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Based on information from the employment records of individual establishments in western

Germany (Federal Republic of Germany before the German unification) between 1977-1988, it is possible to shed some light on the characteristics and determinants of the job generation process. Data for this study were drawn from the Employment Statistics register of the Federal Office of Labour (Bundesanstalt flir Arbeit) and cover almost 80 per cent of total employment.

The central finding of the paper is that trend employment growth is, to a large extent, accommodated by plant openings rather than by the expansion of already existing units. While new establishments are subject to high failure rates, the growth of survivors almost completely offsets job losses due to plant closures. Furthermore, statistical analyses of entries and exits provide some support for the hypothesis that reduced wage differentials within any sector negatively affect the pace of entry of new establishments.

These results could be relevant for the current debate on the determinants of the poor employment performance of Germany in the 1980s. In pai1icular, they raise the possibility that reduced wage differentials, associated with labour market policies and collectivistic wage agreements in the 1980s, played an important role in lowering the job generation potential of western Germany.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the processes of wage formation in France sector by sector, to idenitfy the reasons for fluctuations in sectoral wage differentials and ascertain whether wage emulation exists. In France no information is available quarterly on sector wages with breakdowns by sex or according to a number of other characteristics, so it was not possible to make use of a number of studies done in other countries on the degree of wage dispersion, such as those of Bouteiller (1971), Pollen (1977), Tachibanaki (1974), and all the studies on the much researched relationship between wage level and membership of a trade union. Here it would be appropriate to ...

The relationship between trade and wages has been subject to intense scrutiny in the academic literature with no clear consensus emerging. This paper adds to this body of research by moving beyond the single country analysis level to a panel including developed and developing countries and data through the mid 2000.s. First we examine the relationship between wages and trade using the approach of Feenstra and Hanson to calculate mandated wage changes for our dataset. We find that imports have a significant and positive impact on wages while the sign on tariffs is negative and significant. We also look at the relationship of wage differentials at the occupation level between partner countries. We find that the difference in occupation wage is smaller for large trade partners. Finally, we discuss the potential role of NTMs in influencing the wage and trade relationship.

The tax burden on labour and its evolution over time are issues that feature prominently in the political debate. Averaged across the OECD, personal income taxes, social security contributions and payroll taxes together account for more than 51% of total government revenues in 2008 (OECD, 2010). With tax burdens differentiated by earnings level and family situation, they serve a central role as redistribution policies. Importantly, by shaping both work incentives and the cost of labour, the level and structure of these taxes are major influences on the functioning of labour markets...

The centralised wage agreements have helped to contain inflation. There is evidence that wage increases were more moderate when a central agreement was concluded than in periods when no central agreement was reached. Nevertheless, there is also evidence that centralised wage setting has had some drawbacks in terms of reducing employment among low-skilled and younger workers because of high minimum wage floors. In the current wage setting system there are components that allow for greater relative wage flexibility. These should be used more extensively. The role of the government in future agreements should be to encourage greater relative wage flexibility within the current bargaining framework. This paper relates to the 2006 Economic Survey of Finland (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/finland).

This paper examines wage setting mechanisms for health workers in hospitals across eight different OECD countries. It describes similarities and differences and how fixed or fluid these approaches have been in recent years through health system reforms, labour market dynamics and economic pressures. Based on a review of grey literature and expert interviews with officials from the covered countries, it finds that prior to the economic downturn, several countries had signalled a shift to more local and flexible wage setting in the hospital sector but this ambition does not seem to have been realised in full for public sector hospitals in most OECD countries. Fiscal pressures have led to some “recentralisation” of wage setting, particularly in France, Portugal and the United Kingdom. While the extent of centralisation has been a question of considerable debate, the countries covered in this paper suggest that the benefits of centralised and/ or co-ordinated wage setting generally appear to have been given more attention by policy makers. The current research base on the effectiveness of different wage setting approaches is limited. Policy-making would benefit from developing a better understanding of the impact of wage setting on improved hospital performance and quality.

Electric motor-driven system (EMDS) accounts for more than 40% of global electricity consumption. This paper sets out an ambitious but achievable target with the global work plan to improve the energy efficiency of EMDS by 10% to 15% based on findings from the working paper ‘Energy Efficiency Policy Opportunities for Electric Motor-Driven System (Waide et al., 2011)’. If governments commit to the proposed work plan immediately, and maintain resourcing levels, the target could be achieved by 2030 and would be equivalent to reducing total global electricity use by around 5%. The proposed work plan of this paper is to align regulatory settings within a globally applicable scheme. The IEA believes its target can only be achieved through global co-operation leading to aligned national policy settings.

