Browse by: "2007"
Index
Title Index
Year Index
This edition of OECD's periodic survey of the Swiss economy finds that recent developments paint a picture of continued strength, but a number of key challenges remain, including an enormous current accout surplus, making fiscal policy more supportive of economic growth, deficiencies in the regulation of goods and services markets and further raising the contribution immigration to prosperity.
The OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy offer a comprehensive assessment of the innovation system of individual OECD member and non-member countries, focusing on the role of government. A growing political awareness of the importance of innovation for the Chile’s future has recently translated into two bold decisions: the creation of an Innovation Council for Competitiveness entrusted with the mission of proposing guidelines for a long-term national innovation strategy; and the introduction of a specific mining tax to increase resources available to implement this strategy. This report assesses the current status of Chile’s innovation system and policies, and identifies where improvements are most needed in order to make the most efficient use of this additional public investment.
This review of human resource management (HRM) in Belgian government is the first country review of its kind to be carried out by the OECD. It provides a detailed diagnosis and solutions for improving the management of government employees in the Brussels-Capital Region, Federal Government, Flemish Government, French Community and Walloon Region. The report compares the policies and practices of Belgium with those in other OECD countries, as well as those across different governments in Belgium. Recommendations suggest that governments should reform the intergovernmental framework on employment to remove rigidities and enhance co-operation, pay special attention to staff productivity and efficiency, and enhance the good governance of their HRM systems.
Social economy -- also known as 'non-profit' or 'third sector' -- organisations have grown in number and relevance, contributing to employment, social inclusion, democratic participation and community building. Much remains to be done, however, to create the necessary enabling environment to support their creation and development and to mainstream the sector in economic and social policies. This publication offers new insights into the economic theory of social economy organisations, their role in an evolving political and economic context, and the links to local development and the empowerment of users. Building on theoretical and empirical developments in OECD member countries, the publication also presents the main challenges for the social economy in Central East and South East Europe. Recommendations for action are included.
This review of education policies in Turkey takes place at a critical point in the nation’s history. An improving economy, greater governmental continuity and a more stable social environment, coupled with the extraordinary challenge of Turkey’s candidacy for EU accession, provide an unprecedented opportunity for a new phase of education reform. Over the past decade, Turkey has pursued a striking education reform agenda focused on implementing eight-year basic and compulsory education and increasing the participation of girls at the primary education level. The nation must now complement the drive for increasing enrolments and participation with efforts to improve quality. To reach the levels of education attainment and performance of the most advanced countries in Europe and OECD, Turkey must undertake sustained, multi-year, systemic reforms of its education system.
Global opportunities for cities and localities have led to a renewed impetus for new financial tools. Addressing how public assets can be better used to generate private co-investment (rather than just sold for a once only ‘current value’ price) is now the new mind-set, and thinking about the organisational vehicles needed at local and regional levels to promote financial innovation has moved on. This book provides a comprehensive overview of financial instruments and investment strategies being implemented throughout OECD Member and non-Member countries. It highlights effective tools, explores the roles and responsibilities of governments, public agencies and inter-governmental organisations. The lessons from this book are essential reading for policy makers, practitioners and all actors involved in delivering local development.
Die Ausgabe 2007 richtet das Augenmerk besonders auf die Tertiärbildung und stellt fest, dass es – trotz ihrer raschen Expansion – bislang keine Anzeichen für eine Entwertung der entsprechenden Bildungsqualifikationen gibt.
Darüber hinaus befasst sich Bildung auf einen Blick 2007 erstmals mit der Frage der Effizienz des Bildungswesens und liefert einige Anhaltspunkte dafür, welche Anstrengungen unternommen werden müssen, wenn die Lehrtätigkeit ebenso wie andere Berufe mit dem Ziel einer Steigerung des Kosten-Nutzen-Verhältnisses reformiert werden soll.
To meet future energy demand growth and replace older or inefficient units, a large number of fossil fuel-fired plants will need to bebuilt worldwide in the next decade. Yet CO2 emissions from fossil-fired power generation are a major contributor to climate change. As a result, new plants must be designed and operated at highest efficiency. The case studies in this report respond to a request to the IEA from the G8 Summit in July 2005 to illustrate the degree of efficiency now achieved in modern plants in different parts of the world using various grades of fossil fuels. The plants were selected from different geographical areas, because local factors influence attainable efficiency. The results of these analyses show that the technologies for high efficiency (low CO2 emissions) and very low conventional pollutant emissions (particulates, SO2, NOx) from fossil fuel-fired power generation are available now through PCC, IGCC or NGCC at a commercially acceptable cost.
This volume provides quantitative information on central government debt instruments for the 30 OECD Member countries to meet the analytical requirements of users such as policy makers, debt management experts and market analysts. Statistics are presented according to a comprehensive standard framework to allow cross-country comparison. Country notes provide information on debt issuance in each country as well as on the institutional and regulatory framework governing debt management policy and selling techniques.
