Browse by: "K"

OECD countries as a whole have experienced modest annual output growth of some 2 1/2 per cent over the past four years. But unemployment remains unacceptably high -- having fallen only slightly from its peak of 38 million in 1993 to the current 35 million or 7 per cent of the workforce -- and wage and income disparities have widened in many countries, posing potential risks to social cohesion. These trends have prompted much debate on their causes, consequences and remedies.

These are among the issues that the OECD has analyzed and discussed with Member countries since 1992 in the context of its Jobs Strategy work. OECD Ministers have endorsed the Jobs Strategy recommendations and called last May for greater reform efforts. More recently the meeting of OECD Labour Ministers last October emphasised the need for policies for low-paid and unskilled job seekers, enhancing the effectiveness of active labour market policies and lifelong learning to maintain employability, issues ...

In this paper we present an international comparison of growth trends in the OECD countries, with a special attention to developments in labour productivity - allowing for human capital accumulation – and multifactor productivity (MFP) - allowing for changes in the composition of fixed capital. An attempt is also made to identify both the embodied (in particular in ICT equipment) and disembodied components of technical progress. The possible relation between improvements in MFP and the accumulation of knowledge (as proxied by R&D expenditures) is discussed, and some tentative policy considerations are advanced, mainly with reference to general framework conditions that might have a bearing in fostering technological changes.

The main conclusions are that some “traditional” factors lay behind the disparities in growth patterns across the OECD countries. In particular, they refer to the ability of countries to employ their labour force. There also seem to be some new factors behind ...

It is sometimes asserted that an era of faster economic growth has come about --the so-called New Economy. New technology, notably information and communications technology (ICT), is seen as a key factor at work, together with international economic integration. This report examines the issue from a labour market perspective. The findings suggest that sanguine predictions about the New Economy are unlikely to materialise unless the appropriate policy environment is in place, notably as regards employment and human capital development policies.

New technology holds the promise of higher economic growth, ...

True, new technologies hold the promise of higher economic growth and improved living standards. Besides the potential impact of technology on efficiency gains, ICT may provide opportunities for better utilising existing skills. In this regard, the availability of telework to groups so far underrepresented in the labour market is a positive phenomenon. Also, new technology will ...

Many existing works using firm-level data sets have examined whether or not knowledge spills over from MNEs to domestically owned firms in a less developed country, but the literature has not come to a general consensus on the presence of spillovers. A possible reason for the mixed results is that they do not adequately address domestic and foreign efforts for active diffusion. The present paper thus incorporates R&D activities and human resource development conducted by MNEs and domestic firms to investigate whether these activities enhance knowledge diffusion from MNEs, using establishment-level panel data for the Indonesian manufacturing sector. We find that R&D activities and human resource development conducted by MNEs stimulate knowledge diffusion from MNEs to domestic firms, while knowledge diffusion from MNEs without such activities is absent. Moreover, R&D activities by a domestic firm are also found to promote knowledge diffusion from MNEs to the firm, although this ...

Korea has undertaken two projects to improve its school grounds: the Green School Project and the School Forest Pilot Project.

This paper examines various aspects of fiscal policy in Slovenia, in particular fiscal consolidation, pension reform, efficiency of government spending and the tax system. It finds that Slovenia belongs to the group of new EU member countries, which have given in the past a high priority to fiscal prudence. This both stabilised the economy and paved the way for entry to the EU in 2004 and adoption of the euro in 2007. It also created room to counteract the current weakening of the economy. But fiscal policy has to cope with four main challenges: i) ensuring a return to fiscal consolidation after the current economic downturn; ii) achieving longer-term fiscal sustainability by continuing pension reform; iii) limiting growth of public spending and improving its quality; and iv) making the tax system less distorting for job creation and growth. This Working Paper relates to the 2009 OECD Economic Survey of the Slovenia (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/slovenia).

This paper examines environmental and institutional implications of the use of tradable GHG units under different international accounting scenarios in the post-2012 international climate change policy framework. A range of possible scenarios is presented based on analysis on various building blocks for emissions accounting. On one side continuation of a Kyoto Protocol type accounting approach is considered with allocation of centrally-administered emissions allowances for Annex I countries. On the other side, a less centralised system is presented based on emission reduction pledges by countries.

