the most egregious violations of competition law. What are the most appropriate tools to fight them? 

In this book, the OECD identifies an increasingly successful  "carrot-and-stick"  approach –  applying stiffer punishment for cartel operators and enhancing programmes aimed at rewarding cartel members who decide to defect and co-operate with the authorities.  This book contributes to the existing knowledge about the extent of cartels' overcharges and other harm  to businesses and consumers worldwide, and sheds light on new and effective "leniency programmes", as well as on optimal sanctions in cartel cases.

This book illustrates Korea's experience with outward foreign direct investment (FDI) and shows that the ancillary benefits of such investment -- knowledge and management transfer, market acquisition and skills enhancement -- can be substantial for individual firms. Moreover, the resulting increased robustness of these enterprises contributes to the strength and stability of the economy as a whole. While it is true that inward FDI carries similar benefits, outward FDI -- driven by the prerogatives of the domestic company -- is integrated into existing business plans and strategies, and therefore constitutes a more active policy.

No experience is directly transferable, but the Korean case shows that there is a large potential for other emerging economies to gain from FDI flows and that the initial costs from lost internal investment are largely outweighed by the medium-term benefits.

The book reviews regional patterns of FDI inflows in China, investment requirements, opportunities in and comparative advantages of China’s regions, and details the types of FDI sought for the Chinese hinterland. It offers business perspectives with regard to what needs to be done. Lessons learned from experiences in Canada, Turkey, Germany and Brazil are discussed, with a particular focus on investment promotion and linkages with local enterprise development. The book concludes with policy messages relevant not only to China  but also to other countries striving to improve conditions for investment in their less-developed regions.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is one of the forces fostering closer economic interdependence among countries. The rapid increase in FDI flows has generated considerable debate about its environmental and social implications in host countries.

While much of the debate on these issues has been general in nature, this volume deepens the analysis by examining the FDI-environment relationship in a specific sector and identifies emerging best practices. Empirical evidence from the mining sector is presented, and the key elements of the policy and institutional frameworks that guide investors’ environmental behaviour are discussed. In addition, the emerging role of voluntary commitments by enterprises to safeguard the environment is examined.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an integral part of an open and effective international economic system and a major catalyst to development. Yet, the benefits of FDI do not accrue automatically and evenly across countries, sectors and local communities. National policies and the international investment architecture play an important part in attracting FDI to a larger number of developing countries. It is the responsibility of the host countries to put in place a transparent, broad and enabling investment policy environment and to reinforce the human and institutional potentials necessary for such an environment.

With most FDI flows originating in OECD countries, developed countries can contribute to advancing this agenda. They can facilitate the access of developing countries to international markets and technology, and ensure policy coherence for development more generally; encourage non-OECD countries to integrate further into rules-based international frameworks for investment; actively promote the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, together with other elements of the OECD Declaration on International Investment; and share with non-members the peer review-based approach to building investment capacity.

This publication provides a comprehensive review of the issues related to the impact of FDI on development as well as to the policies needed to maximise the benefits.

The OECD has actively promoted progressive liberalisation of current and capital account operations among its members for over 40 years. Since 1961, OECD countries have engaged in the opening of capital accounts, guided by the provisions and implementation procedures embodied in a unique multilateral instrument: the Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements. While full freedom of capital movements was achieved by most OECD members more than a decade ago, and in some even earlier, new members (Korea, Mexico, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Slovak Republic) have only recently attained the same level of liberalisation.

This account of the accumulated OECD experience with capital account liberalisation provides timely and valuable reading for policy makers, academics and financial practitioners alike. Timely, as the debate on the pros and cons of external financial liberalisation by emerging markets is very active at the present juncture. Valuable, because the OECD experience clearly demonstrates the benefits of open capital accounts, as vouched for by the reluctance of its members to resort to restrictions on capital flows -- even in times of financial turmoil.