Browse by: "2008"

This survey report which presents the results from the second, follow-up survey on monitoring the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, assesses progress in 55 developing countries and helps us understand the challenges in making aid more effective in advancing development. The findings are clear: progress is being made, but not fast enough. Unless they seriously gear up their efforts, developing countries and their external partners will not meet their international commitments and targets for effective aid by 2010. Action is needed now. This report makes three high-level policy recommendations that will help accelerate progress and transform the aid relationship into a full partnership.

Designed to strengthen and deepen implementation of the Paris Declaration, the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) takes stock of progress and sets the agenda for accelerated advancement towards improving the quality and impact of aid. The AAA represents an unprecedented alliance of more than 80 developing countries, OECD Development Assistance Committee donors, some 3 000 civil society organisations, emerging economies, UN and multilateral institutions, and global funds.

This fact-filled reference book brings the reader the latest available economic information for most of the economies of Africa.  Drawing on the expertise of both the African Development Bank and the OECD, it opens with an overview that examines the international environment, macroeconomic performance, progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals, and governance and political issues. This edition includes a special focus on technical and vocational skills development. The second part provides individual country reports for 35 countries.  Each country report provides an assessment of recent economic performance, projections for 2008 and 2009, an examination of structural issues, and a discussion of the political and social context.  The statistical annex presents 24 tables comparing economic and social variables across all the countries of Africa.

This book is a unique source of up-to-date estimates of support to agriculture. Separate chapters describe and evaluate agricultural policies in each OECD country, including such important developments as the introduction of the single-payment scheme in the EU. This edition also includes a special chapter describing the revised method of estimating support to agriculture used for the first time in this report. As always, it includes extensive statistical data on support to agriculture broken down by type of support and commodity, as well as Statlinks, URLs linking to Excel® spreadsheet versions of tables and graphs.

This booklet synthesizes findings from analysis of agricultural policy and performance in three African countries: Cameroon, Ghana and Mali. Case studies of each of these countries were undertaken as part of the Support for African Agriculture Project (SAAP), a project largely financed by the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Agriculture and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The purpose was to identify constraints to agricultural growth and poverty reduction that might be eased through better policy, both domestically and internationally. Analysis of agricultural performance focused on trends in output, factor use, and productivity. Analysis of agricultural policy featured measurement of domestic and international price distortions as well as the evolution of aid-financed public expenditures on agriculture.

Governments intervene in the agricultural sector through policies that both support and shape agricultural production. This leads to two important outcomes. First, agriculture specific programmes intended to increase the welfare of farmers can become capitalised into asset values. Second, many policies, in particular regulatory ones, reduce asset mobility, resulting in reduced economic efficiency due a sub-optimal allocation of resources. This study focuses on the capitalisation of government support into land rents and prices. It assesses the consequences of inflated asset values, and suggests lessons for future policy making.

Many developing countries, in particular the least-developed, face supply-side constraints that severely limit their ability to benefit from the multilateral trading system. In recognition of these challenges, the 2005 WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference called for the expansion and improvement of aid for trade and set in motion a process to achieve this. This first OECD/WTO review of aid for trade takes stock of trends and developments in aid for trade, provides an overview of donor and partner country responses to a survey, and presents a series of lessons for the next round of monitoring.

Les tendances de la rentabilité des banques et les facteurs agissant sur elle sont des indicateurs importants de l’état de santé des systèmes bancaires nationaux. Cette publication fournit des informations sur les comptes des banques des pays membres de l'OCDE. La couverture des banques n'est pas la même dans chaque pays ; cependant l'objectif est d'inclure toutes les institutions qui ont des activités bancaires, notamment celles qui prennent des dépôts de personnes privées et qui financent un large éventail de projets. Sont également incluses des informations sur le nombre de banques, leurs filiales et leur personnel, ainsi que des informations structurelles relatives à l’ensemble du secteur financier.  En outre, des ratios, calculés à partir de différents postes des comptes des banques en pourcentage d’agrégats spécifiques, sont proposés pour faciliter l'analyse des tendances de la rentabilité des banques des pays de l'OCDE.

OECD banking statistics, published annually under the title Bank Profitability: Financial Statements of Banks, provide a unique tool for analysing developments in the banking sector in OECD Member countries. The methodological country notes included in this volume complement the statistical publication and have been prepared to facilitate the comprehension and the interpretation of the statistics.

Governments in many OECD countries, as well as in a number of countries outside the OECD area, actively promote the production and use of alternative transport fuels made from agricultural commodities. This report, jointly produced by the OECD and the IEA and drawing on information from a number of other organisations, analyses the implications of this support from various perspectives. The report shows that the high level of policy support contributes little to reduced greenhouse-gas emissions and other policy objectives, while it adds to a range of factors that raise international prices for food commodities. It concludes that there are alternatives to current support policies for biofuels that would more effectively allow governments to achieve their objectives.

This book analyses the opportunities and conditions of employment throughout the Black Sea region and Central Asia. It examines how different countries deal with social issues affecting well-being. It presents, thus, both a country-based view and a whole-region analysis that will be useful for policy makers and civil society in responding to the challenges ahead. Countries covered include Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Broadband connects consumers, businesses and governments and are now therefore a vital instrument in ensuring the competitiveness of OECD countries. This report examines broadband developments and policies, and highlights challenges such as connecting users to fibre-based networks or coverage of rural areas. It also outlines emerging issues that may need policy attention as we move to next-generation networks. The findings are also relevant to emerging and developing economies designing broadband strategies.

Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) is a fundamental tool to help governments to assess the impacts of regulation. RIA is used to examine and measure the likely benefits, costs and effects of new or existing regulation. The implementation of RIA supports the process of policy-making by contributing valuable empirical data to policy decisions, and through the construction of a rational decision framework to examine the implications of potential regulatory policy options. This is an important factor in responding to the impact on modern economies of open international markets and budgetary constraints, and the consequences of competing policy demands. A key feature of RIA is its consideration of the potential economic impacts of regulatory proposals...

The changing pattern of international agricultural trade has profound implications for Africa. The book’s authors discuss these trade flows, map the corporate landscape of agro-food, (including the emergent indigenous sector), and assess trends in international development co-operation in the corporate sector. Particular focus is given to “aid for trade” programmes that try to foster private-sector development and trade-capacity building. A final chapter, drawing lessons from five country case studies, provides evidence of the (in)effectiveness of government intervention and donor programmes to promote the marketing of African agriculture.

Cette publication annuelle présente les données sur l’évolution des émissions de CO2 de plus de 140 pays et régions, par secteur d’activité et par combustible, pour la période de 1971 à 2006. Les émissions calculées se fondent sur les bases de données de l’AIE ainsi que sur les méthodes et les facteurs d’émission définies dans les Lignes directrices du GIEC pour les inventaires nationaux de gaz à effet de serre - Version révisée 1996.