Aspects of these two scenarios are then combined to identify common elements in a middle ground scenario. The middle ground scenario presented would not use centrally-allocated emissions allowances but would retain some level of commonly-agreed accounting rules to ensure shared understanding of the content and scope of pledges, and to provide a stable platform for international use of offset units. The middle-ground scenario also envisages a role for UNFCCC bodies to set standards for new credit-based market mechanisms, and suggests that the existing International Transaction Log might be modified to track new unit types in addition to existing Kyoto Protocol units. Transparent tracking of units would help to minimize the risk of “double counting” of emissions reductions towards the emissions objective of more than one country.

The existing modal share in Indian cities is in favor of Non-motorized transport (NMT) and public transport. However given the hostile conditions for public transport and increasing risk to pedestrians and cyclists, the use of personal motorized vehicle is increasing. This trend is accompanied with the rise in traffic crashes and deteriorating air quality in cities. Emission levels vary with travel behavior which is dependent on city size, structure and mode choice available.

Korea’s greenhouse gas emissions almost doubled between 1990 and 2005, the highest growth rate in the OECD area. Korea recently set a target of reducing emissions by 30% by 2020 relative to a “business as usual” baseline, implying a 4% cut from the 2005 level. Achieving this objective in a cost-effective manner requires moving from a strategy based on voluntary commitments by firms to market-based instruments. The priority is to establish a comprehensive cap-and-trade scheme, supplemented, if necessary, by carbon taxes in areas not covered by trading. Achieving a significant cut in emissions requires a shift from energy-intensive industries to low-carbon ones. Korea is strongly committed to promoting green growth through its Five-Year Plan, which envisages spending 2% of GDP per year through 2013. One challenge is to ensure that these expenditures are efficiently targeted so as to develop green technologies, while avoiding the risks inherent in industrial policy.

New and small firms can be important engines of job creation and local development when they identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. We live in an economy more and more characterised by open innovation methods, where new companies and SMEs are benefitting from innovations, technological and non technological available on the market or from other companies and organisations part of their networks. Knowledge networks, understood as a three-component construction of (i) knowledge generation, (ii) knowledge transfer, and (iii) knowledge application, can play a crucial role in boosting companies performance. As many OECD researches shows, there is often a major networking gap, however, between knowledge sources in universities and research organisations and industry exploitation in new spin-off enterprises and SMEs. The analysis of the actors of the knowledge networks and the way they behave and interact with other component inside and outside the networks is a fundamental support to local policy making in entrepreneurship and innovation.

The OECD LEED Programme in cooperation with the University of Trento has prepared this paper to analyse in deep the behaviour of knowledge networks in two specific local contexts: the Autonomous Province of Trento in Italy and the Magdeburg Province in Germany.

The aim of this research project is to analyse the relevance of knowledge networks to entrepreneurship and the growth of young and small firms, the role of the different components and their interplay for network effectiveness, impeding and favouring factors, and the role of public policy.

This paper examines Korea’s low-carbon green growth strategy with a focus on three pillars: regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industries; incentive mechanisms for businesses to develop green technologies and products; and public information tools to increase awareness and demand for green products. Korea’s transition to a low-carbon green growth path may provide a useful reference for many developing countries in a carbonconstrained global economy. The institutionalisation of a low-carbon green growth strategy supported by strong political leadership and elaborated implementation programmes is key to solving many socio-economic and environmental challenges posed by the traditional growth paradigm that is heavily dependent on the consumption of energy and natural resources, including fossil fuels. Efficient role sharing and co-operation among public and private stakeholders in the process of planning, budget preparation and implementation are major components of Korea’s low-carbon green growth strategy.

Each year SIGMA produces assessment reports as a contribution to the EC’s annual reports on EU candidate countries and potential candidates, as well as to its programming of technical assistance. These reports assess progress made in public administration reform by our beneficiary countries. The report for Kosovo* analyses and takes stock of progress achieved by this country in 2012, with an aim to also provide inputs into its reform agenda. It focuses on civil service and administrative law, integrity, public expenditure management and control, public procurement, and policy making and co-ordination.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

