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We live in a period of profound systemic change, and as in similar periods in the past, there is bound to be considerable instability and uncertainty before the new society and economy take shape. We have to identify actions that will shape change for the better, and help to build resilience to the inevitable shocks inherent in, and generated by, the complex system of systems constituted by the economy, society and the environment. These challenges require updating the way policies are devised and implemented, and developing more realistic tools and techniques to design those policies on the basis of appropriate data. In Systemic Thinking for Policy Making world experts from the OECD and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) pool their expertise and experience to propose new approaches to analysing the interconnected trends and issues shaping today’s and tomorrow’s world. The authors argue that to tackle planetary emergencies linked to the environment, the economy and socio-political systems, we have to understand their systemic properties, such as tipping points, interconnectedness and resilience. They give the reader a precise introduction to the tools and techniques needed to do so, and offer hope that we can overcome the challenges the world is facing.

This report analyses the results of simulations using an agent based model of financial markets to show how excessive levels of leverage in financial markets can lead to a systemic crash.  Investors overload on risky assets betting more than they have to gamble creating a tremendous level of vulnerability in the system as a whole.  Plummeting asset prices render banks unable or unwilling to provide credit as they fear they might be unable to cover their own liabilities due to potential loan defaults.  Whether an overleveraged borrower is a sovereign nation or major financial institution, recent history illustrates how defaults carry the risk of contagion in a globally interconnected economy. The resulting slowdown of investment in the real economy impacts actors at all levels, from small businesses to homebuyers. Bankruptcies lead to job losses and a drop in aggregate demand, leading to more businesses and individuals being unable to repay their loans, reinforcing a downward spiral that can trigger a recession, depression or bring about stagflation in the real economy. This can have a devastating impact not only on economic prosperity across the board, but also consumer sentiment and trust in the ability of the system to generate long-term wealth and growth.   

The System of National Accounts, 1993 (SNA) was a joint publication by the United Nations Statistical Division, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Eurostat and the OECD. It provides a detailed framework for producing national accounts statistics and is intended for worldwide use. However, Because of the detailed nature of the SNA, it is often difficult to identify precise definitions of the terms commonly used in national accounting. As a result, the OECD has now produced this glossary which provides a quick reference to terms commonly found in the national accounts.

This book takes a careful look at the concept of sustainable development. What does it mean? How is it affected by production, consumption and globalisation? How it can be measured, and what can be done to promote it? The OECD produces data, research and policy recommendations on many issues related to sustainable development, including climate change, co-operation with developing countries and corporate social responsibility. OECD Insights: Sustainable Development draws on that expertise. It argues that to be sustainable, development has to be based on progress in three areas at once: the economy, society and the environment.

How can we meet the needs of today without diminishing the capacity of future generations to meet theirs? This is the central question posed by "sustainable development". OECD countries committed themselves to sustainable development at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio, yet - almost ten years later - progress accomplished remains partial and uneven. Drawing on analysis carried forward in response to a mandate from OECD Ministers in 1998, this report stresses the urgency to address some of the most pressing challenges for sustainable development. It reviews the conceptual foundations of sustainable development, its measurement, and the institutional reforms needed to make it operational. It then discusses how international trade and investment, as well as development co-operation, can contribute to sustainable development on a global basis, and reviews the experience of OECD countries in using market-based, regulatory and technology policies to reach sustainability goals in a cost-effective way. The report also provides an in-depth analysis of policies designed to address key threats to sustainability in the areas of climate change and natural resource management, as well as of those that respond to sustainability concerns at the sectoral and sub-national level. The common thrust of the report is that substantial opportunities exist to make economic growth, environmental protection, and social development mutually reinforcing.

Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, sustainability has emerged as an over-arching policy goal in the OECD Secretariat and in its Member countries. Real progress depends upon the integration of environmental and social goals with economic ones. This publication provides an overview and analysis of trends and identifies policy gaps and trade-offs that have been encountered and points to future options. The authors document positive trends which have emerged signalling greater sustainability, as well as areas where progress has proved more elusive. While the main focus is the OECD region, expanding linkages -- among all countries and regions -- form an important part of the story. The coverage of the volume reflects the OECD's diverse subject matter expertise, and some of the interdisciplinary synergies that the Organisation can generate. Part I of this two-part volume concentrates on socio-economic issues, including the integration of economics and environment; trade and environment; changing consumption and production patterns; assessing environmental performance; development co-operation; and the evolution of aid agencies since Rio. Part II takes an in-depth look at nine sectoral issues: energy; transport; agriculture; toxic chemicals; climate change; nuclear energy; urbanisation; biotechnology; and education. In short, this publication gives essential keys to meet the major challengeof the 21st century: helping to make sustainability a reality.

