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Across OECD countries, higher education graduates enjoy higher employment rates and earnings than workers with only an upper secondary qualification. However, not all graduates find jobs that make full use of their skills and help them launch rewarding careers, and employers in some economic sectors point to a lack of qualified graduates. Policy makers are concerned about the current alignment of higher education systems to labour markets, and are increasingly uneasy about the future of work and the resilience of higher education systems in uncertain economic times. This report, which focuses on four US states – Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington – is the third of a series of country-specific reviews conducted as part of the OECD project on the labour market relevance and outcomes of higher education. The report offers a comprehensive review of graduate outcomes and policies supporting alignment between higher education and the labour market in the four participating states in 2018-19, an overview of the US labour market and higher education context, and a range of policy examples from across OECD jurisdictions to help improve the alignment of higher education and the labour market.
Romania, one of the poorest nations in Europe, faces critical challenges in its efforts to implement labour market and social programmes similar to those found in more developed countries. Poverty is widespread and the economy requires major restructuring while a substantial number of households still depend on subsistence farming and other informal economic activities for survival. Increasing expenditures on social insurance is not a viable option as Romania already charges some of the highest payroll contribution rates in the world.
What role can and should labour market and social policies play in the current economic climate? In response to this question, this Review presents a rich and thorough analysis of Romania's under-employment problem and its resulting social hardships. The Review demonstrates that the present social challenges are closely intertwined with a highly distorted economy. Clearly, the top priority must be the modernisation of the economy with the provision of a comprehensive social safety net in the face of potentially higher unemployment. This book analyses the issues of labour market and social policy through an economic perspective, while providing diverse international comparisons.
This review analyses the key issues facing each of the Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - given its specific economic and social trends. It provides detailed information and policy recommendations in five topical areas: labour law; "active" and "passive" labour market policies; pension reform; long-term care of the elderly; and social assistance benefits as a last resort. This publication is part of the OECD’s ongoing co-operation with non-member economies around the world.
Accompanying a sustained period of economic growth, the flows of labour migrants between the economies of East and South-east Asia grew considerably prior to the recent crisis. These flows have become more diverse and complex rendering necessary the improved monitoring of migration trends and policies in each country as well as bringing forth the need to extend the exchange of expertise and experience between the region's experts and policy makers. What has been the impact of the crisis on national labour markets? How have the different countries modified their approach to the employment of foreign workers? To what extent have foreign workers been affected? These questions are examined in this publication, which identifies the impact of the Asian financial crisis on labour migration and the conditions of migrant workers in the region. In addition to keynote reports on the origins of the crisis and its policy implications, individual case studies on China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand present detailed analyses of labour migration, the employment of foreign workers and the recent changes in migration policies.
This report examines Alberta's labour market trends, focusing on the impact of economic downturns, the COVID-19 crisis, and digital transformation. This study uses real-time labour market data, drawn from online job postings, to offer a granular perspective on demand dynamics across various sectors and occupations. The analysis in the report identifies emerging labour shortages in Alberta due to mega-trends such as digitalisation, AI adoption, automation, and population ageing and discusses key challenges such as youth unemployment and sector-specific labour shortages. The analysis in this report provides insights for policy makers, suggesting a need to support growing sectors, enhance digital skills development, address demand for health workers, and improve youth job access.
In recent years, the substantial expansion in containerisation, the advent of megacarriers, the race for ever larger container-ships and higher-volume flows, have revolutionised intercontinental transport. These changes have entailed considerable reductions in maritime transport costs, which has made distant countries extremely accessible. The most costly component of the international traffic transport chain is now the inland leg, which explains why forwarders are so keen to gain control over inland transport operations.
On land, road is the dominant mode, but with infrastructure congestion, rail and inland waterways also have a part to play. Under what conditions could these last two modes capture a larger share of inland transport? Rail cannot be really competitive without a dedicated freight network, and inland waterways will only get to play a significant role if transhipment costs are cut. Couldn’t greater competition within these two modes generate productivity gains and better quality services?
The Round Table provided the opportunity to address the whole issue of competitiveness in inland transport modes and identified guidelines on land access to ports for policy-makers.
