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The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys collected data on students’ performance in reading, mathematics and science, as well as contextual information on students’ background, home characteristics and school factors which could influence performance. This publication includes detailed information on how to analyse the PISA data, enabling researchers to both reproduce the initial results and to undertake further analyses. In addition to the inclusion of the necessary techniques, the manual also includes a detailed account of the PISA 2006 database. It also includes worked examples providing full syntax in SAS®.

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys collected data on students’ performances in reading, mathematics and science, as well as contextual information on students’ background, home characteristics and school factors which could influence performance. This publication includes detailed information on how to analyse the PISA data, enabling researchers to both reproduce the initial results and to undertake further analyses. In addition to the inclusion of the necessary techniques, the manual also includes a detailed account of the PISA 2006 database and worked examples providing full syntax in SPSS®.

This paper examines the practice of peer review and the related effect of peer pressure in the context of international organisations, particularly the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It outlines the main features of these two concepts and attempts to establish a model based on the different peer review mechanisms used at OECD. While there are other documents available that list the peer reviews of the OECD, this paper will provide an analysis of the practice. Annex B describes some OECD peer reviews.

Since its first edition in 2010, the OECD Development Centre's Perspectives on Global Development report has tracked development trends and policy priorities in developing countries. This new report examines the phenomenon of discontent. Between the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, discontent surged around the world. It was especially evident in middle-income countries and was often most acute amongst the middle classes that have emerged in developing countries over recent decades. The report explores the economic, political and sociological drivers of discontent and argues that building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries will require approaches that simultaneously improve citizens' well-being, promote productive transformation and strengthen social cohesion. The report concludes by examining the international dimension of discontent and demonstrates how weaknesses and imbalances in the present multilateral system are eroding humankind's capacity for collective action in the face of global threats, notably the climate crisis. The rise in discontent has exposed failings in prevailing economic, social and political models at all levels: addressing discontent means fixing these systems, and doing so in an inclusive and sustainable manner.

Since the start of the economic reform process in the 70s China has been able to generate a large volume of investment, both from domestic and foreign sources. This high volume of investment was instrumental in sustaining strong economic growth and related improvements in living standards. However, this growth model is not longer sustainable. Returns on investment have fallen, excessive capacity is plaguing several sectors and the negative externalities have been very onerous, notably in terms of environmental degradation and rising income inequality. A key objective of the Chinese government is therefore to move the economy towards a more balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth path as envisaged by the 13th Five-Year Plan. In this adjustment process, the country is seeking new approaches for smarter, greener and more productive investment. This will require mutually reinforcing reforms to improve investment planning, rebalance the role of government and market forces, mainstream responsible business conduct and encourage greater private investment, especially in green infrastructure. China’s growing role as an outward investor may act as catalyser for the required reforms at home, as Chinese private and state-owned enterprises have to adopt internationally recognised practices and standards .

After two decades of solid growth of household disposable income and living standards more generally, Canadians generally enjoy a high level of well-being. However, disparities persist – not all population groups have benefitted equally strongly from past improvements in living standards. Income inequality is close to the OECD average, but the tax and benefit system is less redistributive than those in most OECD countries. Despite high social mobility over a number of different dimensions such as health, earnings, social class or education, middle class self-identification has fallen in recent years. At the same time, productivity growth has slowed own, limiting the potential for further improvements in living standards. The slowdown in productivity growth is linked to a growing divide between high-productivity frontier firms and low-productivity laggards, as well as a weakening of business dynamism. The cross-cutting challenge presented by the persistence of multidimensional inequalities and weak productivity growth underlines the need for a reappraisal of Canada’s policy making process with the aim of fostering stronger and more inclusive growth.

Drawing on the OECD’s expertise in comparing country experiences and identifying best practices, the Better Policies series tailors the OECD’s policy advice to the specific and timely priorities of member and partner countries, focusing on how governments can make reform happen.

Sustainable development involves linking the economic, social and environmental objectives of societies in a balanced way. It stresses the importance of taking a broader view of what human welfare entails, of using a long-term perspective about the consequences of today's activities, and of recognising the global nature of many of the most pressing challenges facing societies. OECD countries committed themselves to sustainable development at the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development. However, action to meet these commitments remains slow. This report identifies some of the main barriers -- conceptual and practical -- that stand in the way of progress, and some of the areas where concrete government actions will allow a better integration of environmental, economic and social goals. Particular focus is placed on how the use of the price system, reform of governments' decision-making processes, technology policies, and international trade and investment may each contribute to removing incentives to unsustainable resource depletion and environmental degradation. Recommendations in each of these areas are presented in this Report, and then applied to two areas -- climate change and natural resource management -- where the risks of non-sustainability appear to be highest.

Twenty years into its membership in the OECD, Poland has achieved impressive progress in terms of the living standards of its citizens. The country did not only manage to significantly reduce the GDP per capita gap with other OECD countries, but it also caught up with respect to several other dimensions of well-being. To ensure further widespread improvements in living standards, Poland needs to continue to move towards higher-technology production, boosting productivity and improving access to high-quality jobs and good pay. This report reviews recently implemented and planned reforms that aim to achieve these goals and proposes further policy measures to help Poland make the shift towards a more knowledge-based economy. To safeguard inclusiveness, it is crucial that the government also put in place appropriate policies to ensure that no one is left behind during this transformation and that all firms and all citizens can equally participate in and benefit from it.