Cet ouvrage est une source d’informations unique où l’on trouvera les dernières estimations du soutien accordé à l’agriculture. Les différents chapitres présentent une description et une évaluation des politiques agricoles dans les pays membres de l’OCDE, notamment des grandes évolutions telles que l’introduction du régime de paiement unique dans l’UE. Cette édition contient en outre un chapitre spécial décrivant la méthode d’estimation du soutien agricole, révisée, qui est utilisée pour la première fois dans ce rapport.
Pension fund members across OECD countries have seen the loss or reduction of pension benefits in recent years. This has been associated with declining assets and increasing liabilities, with accounting and regulation changes crystallising these problems. Consequently, the issue of how to protect pension benefits has returned as a major topic of policy debate for many governments and for the pension industry worldwide. OECD countries have responded in different ways:
- Re-examining and altering accounting and funding rules;
- Strengthening or introducing pension benefit guarantee schemes; and
- Looking at the related issue of whether pension benefits should receive protection in bankruptcy and insolvency procedures.
Finally, debate has also focused on whether pension fund related risks can or should be shared, with guarantees for insured or pension products attracting renewed attention.
This volume looks at various methods of protecting pension benefits. It provides in-depth information on the application of these methods in OECD countries and analyses their advantages and drawbacks. Methods of risk sharing amongst pension fund beneficiaries, providers and sponsors are discussed through an analysis of insured pension contracts and of the pension systems in place in Denmark and Iceland. This publication offers unique international comparative and analytical data for policy makers and pension industry participants globally.
Madrid has experienced impressive dynamic economic growth in recent years, making the best of the positive business cycle in Spain. The capital region absorbs more than a half of the total FDI in Spain and has extended its economic relations with Latin American countries. Growth has occurred largely in the service sector (financial, banking, business services) as well as in logistics (Madrid Barajas Airport is the largest employer in the region). The large investment in public goods, and particularly in transportation infrastructure and cultural amenities, has contributed to attracting firms and workers, creating a virtuous cycle of accumulated wealth. Unemployment has reached a low level (6.5% in 2006) and the growth rate has surpassed the national average as well as the average for OECD metro-regions. There is, however, a concern with how to sustain this positive economic path in the long run. The main challenges to be addressed include a relatively low productivity level, insufficient specialisation in high-value added manufacturing activities, a low innovation capacity, job-skills mismatches (especially for immigrants), transport congestion and housing rental shortage. Public policy making and the governance framework have evolved to provide the metro-region with many of the institutional resources that are needed to make decisions and effectively implement public policies. However, some adaptations will be necessary to effectively address the forthcoming challenges.
The Territorial Review of Madrid is integrated into a series of thematic reviews on metropolitan regions undertaken by the OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee. The overall aim of these case studies is to draw and disseminate horizontal policy recommendations for national governments.
This book is a unique source of up-to-date estimates of support to agriculture. Separate chapters describe and evaluate agricultural policies in each OECD country, including such important developments as the introduction of the single-payment scheme in the EU. This edition also includes a special chapter describing the revised method of estimating support to agriculture used for the first time in this report.
OECD in Figures is an original, simple to use, pocket data book. It is a primary statistical source. As with all OECD data, it is compiled and checked by our experts, so that decision-makers in government, research and business know they can rely on it. OECD in Figures is the public gateway to one of the richest and most respected economic, financial, social and environmental databases around.
The 2007 edition of OECD in Figures contains key data ranging from economic growth and employment to education and migration. There are comparable tables on the environment, science, public finances, and on every theme the organisation is working on. For added perspective, OECD in Figures includes a selection of graphs, highlighting key challenges, such as public debt, climate change and development aid.
L’OCDE en chiffres est un livre original et pratique, mais aussi une source indispensable d’informations statistiques. Comme toutes les statistiques de l’OCDE, les chiffres ont été traités et vérifiés par nos experts. Il s’agit donc de données fiables auxquelles tous les décideurs font confiance, qu’il s'agisse d'experts politiques, d'hommes d'affaires ou de chercheurs. l’OCDE en chiffres est plus que jamais la porte d'accès à l'une des bases de données les plus riches et les plus crédibles dans les domaines économique, financier, social et environnemental.
L’édition 2007 de L’OCDE en chiffres contient des tableaux de comparaison par pays sur tous les thèmes traités par l'Organisation, de la croissance économique au développement durable, de la fiscalité aux migrations internationales. Ces tableaux sont complétés par une sélection des graphiques sur les sujets les plus significatifs de l'année.
Data on government sector receipts, and on taxes in particular, are basic inputs to most structural economic descriptions and economic analyses and are increasingly used in international comparisons. This annual publication presents a unique set of detailed and internationally comparable tax data in a common format for all OECD countries from 1965 onwards. It also gives a conceptual framework to define which government receipts should be regarded as taxes and to classify different types of taxes. This book includes StatLinks, URLs linking statistical tables via the internet to Excel® spreadsheets showing the underlying data.