Browse by: "PRE-2005"

With almost 50 per cent of the working age population not working, improving labour market performance represents an essential and daunting challenge for Poland. While some of today’s joblessness is cyclical in nature, most of it appears to be structural. This paper argues that to increase employment levels policy will need to focus on reducing significantly the inactivity traps inherent in the Polish personal transfer system, while improving the efficiency and targeting of social transfers to ensure resources flow to those truly in need. Simultaneously, efforts must be extended to increase firms' propensity to hire the outof-work, by lowering the costs of low-skill labour, reducing associated administrative and regulatory costs and in the longer term by providing graduates with more relevant skills. This paper outlines reforms in each of these areas which, if implemented, would serve to reverse the recent decline in employment and improve the fairness of income ...

This paper presents the main trends in respect of the supply of human resources in science and technology (HRST) in Latin America and the international mobility of its highly skilled labour. This will be done through the identification of potential data sources, followed by a presentation of indicators drawn from these sources. In addition, a short section is devoted to the main policy aspects surrounding these issues.

The section on policy issues will show that the main South American countries have in common a lack of strong or efficient policies for the migration of highly skilled human resources, although in recent years important changes have occurred in some of the countries of the region.

Available information sources on highly skilled labour and international mobility in South American countries are similar to those from OECD countries as far as the main types of collected data is concerned. Potential sources are labour force surveys, population ...

This study presents an empirical analysis of the extent to which stronger intellectual property rights promote international technology transfer through licensing activities. The analysis focuses on licensing activities of U.S. multinationals as well as on international licensing alliances between firms in developing and developed nations. Both aggregate level data and firm level data are examined. The study provides general support for the proposition that the strengthening of intellectual property rights - as measured by selected indicators - has had a net positive effect on technology transfer via licensing during the 1990s. The general implication of this study for developing economies is that IPR reform should be one part of a general strategy for promoting economic development in combination with other complementary policy reforms. In particular, patent rights and effective enforcement can be instrumental in enabling firms in developing nations to access and exploit technologies and know-how through licensing agreements with parties in developed nations. Overall, the analysis presented here indicates that where developing countries have moved to address weaknesses in these areas in recent years, they have tended to experience enhanced access to technology through licensing.

Following the deep recession in the early 1990s growth has been strong, but the scope for economic catch-up remains considerable and cross-country empirical evidence suggests that enhancing competition is an important means of achieving this. Structural reforms to strengthen competition in the early 1990s did boost growth and were also ahead of similar developments in the EU. However, indicators suggest that relatively weak competition remains in a number of sectors. Moreover, potential competition is reduced by a sparse population and relative long distances to large markets, which together with the prevalence of local monopolies and public ownership in many network industries, point to the need for greater vigilance to sustain and promote competition. Further reforms to promote product market competition should focus on fundamental changes in the regulatory approach as well as more incremental measures to intensify competition. The competition authority should concentrate ...

1. The OECD regularly produces estimates of tax burdens and benefit entitlements for a range of “typical household” situations. The results of these calculations (published in the Benefits and Wages and Taxing Wages series) are frequently used to compare countries’ tax-benefit systems and to assess progress towards specific policy objectives. This paper presents information on particular aspects of the structure of household populations across countries in order to help in the interpretation of results based on such “typical” family situations. A range of internationally comparable data sources are used to assess how relevant household circumstances such as family structure, labour market attachment and benefit coverage vary across countries. The results are used as a basis for clarifying the scope of tax-benefit indicators based on synthetically constructed household typologies.

1. “Typical household” calculations cannot be used to address essential distributional issues such as how ...

1. Private health insurance (PHI) is the sole source of primary health coverage for a third of the Netherlands’ population earning above a set income threshold. Social insurance (together with limited public (tax-based financing) is the main source of health coverage for the majority of the population. Most socially insured also purchase supplementary private health coverage. All citizens are eligible for a system of coverage for long-term care and care for the chronically ill. Thus, in the Netherlands, the source of health financing is determined according to the category of health risk, type of illness, as well as income level. Decisions have been made allocating the cost of more expensive long-term care and coverage of high-risk individuals and persons earning below a set level, to social or public insurance, or to PHI subsidised by a broader pool.

1. From an equity perspective, the Dutch public/private financing mix appears to do well, although challenges remain. There appear to be ...

This study examines the interconnections between domestic regulatory reform and market openness by drawing on OECD’s earlier work on the regulatory aspects of trade. Part 1 considers how domestic regulations and regulatory reform affect market openness. It shows how with the help of advanced regulatory reform tools and approaches governments can create regulations and regulatory procedures that efficiently meet their policy objectives while at the same time supporting market access. Part 2 demonstrates that international market opening can contribute to facilitating domestic regulatory reform. Trade agreements signed on the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels can promote general principles or specific elements of good regulation and help guide or drive countries' individual regulatory reform efforts. Finally, part 3 analyzes the mutual benefits of regulatory reform and an open multilateral system for trade and investment. It is argued that by increasing domestic economic efficiency, raising the international competitiveness of domestic enterprises and reducing barriers to trade and investment, traderelated regulatory reform enables countries to take better advantage of trade liberalization and of open global markets.

1. Most Western countries have a long tradition of employment service provision by public bodies and non-profit organisations, but not by for-profit organisations. The creation of a quasi-market arrangement is not a simple choice for government. This paper underscores the difficulties and discusses design options. It calls for a complex balancing act between regulation and the creation of room for market competition, between old and new instruments and procedures, and between efficiency and equity. It identifies as two key issues the need to actively create sufficient room for market competition, and the need for "positive creaming" which encourages providers to concentrate their efforts on the most disadvantaged target groups.