This report provides an overview of spatial and land-use planning systems across the OECD. It contains country fact sheets that focus on formal aspects of planning systems, as they are defined by laws and regulations. The country fact sheets describe the responsibilities of each level of government with respect to spatial and land-use planning. They include a description of all spatial and land-use plans of a country and show their hierarchical relations in a diagram. For most countries, the fact sheets also contain key statistics on land use. A summary chapter provides an overview of the information in the country fact sheets and discusses land value capture tools, land expropriation procedures, reforms of the planning system, and other issues. The information provided in this report was collected through a survey that involved academic experts on planning from all 32 countries covered.
The OECD series Making Integration Work summarises, in a non-technical way, the main issues surrounding the integration of immigrants and their children into their host countries. Each volume presents concrete policy lessons for its theme, along with supporting examples of good practices and comparisons of the migrant integration policy frameworks in different OECD countries. This fifth volume explores the issue of language learning for adult migrants, addressing methods to ensure such training is provided in an efficient and effective way, taking into account migrants’ different starting points and circumstances.
The rise of globalisation makes language competencies more valuable, both at individual and societal levels. This book examines the links between globalisation and the way we teach and learn languages. It begins by asking why some individuals are more successful than others at learning non-native languages, and why some education systems, or countries, are more successful than others at teaching languages.
The book comprises chapters by different authors on the subject of language learning. There are chapters on the role of motivation; the way that languages, cultures and identities are interconnected; the insights that neuroscience provides; migrants, their education and opportunities to learn languages; language learning and teaching in North America; and new approaches to language learning.
The September 11th terrorist attacks, the Chernobyl nuclear accident, Hurricane Andrew and the Kobe earthquake are all recent examples of large-scale disasters that have taken a massive toll in human lives, wealth and property. They have disrupted vital systems such as transport and energy supplies and spilled over into neighbouring as well as distant regions. They have also generated widespread anxiety, and in some cases created deep-seated public mistrust of governments' ability to protect their citizens.
This book is based on a report prepared between May and July 2003 by a multi-disciplinary team of experts from inside and outside of the OECD. It examines the economic and social impacts of past large-scale disasters, and draws a number of key lessons for the future. Its focus is on better prevention of disasters, and on restoring trust and securing recovery in their aftermath.
Latin America and the Caribbean is a region that stands out in the global energy sector. It boasts extraordinary natural resources – both fossil fuels and renewable energy – and a significant share of the world’s critical minerals. It also has a history of ambitious policy making in pursuit of stronger energy security and greater sustainability that has delivered one of the cleanest electricity mixes in the world. As the region emerges from a period of sluggish economic growth, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean now stand to leverage these resources to revitalise their economies and improve the security and sustainability of energy around the world.
The Latin America Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency’s first in-depth and comprehensive assessment of Latin America and the Caribbean, builds on decades of collaboration with partners. In support of the region's energy goals, the report explores the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. It provides insights on the ways in which the outlook for the region and the biggest global energy trends are deeply intertwined – as well as recommendations on policies that could allow Latin America and the Caribbean to take full advantage of its great potential.
The SME Policy Index is a benchmarking tool that assists emerging economies in monitoring and evaluating progress in policies that support small and medium-sized enterprises. This first application of the Index methodology in the Latin American and Caribbean region covers the four Pacific Alliance member countries (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru) and three participating South American countries (Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay). Divided into seven policy dimensions, this report assesses the strengths and weaknesses that exist in different areas of SME policy design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation, and provides guidance to policy makers in identifying policy areas for future reform according to international good practices. This report is a joint effort between the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and the OECD through its Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Programme (LACRP), in co-operation with the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and the “Foundation for the Strategic Analysis and Development of the SME” (FAEDPYME).
Are Latin American governments maximising the potential of fiscal policy as a development tool? The 2009 edition of the Latin American Economic Outlook shows that governments in the region could do much more to exploit the ability of fiscal policy to boost economic growth and combat poverty and inequality.
"An important step forward in the dialogue and exchange of experiences between OECD countries and our region."
-Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary, ECLAC
"This publication will provide those concerned with Latin America's future with valuable lessons for fiscal policy drawn from the experiences of OECD and Latin American countries."
-Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Ex-President of Brasil
"This second Latin American Economic Outlook shows the importance of the micro aspects of a proper fiscal policy. The OECD Development Centre has done an outstanding report."
-Guillermo de la Dehesa,
Chairman of the Centre for Economic Policy Research
"Fiscal policy is an axis of the social contract and a key tool in economic and social development. This is the core message of the OECD Latin American Economic Outlook 2009, a most helpful and timely contribution to the policy debate in Latin America."
-Augusto de la Torre,
Chief Economist for Latin America & the Caribbean Region
World Bank.
"The Latin American Economic Outlook 2009 once again gets it right: fiscal policies in Latin America are actively contributing to macroeconomic equilibrium, but the focus now should also be on economic growth, a necessary condition to reduce poverty and inequality."
-Alejandro Foxley, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chile
"The OECD Latin American Economic Outlook 2009 highlights the path to follow to continue improving fiscal policy action as a tool for development." Juan C. Gómez Sabaini, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
“With this new volume on fiscal policy, the OECD Latin American Economic Outlook continues to enrich our knowledge and debate on the key topics affecting Latin America’s economic and social challenges.”
-Enrique Iglesias,
Secretary-General of the Ibero-American General Secretariat
“This publication illustrates that the challenge ahead for the region is to find out how to use scarce tax resources to foster growth, reduce poverty and provide better public services.”
-Henrique Meirelles, Governor, Central Bank of Brazil
“This report urges policy makers to rediscover the potential use of fiscal policy and to make this policy instrument as effective as it can be.”
-Vito Tanzi, Former Director,
Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF
“Among the most interesting surprises by the global economic crisis: so far its impact on Latin America has been less than anticipated. This OECD report offers a clear analysis of the factors that explain this phenomenon.” Moisés Naim, Editor in Chief, Foreign Policy
“This essential study shows that countries open to the international economy with serious fiscal and monetary policies were better prepared to confront this crisis. The reprot also explains, with realistic analysis, why why migration policies belong on the international agenda.” Ricardo Lagos,former President of Chile
“This volume suggests that migration can help the development process provided that some interventions are adopted both in the sender and recipient countries.” Mauricio Cárdenas, Senior Fellow and Director of the Latin America Initiative, Brookings Institution
“Policy makers, academics and others interested in Latin American will find here a serious and relevant contribution to advancing their own work.” Santiago Levy,Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge, Inter-American Development Bank
This year’s Latin American Economic Outlook focuses on those in the middle of the income distribution in Latin America. If these middle sectors have stable employment and reasonably robust incomes, then, arguably, they provide a solid foundation for economic progress. Moreover, following the political role often attributed to the middle classes by historians and sociologists, they might also support moderate but progressive political platforms in Latin America’s democracies. In fact, this report shows that, contrary to expectations, in Latin America this group is still economically vulnerable, few have university degrees and many work in informal employment. This is a “middle class” quite different from the group that became the engine of development in many OECD countries. In Latin America, what are the economic characteristics of these vulnerable middle sectors? How do they perceive inequality, public policies and democracy? How can public policies protect the livelihoods of these middle-sector households? These questions guide the Outlook to discuss why and how upward mobility should and can be promoted, and how safety nets can be put in place to protect the most vulnerable segments of people within those middle-income groups, as well as the poorest and most disadvantaged households in the economy at large. The report tackles policies such as social protection and education that promote upward mobility, and underscores the importance of fiscal policy as a tool to finance the required reforms and programmes that can engage the Latin American middle sectors in a renewed social contract.
“Latin America is undergoing a rapid transformation and the middle classes are one of the most powerful motors of this change. This edition of the Latin American Economic Outlook analyses the process of expansion of the region’s middle sectors through innovative statistical methods and from a refreshing perspective. The middle classes are dynamic but also vulnerable; they are not poor but they are nevertheless far from enjoying a comfortable and secure economic situation. Their future depends on their own actions, and on the economic and social policies that the region’s governments will adopt over the next decade.”
Eduardo Lora, Chief Economist, Inter-American Development Bank.
