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In the coming years, labour markets will face significant challenges. In this context, re- and upskilling of adults is an urgent priority for all at national, regional and local levels. To turn challenges into opportunities and to ensure that the supply of local skills matches constantly changing skills demands, there is a need to create strong adult learning systems for a more resilient and empowered society and productive economy. To support local governments in their efforts to future-proof adult learning systems, this policy manual presents a range of policy options and concrete actions that can inspire and guide work at the local level. It is designed for both policy makers and practitioners at the local and regional level, but also for national policy makers to support their efforts in supporting the diversity of local needs.
Across the OECD, healthcare spending has typically outpaced economic growth in recent decades. While such spending has improved health outcomes, there are concerns about the financial sustainability of this upward trend, particularly as healthcare systems are predominantly funded from public resources in most OECD countries. To better explore this financial sustainability challenge, many countries and international institutions have developed forecasting models to project growth in future healthcare expenditure.
Despite methodological differences between forecasting approaches, a common set of healthcare spending drivers can be identified. Demographic factors, rising incomes, technological progress, productivity in the healthcare sector compared to the general economy (Baumol’s cost disease) and associated healthcare policies have all been shown to be key determinants of healthcare spending.
For over 60 years, fusion energy has been recognised as a promising technology for safe, secure and environmentally-sustainable commercial electrical power generation. Over the past decade, research and development programmes across the globe have shown progress in developing critical underlying technologies. Approaches ranging from high-temperature plasma magnetic confinement fusion to inertial confinement fusion are increasingly better understood.
Government revenues may be affected by economic growth and changes in demographics over time. The effect of economic growth can be captured by long-run buoyancy – responsiveness of government revenues to GDP growth – while the demographic effect can be captured by changes in labour income, asset income and consumption patterns over the life cycle, as well as population growth. This paper attempts to quantify the effect of population ageing on OECD tax revenues across different levels of government, by estimating error correction models of revenue buoyancies over the 1990 to 2018 period, by type of revenue, country and level of government. Multiple scenarios are used for the projections to 2040, which are combined with scenarios for the evolution of revenue bases using newly harmonized EU and UN National Transfer Accounts data as well as OECD Population Projections.
This paper provides a description of the risk sharing features of pension plan design in selected OECD and non-OECD countries and how they correspond with the funding rules applied to pension funds. In addition to leading to a better understanding of differences in funding rules across countries with developed pension fund systems, the study considers the trend towards risk-based regulation. While the document does not enter the debate over the application of riskbased quantitative funding requirements to pension funds (as under Basel II or Solvency II), it identifies the risk factors that should be evaluated and considered in a comprehensive risk-based regulatory approach, whether prescriptive or principles-based. The three main risk factors identified are the nature of risks and the guarantees offered under different plans designs, the extent to which benefits are conditional and can be adjusted, and the extent to which contributions may be raised to cover any funding gap. In addition, the strength of the guarantee or covenant from the sponsoring employer(s) and of insolvency guarantee arrangements should be carefully assessed when designing funding requirements.
This paper describes trends and practices in the funding of public research and development (R&D). It is based on a study which was carried out by the OECD’s Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. The study dealt with several aspects of the governance of public research such as the structures of science systems, priority setting issues, funding and the management of human resources.The paper provides a picture of...
In order to arrive at a fair comparison between countries regarding the fiscal burden of their DB public sector pension plans, this paper gathers more evidence on public sector pension plans regarding the type of pension promise and quantifies the future tax burden related to these pension promises. The reported liabilities are recalculated using both a fair value approach (local market discount rates) and a common, fixed discount rate across all countries which reflects projected growth in national income. We also estimate for a number of plans from a sample of OECD countries the size of the net unfunded liabilities in fair value terms as of the end of 2008. This fiscal burden can also be interpreted as the implicit pension debt in fair value terms.
The UK 2004 Higher Education Act generated important debates about the relationships between higher education (HE), economic growth and social progress. The range of positions expressed in relation to the increase of annual tuition fees raises crucial questions about the public and private funding of higher education and its individual and social economic benefits. Such controversies have a strong resonance in France where discussion about HE underfunding has already emerged. This article seeks to inform these current debates by combining economic and historical perspectives within a quantitative approach. The analysis of new historical series on funding and development of UK universities since the 1920s and the comparison with similar data for France has put into evidence a long-term link between HE funding and economic fluctuations. In both countries, the expansion in university resources was not linear and may be related to the impact of long economic cycles on public funding. Moreover, in the UK case, private funding periodically increased in order to replace diminishing public funding, rather than taking the form of additional resources. In consequence, private funds did not provide an overall rise in the universities’ income. The considerable fluctuations of funding, combined with a more consistent growth of enrolment, led to a recurrent mismatch between resources for and access to higher education. This can explain the wide fluctuations of resources per student over the period and the current underfunding situation. Such historical trends question whether, in the future, increased fees will be a substitute for public spending. Or will variable fees be combined with even greater increases in public funding as part of a national project to support HE students from all social backgrounds and to boost expenditure per student?
The bulk of government investment is done at the local level in OECD countries, representing on average 41% of total public investment. Most studies on subnational government debt focus on the regional or state level, and very few studies analyse public investment specifically by local governments. This paper aims at filling this gap, presenting a framework to analyse the key factors, which affect the capacity of local governments to fund and finance public investment, and illustrates the framework with five case studies: Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands and New Zealand.
A well-functioning policy making system is a key pillar of a transparent and effective democratic system. It is also a crucial precondition for the country to make progress in the European integration process as the capacity of national administrations to undertake the obligations linked with European Union membership is a key criterion in the assessment of candidate preparedness. This is to ensure that the administration is capable of successfully dealing with the complex policy issues facing all European Union member states in an efficient manner.
This comparative analysis takes stock of the organisational set up, regulatory framework, and the practices of the key centre of government functions in the Western Balkans, highlighting similarities and differences, and it also gives examples from some EU Member States.
Gender inequalities in Australia have steadily declined, but remain particularly visible in the labour market. Women in Australia have lower employment rates, hourly wages and hours worked than their male counterparts. Childbirth is particularly disruptive for their labour market experience. Reforms to the tax and benefits system, childcare and parental leave arrangements are all needed to reduce the barriers to female labour participation of mothers. At the same time, ensuring the adequacy of unemployment benefits will support the living standards of many low-income women given that they have become an increasing share of recipients. Single mothers face particularly high poverty risk and would also benefit from more robust arrangements around child support payments from non-custodial parents.
There is growing recognition throughout the OECD of the need to link economic development and employment policies at the level of the individual city if the twin objectives of raising competitiveness and reducing worklessness are to be met. The challenge is particularly clear in the UK, where the employment rate of the working age population in the major cities has lagged consistently behind the relatively strong performance of the nation as a whole (HM Treasury, 2007). The Government has recognised that raising the UK employment rate towards its ambitious 80%national target will require special efforts to tackle unemployment and economic inactivity in the cities (Department of Work and Pensions, 2006). This is an important departure from the traditional emphasis on national labour market policies and standardised welfare to work programmes that pay little regard to geographical variations in socio-economic conditions.
One of the issues arising is the appropriate balance between measures to stimulate labour demand and create jobs, on the one hand, and measures to strengthen labour supply by improving people’s skills, employability and motivation, on the other. There is also an issue about how to connect employment opportunities to people in need of work but who face multiple disadvantages and barriers to employment, such as poor transport access and lack of childcare. Another issue relates to the amount of decentralisation and local control of the policy levers that government should encourage, and what form this should take.
The purpose of this paper is to address these important questions by focusing on the labour market context and policy situation in Glasgow.