1. The paper starts by stating the principles and preconditions for market competition, with a focus on possible quasi-market arrangements for strengthening service provision for the long-term unemployed in Flanders. It sets out four models for contracting with ...

This paper analyses the factors influencing the price of oil and its likely evolution over the next quarter century. It begins by investigating the fundamental forces shaping long-term oil price developments, highlighting the importance of growth-led demand for oil, particularly that emanating from fast-growing, energy-intensive developing countries, and the implications of increasingly geographically concentrated oil reserves. The paper presents oil price projections to 2030 and examines the sensitivity of the projections to the assumptions about growth and non-OPEC supply. While certain combinations of factors could lead to a significantly higher oil price, the projections also suggest that the optimal strategy of resource-rich oil producers would be to prevent it rising too far. The paper then documents short-term influences on the oil price, which peaked at $50 a barrel in 2004, and notes that they have probably led to a significant departure from the long-run equilibrium price ...

Le présent rapport contient les résultats préliminaires d'une série d'études de pays sur les coûts de l'introduction et de la mise en œuvre de mesures de facilitation des échanges. Il a été établi en réponse aux préoccupations concernant les répercussions en matière de coûts d'un futur accord de l'OMC sur la facilitation des échanges. Il sera complété dans un avenir proche par des informations supplémentaires en provenance d'un éventail plus large de pays en développement et pays les moins avancés. Le rapport présente des observations sur la méthodologie utilisée pour évaluer les coûts de la facilitation des échanges et met l'accent sur les caractéristiques communes des différentes expériences nationales en matière de coûts.

1. Macro-based effective tax rate (ETR) measures do not provide information on the level or distribution of marginal effective tax rates thought to influence household behaviour. They also do not capture differences in average ETRs facing different population sub-groups. I use EUROMOD, an EUwide tax-benefit model, to derive distributions of average and marginal ETR measures for fourteen countries. Results for each country show how many and which types of individuals face different ETR levels. I consider effective tax burdens on labour income as well as the marginal tax rates faced by working men and women. Results are broken down to isolate the influence of income taxes, social contributions and various types of social benefits ...

Over the past years, non-standard, flexible employment contracts have gained in importance in many OECD countries. This has made it difficult for statisticians to apply standard classifications of working arrangements to measure and analyse labour market developments. This paper presents a new classification of atypical working arrangements, developed by Istat, the Italian Statistical Institute. The paper also uses this classification to quantify the level of atypical jobs and their development between 1996 and 2002 ...

1. The Vietnamese economy was in the doldrums in the 1980s and until a certain progress had been made in the context of Doi Moi there was little incentive for businesses to invest. The following reasons are commonly given for the sluggish economic activity: a lack of appropriate infrastructure (causing market disconnectedness even within the country); weak links to the world market; a shortage of skilled labour and managerial capacity; and an inefficient or business unfriendly public administration. ODA to Vietnam was allocated in such a way as to remedy these obstacles and the donors’ well designed strategies are seen as a major factor behind the success of ODA.

1. National ownership, an important feature of ODA programmes, has mostly been strong in ODA to Vietnam. Most of the activities of the past were closely aligned with the Vietnamese government’s development priorities. It should nevertheless be recognised that some ODA projects have aroused little enthusiasm among public ...

Raising manufacturing productivity is of central importance to the developing world and an essential element of policy making. Overcoming Barriers to Competitiveness is about establishing the most reliable analysis of manufacturing productivity possible and helping policy makers set their priorities. The paper demonstrates that productivity rests on five elements of the economy: infrastructure, capital, trade, education and aggregate efficiency. These factors, when multiplied together, give a true picture of a country’s situation on the productivity “league table”. More than a simple comparison, this ranking system allows the identification of which elements in each particular national or regional case require most attention. This approach can be viewed as another way of addressing the so-called “competitiveness problem” of poor countries. It does not say, however, that other areas can be totally neglected; one of the main points of the paper is that all five elements have to be ...

This paper studies the development of indigenous insurance institutions set up to help cover the high costs of funerals, using evidence from rural areas in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Many of these institutions tend to co-exist within the same community and are based on well-defined rules and regulations, often offering premium-based insurance for funeral expenses, as well as, in many cases, other forms of insurance and credit to help address hardship. The paper argues that the characteristics and inclusiveness of these institutions make them well placed as models to broaden insurance provision and other development activities in these communities. In Ethiopia, there is some encouraging experience with using these institutions, as reviewed in this paper. However, the paper argues that their fragility as institutions is well illustrated by current pressures related to HIV/AIDS, as well as by their apparent resistance to engage more broadly with NGOs and government agencies. As a ...

La présente étude, qui porte sur deux formes particulières de restrictions quantitatives, à savoir les interdictions d’importation et les contingents, s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une réflexion plus ample visant à mieux cerner la nature et la portée des mesures non tarifaires. Elle examine les informations relatives à ces mesures contenues dans les Examens des politiques commerciales de l’OMC, les notifications à l’OMC et divers autres rapports sur les échanges. Elle a pour objectif d’apporter sa contribution aux débats, notamment ceux concernant l’accès au marché des produits non agricoles, à l’OMC ou dans d’autres instances. L’étude a révélé que le recours aux contingents et aux prohibitions est moins souvent motivé par des raisons économiques, mais que la plupart des pays intègrent des interdictions à leurs cadres réglementaires afin de protéger la santé et la sécurité humaine ou l’environnement, tendance qui semble s’accentuer. Les négociants tireraient avantage de mesures plus transparentes à cet égard. Par ailleurs, il existe des interdictions d’importation qui entravent le commerce international des biens usagés et dont les particularités et la pertinence en termes d’efficacité réglementaire mériteraient d’être examinée de plus près.