The MENA region registered relatively dynamic economic growth and investment rates during the first decade of the century, even during the global economic and financial crisis. This was helped by important reforms by many governments to increase economic openness, diversification, private sector development and institutional reform. The participation of Tunisia and Jordan in the Open Government Partnership, the massive investment in infrastructure by Morocco and Egypt to increase connectivity and improve participation in global trade, and the efforts of the United Arab Emirates to diversify its economy demonstrate the great potential of the region to achieve progress. However, recent political instability and security threats have considerably slowed economic prospects. Reforms have not succeeded in tackling deeper structural challenges, such as corruption, unemployment, uneven development and unequal opportunities, especially for disadvantaged regions, women and youth. Appropriate policy responses are needed to regain stability and lay the foundations for a more open economy and a more inclusive development model. While the MENA region is profoundly heterogeneous, there are significant common economic and institutional trends that support the need for more concerted action to exploit the immense potential of the region and ensure its fruitful integration into the global economy.

This publication contains the proceedings of the World Forum on Key Indicators held in Palermo in November 2004. In it, statisticians from governmental statistical offices, international organisations, and academia explain why indicator systems are useful and how statistics can be used, how to implement systems related to different kinds of statistics, and what systems are already in place. This conference was the first co-ordinated world wide effort to study the development and implications of large-scale systems of public information for developed countries.

This book examines the contributions that space technologies can make in tackling some of the serious problems posed by climate change. Focusing on examples of water management, marine resources and maritime transport, it sets out the rationale for further developing satellite systems to measure and monitor climate change and help mitigate its consequences. The report underlines the need to consider satellites not just as research and development systems, but as an important component of a critical communication- and information-based infrastructure for modern societies. The tool box for decision makers that concludes the book reviews different methodological options for deciding on investments in space-based earth observation.

This book explores the contribution space systems might make in dealing with looming societal challenges related to threats to the physical environment and the management of natural resources, growing mobility and its consequences, increasing security concerns, and the shift to the information society. It discusses the challenges for developing space applications. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks that currently govern space activities in the OECD area and beyond. Finally, it formulates an overall policy framework that OECD governments might use in drafting policies designed to ensure that the potential that space has to offer is actually realised.

As economic globalisation runs its seemingly relentless course, the demands on OECD economies' flexibility are set to increase still further in the years to come. What kind of society will be able to cope with these pressures? How much and what kinds of adaptability will be required of individuals, institutions and enterprises? What forces will hold OECD societies together in an environment shaped by intense international competition and fast-moving technological change? This publication looks into the prospects for societal cohesion in tomorrow's world. It assesses the long-run implications of continuing with the current set of policies, and examines ideas that may help societies strike a sustainable balance between economic flexibility and a cohesive social fabric.

This report develops a framework of social unrest within a complex understanding of systemic risk.  The goal is to  try to identify triggers (events that lead to social unrest) and drivers (causal roots) for the emergence of social unrest and, based on this functional analysis, to design policy options on how to avoid, mitigate or handle unrest. The framework should enable a better understanding of the circumstances that may trigger social unrest, how intensely that unrest is likely to materialize and what interventions promise  to de-escalate the conflict or even prevent social unrest in the first place.   Since social unrest is more a process of escalation than a finite state of the world, the term has been conceptualized in a step-by-step escalation scheme.   Each step makes social unrest more severe. It is a gradual framework that identifies the different stages that make social unrest more and more probable. In order to identify relevant drivers and cluster of drivers, three case studies are investigated:  pandemics, cyber-related risk and financial crises. The main question is how did or could these events cause social unrests.  In a second step, an analytic model is used to capture the combined effects learned from the case study analysis. In a third step,the IRGC risk governance model for explaining the risk of social unrest or predicting the consequences of social unrest is applied. Finally , guidelines for normative governance with respect to social unrest are developed.

This book reviews recent work related to Slovenia and summarised key findings and recommendations in such areas as unemployment and the labour market, skills and productivity, product market competition, corporate governance, boosting innovation and moving up the value chain, public finances, the tax system, the financial system, and greening the economy.