Drawing on the OECD’s expertise in comparing country experiences and identifying best practices, the Better Policies series tailors the OECD’s policy advice to the specific and timely priorities of member and partner countries, focusing on how governments can make reform happen.

This report includes changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention to prevent treaty abuse. It first addresses treaty shopping through alternative provisions that form part of a minimum standard that all countries participating in the BEPS Project have agreed to implement.  It also includes specific treaty rules to address other forms of treaty abuse and ensures that tax treaties do not inadvertently prevent the application of domestic anti-abuse rules. The report finally includes changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention that clarify that tax treaties are not intended to create opportunities for non-taxation or reduced taxation through tax evasion or avoidance (including through treaty-shopping) and that identify the tax policy considerations that countries should consider before deciding to enter into a tax treaty with another country.

Located in the Caribbean Sea, Guadeloupe is a French Overseas Department and a European Outermost Region in search of a more sustainable economic development pathway. In support of that endeavour, this Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) Spotlight looks at the region's opportunities and challenges, identifying priority actions in several areas, including the bio- and circular economy, creative sectors and renewable energies. The Spotlight enriches our understanding of the diversity of development pathways, including those of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). It is the result of an extensive peer-review process involving public and private stakeholders from Colombia, Caribbean countries and other EU outermost regions.

Colombia, the fourth largest economy in Latin America, is back on track after decades of conflict. The country is looking to open up opportunities by addressing structural challenges, further benefiting from trade and investment, and increasing productivity. Colombia's march towards prosperity requires transforming the economy through a renewed policy approach that prioritises an expanded knowledge base, unlocks regional potential and fast tracks digital technologies. The success will depend on Colombia’s capacity to leverage its long-standing planning capacity and its ability to bring together all the relevant stakeholders.

The Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) of Colombia provides a novel and timely assessment of the country's industrialisation strategies. It relies on international peer learning and domestic consensus building, and benefited from knowledge sharing through the OECD Initiative for Policy Dialogue on Global Value Chains, Production Transformation and Development.

Egypt is one of Africa’s industrial heavyweights. Transforming the country's economy to sustain job-rich and sustainable growth are pivotal steps in its march towards prosperity. Today’s search for new development models, accelerated by the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic, calls for shifting up a gear in raising Egypt’s industrial capabilities to compete in an industry 4.0 and agro 4.0 landscape. The Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) of Egypt uses a forward-looking framework to assess the country's readiness to embrace change. This includes an analysis of the game-changing potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and perspectives on agro-food and electronics (i.e. what in Egypt is referred to as part of the engineering sector), as well as identifying priorities for future reforms. This review is the result of government-business dialogue, and benefited from peer learning from Italy and Malaysia. It also resulted from international and multi-stakeholder knowledge sharing through a dedicated Peer Learning Group (PLG) and the OECD Initiative for Policy Dialogue on Global Value Chains, Production Transformation and Development.

Productivity measurement and analysis are the main topics addressed in this book, which brings together contributions presented and discussed in two international workshops organized by the Statistics Directorate and the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) of the OECD. The first workshop was organised jointly by the OECD with Fundaccion BBVA and the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas and held in Madrid in October 2005, and the second one was organized jointly by the OECD and the Swiss Federal Statistical Office and the State Secretary for Economic Affairs of Switzerland and held in Bern in October 2006. The two workshops brought together representatives of statistical offices, central banks and other branches of government in OECD countries that are engaged in the analysis and the measurement of productivity developments at aggregate and industry levels.

This publication describes the OECD PISA 2000 international database. The PISA 2000 database comprises micro-level data on student performance for 32 countries collected in 2000 and processed during the second half of 2000 and 2001, together with students' responses to the questionnaires and the test questions. The first results were released in December 2001 and presented in the publication Knowledge and Skills for Life: First Results of PISA 2000 (OECD, 2001).  The purpose of this publication is to provide all the information required to understand the PISA 2000 database and perform analyses in accordance with the complex methodologies used to collect and process the data. It does not provide detailed information regarding these methods but rather directs readers to the publications which cover these aspects. The PISA 2000 database can be downloaded from www.pisa.oecd.org

Canadians enjoy a high level of well-being. On all eleven components of the OECD’s Better Life Index, Canada performs better than the OECD average. The economy and labour markets stood up better than those of most OECD countries to the ravages of the global financial crisis. Still, there are some areas where the country can do even better. Canada needs to improve its productivity performance, building on the recent increased growth in labour productivity to narrow the gap with top-performing OECD countries in terms of the level of productivity. The productivity gap with the United States is particularly large for small and medium-sized enterprises. Productivity growth could also be more inclusive. People from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and Indigenous communities currently do not participate to the extent that they should in the country’s strong economic performance. Finally, Canada needs to make growth greener, in order to contribute its fair share to the global fight against climate change.