Browse by: "2012"

This report presents the results of the assessment of the organisation of the central government of Australia. The study looks at reforms that are aimed at improving the quality of services (more value) and efficiency (less money) in central government. Starting with facts and quantitative benchmarks on the Australian central government, the study reviews recent reforms in Australia, and makes recommendations in ten selected areas. The study concludes with a survey of the effects on the quality of services and the potential savings.

In the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, questions are being raised about the future of the uranium market, including as regards the number of reactors expected to be built in the coming years, the amount of uranium required to meet forward demand, the adequacy of identified uranium resources to meet that demand and the ability of the sector to meet reactor requirements in a challenging investment climate.

This 24th edition of the “Red Book”, a recognised world reference on uranium jointly prepared by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency, provides analyses and information from 42 producing and consuming countries in order to address these and other questions. It offers a comprehensive review of world uranium supply and demand as well as data on global uranium exploration, resources, production and reactor-related requirements. It also provides substantive new information on established uranium production centres around the world and in countries developing production centres for the first time. Projections of nuclear generating capacity and reactor-related requirements through 2035, incorporating policy changes following the Fukushima accident, are also featured, along with an analysis of long-term uranium supply and demand issues.

This report reviews recent trends in international migration, describing the size of current foreign-born populations across countries and analysing factors associated to the size and nature of these populations, reviews a set of important differences and similarities across educational systems and gives a brief description of population sizes across countries.

It also provides an overview of the evidence emerging from PISA 2009 on the performance and socio-economic background of children of immigrants. Who are the children of immigrants? What do they know and what can they do? How do they differ from other students? Do they approach school and learning in a different way? It examines more closely the issue of assessment language proficiency among immigrant students and its possible impact on cognitive outcomes in PISA. It explores the effect of age at arrival on the performance of immigrant students in the PISA tests of literacy.
Selective migration policies of certain countries and the attractiveness of these countries generally to highly educated migrants is also explored.

It also discusses the future educational and professional career of the children of immigrant related to their performance in PISA. Does the skill and knowledge disadvantage at age 15 translate into a disadvantage in later educational outcomes? For example, are those children of immigrants less likely to access a post-secondary educational institution?

This report addresses the lack of data on pathways followed by young adults with disabilities beyond secondary education in most OECD countries. It describes the activity undertaken by a sample of Czech, Danish, Dutch, French and Norwegian young adults with disabilities and its evolution, as well as looking into the factors that have facilitated or hindered high-quality transition processes to tertiary education and employment. Do upper secondary schools enable students with special educational needs to move successfully to tertiary education and employment? Are young adults with disabilities supported appropriately when leaving upper secondary schools? Do universities’ and colleges’ admission and support strategies foster transition to and success within tertiary education?

The report shows that young adults with disabilities who left upper secondary education in 2007 have mostly accessed tertiary education, while those leaving tertiary education the same year have mainly entered the labour market. It also reveals that due to low-quality support at upper secondary level and the relative absence of transition issues in upper secondary schools’ policies and strategies, transition to tertiary education and to employment is closely linked with parental support and involvement, and young adults with disabilities coming from a low socio-economic background have less transition opportunities than those coming from a high socio-economic background. It demonstrates that young adults with disabilities who moved on to tertiary education consider they have gained the same opportunities as their non-disabled peers, as well as self-confidence and better inclusion opportunities.

This report also shows that persistent inactivity beyond secondary education has a strong disaffiliation effect. It restricts individuals’ participation opportunities and deprives individuals from social and economic independence as well as from personal well-being.

Researchers are embarking on increasingly diverse careers where collaboration, networking and interdisciplinarity are becoming more important. Transferable skills (e.g. communication skills and problem-solving abilities) can help researchers operate more effectively in different work environments. While researchers acquire some of these skills in the course of studies and work, attention is turning to the role of formal training.

This study analyses countries' government and institutional level policies on formal training in transferable skills for researchers, from doctoral students through to experienced research managers. It draws on results from a cross-country policy quesionnaire on transferable skills training strategies and programmes, including formal training and workplace-based options, as well as discussions at a policy-oriented workshop with OECD delegates and experts. The study represents a first step to analysing transferable skills for researchers in OECD countries.

The study points to the significant role of individual institutions in setting strategies and providing transferable skills training programmes. While the scope for governments to improve on current arrangements is difficult to assess, the study suggests policy makers could boost policy monitoring and evaluation, facilitate dialogue between academia and industry, encourage workplace-based training options, and leverage collaborative research to support transferable skills training for researchers at all levels.

This report assesses the role that nuclear energy can play in supporting the transition to a low-carbon energy system. It begins by considering the greenhouse gas emissions from the full nuclear fuel cycle, reviewing recent studies on indirect emissions and assessing the impact that nuclear power could make in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The report provides estimates of the construction rates that would be needed to meet the projected expansion of nuclear power foreseen by many energy scenarios published by international organisations. It then assesses the economic, technical, societal and institutional challenges represented by such an expansion to identify the most significant barriers. The capacity of nuclear power plants to operate in an electricity system with a large share of renewables, and the impact of smart grid technologies are also examined. Finally, long-term prospects for nuclear energy are discussed in terms of development of new reactor and fuel cycle technologies, non-electric applications and new operational and regulatory constraints that could arise as a consequence of climate change.

The Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness is an exercise in mutual accountability undertaken jointly by the UNECA and the OECD following a request of NEPAD Heads of State and Government in 2003. Its purpose is to assess what has been done by Africa and its development partners to deliver commitments in relation to the continent’s development, what results have been achieved, and what the key future priorities are. It complements the self-assessments produced by each side to the partnership and looks at commitments made by political leaders collectively, rather than national governments individually. In doing so, it attempts to look at overall performance, recognizing however, that within this there is a large degree of variation and diversity between countries.

This is the fifth edition of the MRDE report, following the publication of earlier editions in 2005; 2009; 2010 and 2011. The 2012 report follows the same structure as previous reports and is accordingly organized around four broad policy areas: sustainable economic growth, investing in people, good governance, and financing for development.