Empirical work described in this paper explains the daily evolution of the reproduction rate, R, and mobility for a large sample of countries, in terms of containment and public health policies. This is with a view to providing insight into the appropriate policy stance as countries prepare for a potentially protracted period characterised by new infection waves. While a comprehensive package of containment measures may be necessary when the virus is widespread and can have a large effect on reducing R, they also have effect on mobility and, by extension, economic activity. A wide-ranging package of public health policies – with an emphasis on comprehensive testing, tracing and isolation, but also including mask-wearing and policies directed at vulnerable groups, especially those in care homes – offer the best approach to avoiding a full lockdown while containing the spread of the virus. Such policies may, however, need to be complemented by selective containment measures (such as restricting large public events and international travel or localised lockdowns) both to contain local outbreaks and because implementing some of the recommended public health policies may be difficult to achieve or have unacceptable social costs.

Political cycles represent a core issue for capital markets in developing and emerging countries. This paper analyses the intricate links between financial markets and emerging democracies and highlights changes in the ways analysts and investors react to political cycles in emerging markets. Financial markets have, in the past, been particularly sensitive to political events. All the major financial crises in Latin America of the past decade and a half took place during an election year. Even in 2006, an unusually calm period in light of the number of presidential elections, markets remained highly sensitivity to elections: the day following Felipe Calderón's narrow victory in July's 2006 Mexican presidential elections, the stock market gained almost 5 per cent in a day, bond prices soared and the peso saw its biggest one-day appreciation in six years.

This paper presents a technical description of the OECD's multi-sector, multi-country applied general equilibrium model -- the WALRAS model. This model has been developed with the explicit objective of quantifying the economy-wide effects of agricultural policies in OECD countries. The common specification of the model for the major OECD agricultural trading countries/regions (Australia, Canada, EEC, Japan, New Zealand and the United States) is presented in detail. The construction of the benchmark data sets and the calibration of the model are also fully described ...

The water debate in relation to poverty alleviation has one dimension that is often sidelined: its relationship with public governance. This report attempts to shed some light on the governance of water policy in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. It argues that public governance of water in most LAC countries is fragmented, as it is in the OECD area as well, and that greater efforts to co-ordinate water with other policy areas are crucial to maximise the impact on poverty reduction. It emphasises the need to design water policies in a more integrated manner and implement effective water governance tools and mechanisms that are context-specific, flexible and beneficial to the poor.

The Asia-Pacific region has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 250 000 deaths as of March 2021 and a decrease in GDP by 4.3% in ASEAN and by 2.0% in Emerging Asia in 2020. The pandemic acted as a magnifying glass on pressing water and sanitation challenges in Asia-Pacific countries, stressing and widening inequalities for 30 to 40% of households that do not have a dedicated place for washing hands with soap and water on premises. This report uses the OECD Principles on Water Governance as an assessment framework to provide a regional analysis of the state of play of water governance in 48 countries of the Asia – Pacific region. It maps the existence and level of implementation of key governance frameworks, institutions and mechanisms, and dives into select governance gaps before drawing preliminary observations on the extent to which effective water governance correlates with tangible water security outcomes in surveyed countries.

The water in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) refers to the difference between the bound level of trade restrictiveness permitted by the GATS and the actual trade regime. Using the OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI), this report provides estimates of the water in 15 service sectors for 40 countries. The level of water in GATS commitments varies across sectors. It is highest in sectors where most countries have no commitments (unbound), such as audio-visual services or transport services, as well as sectors where countries tend to make commitments only for selected types of activities, such as legal services. The lowest level of water is observed in sectors such as telecoms, construction, computer and distribution services that are also characterised by a more liberal trade regime. Generally speaking, current services trade policies are much more open than what countries have committed in the GATS and sectors that are “unbound” can be fairly open.

This report analyses trends in agriculture for the US Southwest region, one of the most water stressed and productive agricultural regions in the world expected to face further water shortages in the future due to climate change and continued growth. It examines projected water risks by mid-century without additional policy action, and discusses the expected implications for the agriculture sector, based on a review of existing data and available publications. The region will likely continue to be a major agricultural producer by mid-century but will be affected by more variable and uncertain water supplies and increased water demand. Irrigated area is likely to decline, with lower value, water-intensive field and forage crops experiencing the greatest losses. Livestock and dairy are also especially vulnerable to water shortages and climate change. Trade and employment may be affected, although projections remain uncertain. Policy options can help mitigate these projected water risks, such as agricultural and urban water efficiency improvements, refined groundwater management, investment in water banks and recycled wastewater systems, and well-defined water transfers.