Browse by: "2005"
Index
Title Index
Year Index
Information and communication technology (ICT) offers an array of tools that can be used to help government services become more agile, responsive, seamless and accountable. This book looks at new thinking and practice in OECD countries in five different areas:
- Making electronic services more responsive to the needs of citizens and businesses;
- Improving the links between traditional and electronic services;
- Identifying common processes in government to achieve economies of scale, reduce duplication, and provide seamless services;
- Measuring and demonstrating the costs and benefits of ICT investments;
- Bringing a whole-of-government perspective to e-government initiatives.
The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2005 answers these challenging questions. In addition to providing updated projections of world energy demand and supply to 2030, it analyses in detail prospects for:
• The Middle East and North Africa’s domestic demand for oil, gas and electricity, including for water desalination.
• The region’s oil and gas resources, plans and potential for production and how much investment will be required.
• Energy-sector developments in Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
• What would happen if upstream oil investment is delayed.
• What would happen if consuming countries, driven by security concerns, persistent high prices or environmental policies, act to curb demand and develop alternatives.
The producing countries in the Middle East and North Africa can count on growing demand for their oil and gas. Are energy importing countries’ expectations of them realistic?
The countries participating in this study include: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Malaysia, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.
Why Fish Piracy Persists: The Economics of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing focuses on the economic, environmental and social aspects of fish piracy and identifies the forces that drive this activity. Based on data from a workshop of around 120 experts, as well as analytical documents developed for this study, this book presents the most systematic and consolidated information to date in order to assess measures already in place and to propose new solutions.
Accelerator-driven systems (ADS) are being considered for their potential use in the transmutation of radioactive waste. The performance of such hybrid nuclear systems depends to a large extent on the specification and reliability of high power accelerators, as well as the integration of the accelerator with spallation targets and sub-critical systems. At present, much R&D work is still required in order to demonstrate the desired capability of the system as a whole.
Accelerator scientists and reactor physicists from around the world gathered at an NEA workshop to discuss issues of common interest and to present the most recent achievements in their research. Discussions focused on accelerator reliability; target, window and coolant technology; sub-critical system design and ADS simulations; safety and control of ADS; and ADS experiments and test facilities. These proceedings contain the technical papers presented at the workshop as well as summaries of the working group discussions held. They will be of particular interest to scientists working on ADS development as well as on radioactive waste management issues in general.
Given the increasing competitiveness and greater geo-political significance of higher education and research, and the under-developed profile of many new Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), this study seeks to examine the processes and strategies being devised by new HEIs to grow research. By focusing on new HEIs, this book provides a unique profile of the experiences of a group of institutions that has hitherto been unidentified and unexplored. It analyses results drawn from an in-depth study of twenty-five HEIs from across sixteen countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong China, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
This publication sheds light on the issues now facing today’s universities as they confront the increasing pressure to “produce” research to keep the competitive edge. Drawing on eight case studies, the report focuses on four key themes:
- The growing significance of the research mission to higher education.
- Strengthening structures and processes for research management.
- Funding and resourcing university research.
- Nurturing research careers.
Case studies highlight issues in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, Portugal and Turkey.
This pocket-sized booklet describes developments in the transport sector in Europe including the CEECs, the Baltic States, and the CIS in 2003 and shows, through graphs, how the situation has evolved since 1970. The four parts of the book cover the economic environment, freight transport, passenger transport, and road safety. A statistical annex provides data on transport volume for freight by rail, inland waterways, road, and pipeline and for passengers by rail, bus/coach, and road. The data on road accidents provides figures on number of accidents, number of casualties, and number of deaths.
Trends in International Migration is OECD's annual report on migration policy and migration flows and stocks of OECD countries. It includes a detailed description of the flows, the different channels of immigration and the diversity of nationalities involved. Particular attention is paid to the growing number of migrants from China and Russia in recent flows. More detailed regional analyses examine migration within and from Central and Eastern Europe, East and South-East Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.
This volume highlights the role of immigration in population and labour force growth, as well as changes in foreigners’ status with respect to the labour market. This year, particular attention is paid to the rates and determinants of the employment of foreigners.
The report also describes measures undertaken to improve the management of migration flows and combat irregular immigration. Special attention is paid to measures aimed at supporting the integration of immigrants. Three types of initiatives, which can be summarised as “information, incentives, sanctions”, arise from the recently adopted measures.
This year's special report focuses on some of the results found in a new database on immigrants and expatriates made possible by data collected for the first time in recent censuses in some countries.
The statistical annex presents a unique collection of data on migration.
This collection of studies is intended as a practical tool to help negotiators navigate the numerous, complex issues that have arisen in international discussions over liberalising trade in environmental goods and services. In addition to explaining the background to the two earlier lists of environmental goods (stemming from separate efforts by the OECD and by the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum), the different chapters:
- Explore various practical issues related to the classification of environmental goods, including "dual use" goods.
- Provide concrete examples of synergies between trade in environmental services and environmental goods.
- Synthesise the findings of various country studies on environmental goods and services undertaken by the OECD and other inter-governmental organisations.
