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Viewed from a general, global perspective, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is not the rule. On the contrary, it generally requires a specific legal basis and justification that a country accepts the rulings of courts of other states and treats them like its own decisions. The main basis for such treatment is most often an international treaty or a supranational instrument (like, for instance, the Brussels Ibis Regulation1 or the revised Lugano Convention of 20072) that provides for the mutual acceptance of foreign court decisions among the states adhering to the respective instrument. In the absence of a specific bilateral or multilateral treaty or supranational instrument, the states autonomously formulate the conditions under which they recognise and enforce foreign judgments. In this respect, some countries follow a more generous, others a more restrictive, course. But, countries do not recognise foreign judgments without preconditions;3 every country provides for a certain type of control. Some, for instance, adhere to the principle of reciprocity. These countries recognise and enforce judgments of other countries only if the other country recognises and enforces their decisions...

The influx of highly qualified refugees from Ukraine has posed unique challenges for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policies and practices in host countries. Analysing recent survey results, this policy brief provides an overview of the diverse RPL measures countries across the OECD have implemented in order to ensure a swift continuation of learning for Ukrainian refugee students. From extending application deadlines to international cooperation on qualifications information sharing, the policy landscape is evolving rapidly to ensure these highly skilled individuals can be included effectively into new educational environments.

Despite sustained efforts made in recent years to rein in budget deficits, a majority of OECD countries still face substantial public finance consolidation needs. While essential to avoid the disruption and large costs ultimately associated with unsustainable public finances, fiscal consolidation complicates the task of achieving other policy goals. In most cases, it weighs on demand in the short term. And, if too little attention is paid to the mix of instruments used to achieve consolidation, it can undermine long-term growth, exacerbate income inequality and slow the process of global rebalancing. It is therefore important for governments to adopt consolidation strategies that minimise these adverse side-effects. The analysis proposes consolidation strategies that take into account other policy goals as well as country-specific circumstances and preferences. To do so, increases in particular taxes and cuts in specific spending areas are assessed for their effects on short- and long-term growth, income distribution and external accounts. The results of detailed illustrative simulations indicate that a significant number of OECD countries may have to raise harmful taxes or cut valuable spending areas to deliver sufficient consolidation, underscoring the need for structural reforms to counteract these side-effects. The results are robust to an extensive range of sensitivity checks.

Organisational culture and external quality assurance have both been presented as significant drivers of effectiveness, efficiency and excellence in higher education institutions. However, these assumptions have not been critically examined given the philosophical, conceptual and methodological contestations surrounding both constructs. A meta-theoretical analysis of organisational culture and external quality assurance was conducted followed by an empirical study into their interrelationship. The study found that organisational culture was ephemeral, multidimensional and characterised simultaneously by conflict, consensus and indifference and was in a constant state of flux. In addition, external quality assurance appears to have purposes that go beyond its stated morally just and public good motives. The research revealed that organisational culture demonstrated managerial, collegial, transformative and political characteristics, which closely resonated with the role of external quality assurance as an agent of control, empowerment, transformation and of the state, respectively. The study concluded that authentic and enduring academic quality would most likely result within the university when the empowerment and transformation roles strengthen the collegial and transformative cultures.

This paper, using 40 years of monthly industrial production data, examines the relationship between the business cycles of the 12 euro area countries. Since estimates of the business cycle have been found to be sensitive to how the cycle is measured, a range of alternative measures is considered. We focus on both parametric and nonparametric univariate measures of the "classical" and "growth" cycles. We then investigate whether euro area business cycles have converged. This is based on a descriptive analysis of the distribution of bivariate correlation coefficients between the 12 countries’ business cycles. This extends previous work that has looked for convergence, in a similar manner by focusing on correlation, but has not considered the entire distribution, instead focusing on the mean correlation coefficient or particular bivariate correlation coefficients. Moreover, exploiting the panel of correlation coefficients we propose a statistical test for convergence based on estimation of a dynamic heterogeneous panel data model. Although empirical inference about individual euro area business cycles is found to be sensitive to the measure of the business cycle considered, our findings about convergence between the euro area business cycles exhibit similarities across the alternative measures of the business cycle. Interestingly, we find that there have been periods of convergence, identified by the distribution tending to unity, and periods of divergence. The most recent estimates suggest that correlation between the 12 European cycles is statistically positive, and has risen from a trough in the early 1990s. This is confirmed by the test for convergence, which indicates that, despite some volatility over the last 20 years, the long-run trend is for rising correlation between euro area business cycles.

Small island developing states (SIDS) have been acutely affected by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper takes a broader perspective to explore how the revenue effects of this crisis in SIDS are connected to their unique financing and development challenges. It also suggests how SIDS governments and development co-operation providers can better partner together to strengthen mobilisation of domestic revenues – in particular tax revenues – in the recovery post-COVID-19.

School destructions, population displacement or school closures mean that children in Ukraine have experienced varied disruptions in their education experience. Interventions that seek to reduce the variation in student learning levels need to accompany efforts to resume learning and deliver high-quality education for all. This brief puts the focus on academic interventions Ukraine could introduce to support learning recovery. It first examines strategies for assessing students’ skill levels and identifying potential learning losses in the current context. It then focuses on academic strategies the Ministry of Education can implement in the short and medium-term to help students recover lost learning opportunities, including adapting instructional strategies and pedagogies to individual needs, adapting the time of instruction, providing curricular flexibility and enabling fluid learning pathways within the school system. The brief concludes by putting forward a range of policy responses that can enhance the long-term effectiveness of learning recovery strategies in Ukraine.

Concern that rates of aquaculture growth in OECD countries are below potential has resulted in environmentally sustainable production increase becoming a priority for policy makers. Growth in aquaculture production can be influenced by many factors. This report looks at the attributes of licensing and regulatory systems in OECD countries, the area over which policy makers have greatest direct control, and finds some suggestion they may be negatively related to aquaculture growth rates. Opportunities exist for reducing the administrative burden faced by enterprises, without sacrificing regulatory quality in the process. There is also a strong indication that quality governance, aided by having systems of evaluation and review in place, helps reduce overall administrative burden. Comparing the attributes of licensing systems with environmental performance was not possible due to the lack of suitable indicators. This highlights the need to measure environmental performance if regulatory effectiveness is to be evaluated further.

This article summarises the conclusions of Gerhard Steger, chair of the OECD Working Party of Senior Budget Officials, which he presented at the 2nd International Policy Forum on Budgeting in Seoul in November 2011.