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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 ...
Empirical work described in this policy brief 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.
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.
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 Sahel and the Sahara are faced with exceptional political instability involving a combination of rebellions, jihadist insurgencies, coups d’état, protest movements and illegal trafficking. The backdrop to this accumulated violence is a globalised security environment, which blurs the traditional lines between what is local and global, military and civilian, domestic and international, politics and identity. The purpose of this paper is to analyse these patterns of violence. The first section presents the geographic distribution and development over time of the main sources of violence in North and West Africa before examining the events behind the increase in political violence in the Sahel and the Sahara. The second section analyses the patterns of violence, and focuses on the geographic scales thereof and the strategies of the warring parties. In its conclusion, the paper highlights the need to strengthen regional co-operation, restore the legitimacy of governments, and establish inclusive governance solutions in conflict zones.
There are two serious failures that arise in the management of solid waste. The first relates to the existence of negative externalities in the individual decision-making over waste generation and disposal. When individuals decide on how much to consume and what to consume, they do not take into account how much waste they produce. Because the external costs of waste generation (such as air and water pollution) are ignored by individuals, more waste is produced and disposed of than is socially optimal. The second serious failure relates to the ways in which waste collection services are typically financed. More often than not, individuals pay for waste disposal in lump sums through general taxes or flat payments to local governments or private collectors. Hence, waste disposal costs are not fully reflected in the prices households face at the margin. Even if these flat charges included both the private and external costs of waste production and disposal, individuals would still face zero prices for additional waste produced, and would thus tend to produce (and dispose of) more waste than if they were to pay for the additional garbage according to its social marginal cost.
The OECD Competition Committee debated Waste Management Services in October 2013. This document includes an executive summary of that debate and the documents from the meeting: a background note, written submissions by Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, South Africa, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, BIAC as well as an aide-memoire of the discussion.
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.
This paper examines three sets of issues related to strategic investment planning and financing for water: i) Investment planning in an uncertain context; ii) The benefits of supplementing project level planning with a consideration for pathways of investments; iii) Facilitating access to a wider range of financing sources, most importantly commercial finance. Together these issues can enhance the performance of water-related finance, making the best use of available finance and assets, in a context marked by high-level of (public and private) debt and rising cost of finance. This is the first in a sub-set of four working papers within the Environment Working Paper series destined to support the further implementation of the economic pillar of the Water Framework Directive. The four papers are best read in combination and provide lessons which are relevant beyond the European Union.