Trade and Structural Adjustment: Embracing Globalisation identifies the requirements for successful reallocation of labour and capital to more efficient uses in response to the emergence of new sources of competition, technological change and shifting consumer preferences. At the same time, it focuses on limiting adjustment costs for individuals, communities and society as a whole. Based on specific sectoral case studies, this volume includes analysis of the adjustment challenge and policy framework in both developed and developing countries, together with practical recommendations for good practice.
International competition, accelerating technological change and shifting societal concerns are important drivers of structural change, both within and across firms, industries and regions. As well as bringing undoubted opportunities, structural adjustment raises acute challenges. This must be acknowledged in making the case for open markets. This brochure aims to identify, for both developed and developing countries, the requirements for successful trade-related structural adjustment via the reallocation of labour and capital to more efficient uses, while limiting adjustment costs for individuals, communities and society as a whole. It draws on a longer study incorporating detailed sectoral case studies...
In particular, urban planners are concerned that an overvaluation of passenger time could give rise to excessive urban infrastructure investment which would induce low-density development of cities and urban sprawl. Transport policy measures that increase the speed and reliability of freight transport not only reduce its direct costs but have strong effects on inventory policies, logistics and even the location of firms. As recent empirical studies show, variations in time requirements for international transport, and increasingly short product and fashion cycles, have an influence on the pattern of foreign direct investment and international trade flows. Rational transport policy decision making has to take account of these indirect effects.
The procurement and preparation of fuel for nuclear power reactors, followed by its recovery, processing and management subsequent to reactor discharge, are frequently referred to as the nuclear fuel cycle. The facilities associated with these activities have an extensive and well-documented safety record accumulated over the past 50 years by technical experts and safety authorities. This third edition of The Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle presents an up-to-date analysis of the safety aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle.
This study takes an in-depth look at the arable crops sector in OECD countries and draws some conclusions about the impacts of agricultural support policies, trade liberalisation, agri-environmental payments, and agri-ennvironmental regulations. It contains economic and structural data, agri-environmental indicators for the arable crops sector, and analysis of the policy measures supporting arable crops farming and addressing environmental issues both at the aggregate country level and regional levels. This is the third in a series of in-depth studies being undertaken by the OECD to investigate the linkages between agriculture, trade and the environment. The first study on the pig sector was published in 2003, and the second study on the dairy sector was published in 2004.
This book presents OECD policy conclusions and leading academic analysis on the financial management of terrorism risk nearly four years after the World Trade Centre attacks. It examines how the insurance market reacted after the 9/11 attacks, financial market solutions for terrorism risk, and possible roles for governments in the coverage of terrorism risk. It includes a table comparing terrorism insurance schemes in various OECD countries as well as an analysis of terrorism coverage in South Africa, Israel, and India.
Teachers Matter provides a comprehensive, international analysis of trends and developments in the teacher workforce in 25 countries around the world; research on attracting, developing and retaining effective teachers; innovative and successful policies and practices that countries have implemented; and teacher policy options for countries to consider.
While documenting many areas of concern about teachers and teaching, the report also provides positive examples of where policies are making a difference. It spotlights countries where teachers’ social standing is high, and where there are more qualified applicants than vacant posts. Even in countries where shortages have been a concern, there are recent signs of increased interest in teaching, and policy initiatives appear to be taking effect.
At a time when many countries are facing an ageing teaching workforce and having trouble attracting new recruits, this book provides insights into how governments can successfully deal with these issues.
Taxing Working Families provides insights into how income taxes and social security contributions affect the distribution of income between different types of families in OECD countries. Certain generally available cash benefits for families – regarded as negative taxes – are also taken into account.
The study concentrates on the effects of these taxes on the distribution of income between different types of working households, looking at three dimensions of inequality: vertical inequality between households at different income levels, horizontal inequality between households with different numbers of children and the tax treatment of one-earner versus two-earner households.
Taxing Wages provides unique information on income tax paid and social security contributions levied on an average worker and their employers in OECD countries. In addition, this annual publication specifies family benefits paid as cash transfers. Amounts of taxes and benefits are detailed program by program, for eight household types which differ by income level and household composition. For each country, a detailed description of the tax regime is provided. This year's issue includes a Special feature entitled "Broadening the Definition of the Average Worker".
This study catalogues the treatment of farmers within the tax and social security systems of a large number of OECD countries – knowledge of which has been very scarce up to now. The conceptual basis for deciding what constitutes a concession conferring financial benefit to the farmer is discussed and estimates of the values of those concessions are reported in the few cases where they have been found. Many different types of taxes are covered including income taxes, taxes on property, (annual or on transfer by death or sale), and taxes on goods and services, as is preferential treatment in social security contributions or entitlements. In all, twenty four countries are covered. The different measures are analysed from the point of view of their likely impact in distorting production and trade, and how they may affect structure and asset values in the sector. Finally, the report indicates that fuller integration of farming into economy-wide, social safety nets or tax systems could be more efficient, effective and equitable than sectoral approaches in tackling instability or low incomes in farming.