Investment in knowledge-based capital (KBC) – assets that lack physical embodiment, such as computerised information, innovative property and economic competencies – has been rising significantly. This has implications for innovation and productivity growth and requires new thinking on policy. The returns to investing in KBC differ significantly across countries and are partly shaped by structural policies, which influence the ability of economies to reallocate scarce resources to firms that invest in KBC. Well-functioning product, labour and venture capital markets and bankruptcy laws that do not overly penalise failure can raise the expected returns to investing in KBC by improving the efficiency of resource allocation. While structural reforms offer the most cost-effective approach to raising investment in KBC, there is a role for innovation policies to raise private investment in KBC towards the socially optimal level(s). Indeed, R&D tax incentives and, as a finding that contrasts with previous research, direct support measures can be effective, but design features are crucial in order to minimise the fiscal cost and unintended consequences of such policies. Welldefined intellectual property rights (IPR) are also important to provide firms with the incentive to innovate and to promote knowledge diffusion via the public disclosure of ideas. However, such IPR regimes need to be coupled with pro-competition policies to ensure maximum effect while the rising costs of the patent system in emerging KBC sectors may have altered the trade-off inherent to IPR between the incentives to innovate and the broad diffusion of knowledge.

Investment in knowledge-based capital (KBC) – assets that have no physical embodiment, such as computerised information, innovative property and economic competencies – has been rising significantly. This has implications for innovation and productivity growth and requires new thinking on policy. The returns to investing in KBC differ significantly across countries and are partly shaped by structural policies, which influence the ability of national economies to reallocate scarce resources to firms that invest in KBC. In this regard, well-functioning product, labour and venture capital markets and bankruptcy laws that do not overly penalise failure can raise the expected returns to investing in KBC by improving the efficiency of resource allocation. While structural reforms offer the most cost-effective approach to raising investment in KBC, there is a role for innovation policies to raise private investment in KBC towards socially optimal levels. Indeed, R&D tax incentives and, as a finding that contrasts with previous research, direct support measures can be effective, but design features are crucial in order to minimise the fiscal cost and unintended consequences of such policies. Well-defined intellectual property rights (IPR) are also important to provide firms with the incentive to innovate and to promote knowledge diffusion via the public disclosure of ideas. However, such IPR regimes need to be coupled with pro-competition policies to ensure maximum effect while the rising costs of the patent system in emerging KBC sectors may have altered the trade-off inherent to IPR between the incentives to innovate and the broad diffusion of knowledge.

This report aims to shed light on the role of markets and networks for knowledge-based assets. Knowledge Networks and Markets (KNMs) comprise the wide array of mechanisms and institutions facilitating the creation, exchange, dissemination and utilisation of knowledge in its multiple forms. This document provides new evidence on the knowledge-sourcing strategies of firms and their role in shaping innovation activities, according to different characteristics, and their impact on performance. It proposes a conceptual framework for understanding how KNMs support knowledge flows and the transfer of intellectual property (IP) rights, supported by a number of novel examples. It considers more specifically some developments in the market for IP rights, looking in the first instance at the evidence on the size of the market and the role of intermediaries. The role of public policies in the IP marketplace is also considered, with particular emphasis on some new forms of policy interventions such as government-sponsored patent funds. This document briefly reviews some key features of the markets and networks for knowledge originating in public research organisations, as well as the role of intermediaries such as technology transfer offices, whose role has been changing rapidly in recent years. Finally, the analysis of knowledge markets is extended to the market for knowledge embodied in highly skilled employees. The mixed impact of mobility on innovation is noted, considering in particular the use of agreements to restrict the movement of human capital and the potential implications of their enforcement. Some proposals for inclusion in a future measurement agenda are outlined.

Each year SIGMA produces assessment reports as a contribution to the EC’s annual reports on EU candidate countries and potential candidates, as well as to its programming of technical assistance. These reports assess progress made in public administration reform by our beneficiary countries. The report for Kosovo* analyses and takes stock of progress achieved by this country in 2013, with an aim to also provide inputs into its reform agenda. It focuses on policy making and co-ordination, public expenditure management, co-ordination, implementation and priorities of public administration reform, civil service, human resource management in the public sector and administrative law, and public procurement. *This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

As a continuation of the 2013 SIGMA assessments and as part of a longer-term programme of work, SIGMA has identified country priorities for public administration reform (PAR) for Kosovo*. Priorities cover the overall PAR needs of the country, including areas which were not covered by the assessments. Priorities in areas outside the scope of SIGMA assessments are based on other analytical sources and SIGMA’s practical experience of working with the country. SIGMA proposes priority 2020 targets for the countries, sub-targets when needed, and sequenced priority activities in 1-2, 3-5 and 5+ year time perspectives. *This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.