“This new report from the OECD Development Centre touches upon a theme that is not often studied but which is of vital importance for the development of our countries: middle-income groups in Latin American societies. The report’s recommendations should be used as a basis for economic policy in the region, with the objective of promoting policy actions in favour of a sector that in advanced economies has been a pillar of development and democratic harmony – in contrast to what has happened in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Juan Temístocles Montás, Minister of Economy and Planning, Dominican Republic.
“This excellent report leads us to conclude that only with a stronger focus on rights, democracy and redistributive policies can we break the transmission of inequality and poverty from generation to generation, and advance towards the consolidation of a real middle class, a driver of development.”
Soraya Rodriguez Ramos, Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Spain.
Even in the midst of a global financial crisis, Latin American and Caribbean economies find themselves in better condition than in years past. Latin America must seize this opportunity to design and implement good public policies. The greatest of the long-term objectives of Latin American states remains development: economic growth and structural change that is rapid, sustainable and inclusive. In particular, governments must reduce inequalities in income, public-service delivery and opportunities, as well as promote the diversification of economies, often concentrated on a few primary-product exports.
Improved efficiency of public administration is crucial to address both the short-term and long-term dimensions of these challenges. The real change, however, will come if Latin American and Caribbean states carry out meaningful fiscal reforms, making them not only more efficient but also more effective. The increased effectiveness of fiscal policy holds the promise to provide resources needed to address the key challenges of economic development. Three key priority areas for investing additional resources have been highlighted by many governments in the region for their potential to raise competitiveness and social inclusion: education, infrastructure and innovation. In each of these areas, more efficient administration and more effective strategic action is needed from states.
Latin America has weathered the recent turbulence in the global economy with relative strength, but the region now faces – beyond the short-term global uncertainty -- important medium-term risks. Policy makers need to make use of the policy space at their disposal to lay the foundations for inclusive and sustainable growth.
SMEs play a key role as they are an integral part of the economic fabric, comprising over 95% of firms in the region as well as providing employment for over 60% of the region’s inhabitants. Nevertheless, relative to SMEs in the OECD, on average SMEs in Latin America exhibit low levels of relative productivity and weak links with the rest of the economy. In light of several decades of blanket SME policies with limited impacts in the region, this report proposes a more integrated approach that caters to the productive context and firm specificities. SMEs are part of a greater productive structure, and productive development policies need to be designed to address the particularities of heterogeneous SMEs. These differences can be manifested in many ways including the markets they serve, the types of products they produce, the level of technological sophistication and use of human capital involved in production, as well as the productive links with other firms in the industry. Providing policies which are adapted to the productive context requires co-ordination between various policy areas and levels of government to ensure that interventions are complimentary and effective. With this perspective in mind, the report explores key policy areas that address some of the main challenges to SMEs in the region including access to finance, skill development, innovation, and productive development.
Latin American economies continue to present relatively stable growth but continued uncertainty with regards to the duration of the commodity boom could pose threats to medium-term growth and economic development. Latin American countries face increasing competition from emerging economies across the globe particularly in manufacturing sectors. In this context of shifting wealth, it is increasingly important to foster competitiveness and connectivity.
Improving logistics performance is particularly important as it directly impacts growth, productivity, and trade within the region and beyond. The region’s productive structure with significant concentration in natural resource and agriculture augment the importance of logistics in fostering competitiveness. Nevertheless, logistics performance in the region faces serious gaps particularly in the areas of customs performance and the availability of infrastructure. Improving these aspects will entail more and better investment in infrastructure, as well as making the most of existing infrastructure by putting in place efficient trade facilitation measures and efficient and appropriate regulatory frameworks.
Coverage is provided for Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatamala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
The Latin American Economic Outlook is the OECD Development Centre’s annual analysis of economic developments in Latin America. It is produced in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) as well as CAF, the development bank of Latin America. Each edition includes a detailed macroeconomic overview as well as analysis of how the global context is shaping economic performance in the region. The Latin American Economic Outlook also takes an in-depth look at a special theme related to development in Latin America, taking into account future strategic challenges and opportunities. The 2015 edition focuses on the role of education, skills and innovation for development, taking stock of the current situation in the region, identifying the main challenges and opportunities in these fields, and presenting a series of policy areas where action is needed to impulse Latin America’s development.