Browse by: "2009"

This review of India's investment policy finds that India has made tremendous progress in building a policy environment to encourage investment. As a result, the country’s economy is growing more rapidly and FDI inflows have accelerated impressively. However, investment remains insufficient to meet India’s needs, particularly in infrastructure. Current efforts to strengthen and liberalise the regulatory framework for investment need to be intensified. India’s well-developed economic legislation should be implemented at an accelerated pace both at national level and right across India’s States and Union Territories.

OECD Investment Policy Reviews: India charts India's progress in developing an effective policy framework to promote investment for development, especially since the acceleration of economic reform from 1991 onward. It focuses on policies towards investment, trade, competition and other elements of the business environment. Finally, it outlines some of the challenges of implementing national-level reforms at state level.

This second volume of the Partnership for Democratic Governance Series investigates whether ‘contracting out’ core government functions and services has been conducive to capacity development. Each case study discusses the evidence and emerging lessons of contracting out in fragile and post-conflict situations.

The chapters contained in this publication first appeared as contributions to the Partnership for Democratic Governance's collaborative online platform, PDF Online. Through this platform, users are able to post comments on discussion papers, send messages to the authors and easily find ifnormation relevant to the topics covered in this publication.

Selected as a 2009 Notable Document by the American Library Association Government Documents Round Table.

At a time when world economy is in the midst of the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression, the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2009 provides the statistical information necessary to define a response to the global challenges accompanying the downturn.

This edition of the  Scoreboard  illustrates and analyses a wide set of indicators of science, technology, globalisation and industrial performance in OECD and major non-OECD countries (notably Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa). Indicators are organised around five issues: responding to the economic crisis, targeting new growth areas, competing in the world economy, connecting to global research, and investing in the knowledge economy. The Scoreboard also includes StatLinks, "clickable" access to the underlying data in Excel® spreadsheets.

Bribery is bad for business, so why do businesses continue to bribe? What roles do business, government, and civil society have in the fight against corruption - and notably in the fight against bribery in business? The 6th Regional Anti-Corruption Conference for Asia and the Pacific gathered experts from countries and jurisdictions of Asia and the Pacific, OECD member countries, leading enterprises and businesses associations, civil society, and development partners to respond to these questions and to share their experiences in fighting bribery in business.

The conference, organized by the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific in late November 2008, explored (i) possible drivers and incentives for anti-corruption reform; (ii) the role of criminal law standards and corporate compliance mechanisms; (iii) the risks and countermeasures against private-to-private corruption; (iv) preventing and managing conflicts of interest; (v) international initiatives to counter bribery; (vi) how development partners can become involved in the fight against bribery and corruption. This book presents the proceedings of the conference.

Willkommen zu Die OECD in Zahlen, Ausgabe 2009, der originellen, einfach zu nutzenden Datenquelle in Taschenbuchformat. Wie immer enthält auch die diesjährige Ausgabe Schlüsseldaten zu Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Umwelt in den OECD-Ländern. Die Publikation bietet Vergleichstabellen zum gesamten Arbeitsspektrum der Organisation, von Volkseinkommen und Industrie über Beschäftigung und Forschung bis hin zu Bankwesen und öffentliche Finanzen. Der  Abschnitt „OECD in Abbildungen“ beleuchtet entscheidende Herausforderungen wie Staatsverschuldung, Arbeitslosigkeit und Klimawandel.

Die OECD in Zahlen ist eine grundlegende statistische Quelle. Wie alle Daten der OECD wurden auch diese von unseren Experten zusammengestellt und geprüft, so dass die Entscheidungsträger in Politik, Forschung und Wirtschaft wissen, dass sie sich darauf verlassen können.

Lobbying can improve policy making by providing valuable insights and data, but it can also result in unfair advantages for vested interests if the process is opaque and standards are lax.‪‪ Lobbying is resource intensive. The financial services sector in the United States spent USD 3.4 billion lobbying the federal government between 1998 and 2008, principally promoting the deregulation of the financial sector. Legions of lobbyists provide “guns for hire” worldwide. In 2008, there were over 5 000 registered lobbyists in Canada at the national level, while the European Commission in Brussels had over 2 000 registered as of August 2009.

 

This report reviews the experiences of Australia, Canada, Hungary, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States with government regulations designed to increase scrutiny for lobbying and lobbyists. Current approaches, models, trends and state-of-the-art solutions are examined to support a deeper understanding of the potential and limitations of existing norms.‪ ‪The report also presents building blocks for developing a framework for lobbying that meets public expectations for transparency, accountability and integrity

Many countries have recognised that greater use of nuclear power could play a valuable role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. However, given the high capital cost and complexity of nuclear power plants, financing their construction often remains a challenge. This is especially true where such financing is left to the private sector in the context of competitive electricity markets. 

This study examines the financial risks involved in investing in a new nuclear power plant, how these can be mitigated, and how projects can be structured so that residual risks are taken by those best able to manage them. Given that expansion of nuclear power programmes will require strong and sustained government support, the study highlights the role of governments in facilitating and encouraging investment in new nuclear generating capacity.

The Pan Yellow Sea Region (PYSR) covers the coasts of Northern China (Bohai Rim), western and southern Korea and south-western Japan (Kyushu). It has been one of the fastest growing economic zones in East Asia since China’s opening in the early 1990s, thanks to the region’s extensive manufacturing and transportation networks. Development has been driven by cities such as Dalian, Qingdao and Tianjin in China, Busan and Incheon in Korea, and Fukuoka and Kitakyushu in Japan. 

However, the PYSR has yet not fully utilised its assets nor reached its potential for growth.  Further economic integration has been hindered by excessive competition and inadequate co-operation within the region. The regional transportation system requires structural changes to be integrated, especially in the container transportation market. Deepening the region’s social and cultural network remains a challenge. And environmental concerns are increasingly attracting attention. This report analyses these factors and assesses a wide range of policies to improve the PYSR’s competitiveness and integration.

In particular, the report examines the PYSR’s trans-border governance system, which has emerged since the 1990s as a key regional policy agenda. The harmonisation of authorities within the region is a prerequisite to achieving economic success and addressing the PYSR’s diverse challenges. A comparative analysis of trans-border cooperation in OECD countries in Europe and North America is also included in an annex. This report will be of special interest to policy makers, researchers, NGOs and others active in trans-border development or Asian economic development. 

Contrariando a visão predominante, os países latino-americanos que abriram os seus mercados à concorrência internacional durante a última década não foram mais vulneráveis à desaceleração econômica global. Perspectivas Econômicas da América Latina 2010 da OCDE oferece uma análise original e exaustiva das tendências econômicas da região com uma atenção especial ao papel da migração internacional e das remessas na formação do contexto actual.

“Uma das surpresas mais interessantes da crise econômica mundial é que até hoje o seu impacto na América Latina tem sido menor do que antecipavam os peritos. Este relatório da OCDE oferece um destacado análise dos factores que explicam este fenómeno”. Moisés Naím, Editor em Chefe, Foreign Policy

“Este indispensável estudo mostra que os países com abertura internacional e com políticas monetárias e fiscais sérias estavam melhor preparados para enfrentar esta crise. Desde uma análise realista, o relatório explica também porquê as políticas migratórias devem formar parte de uma agenda internacional”. Ricardo Lagos, Ex Presidente do Chile

“Este volume sugere que a migração pode ajudar ao processo de desenvolvimento, sempre e quando se façam algumas intervenções, tanto por parte dos países de destino quanto de origem”. Mauricio Cárdenas, Investigador Sénior e Director da Iniciativa da América Latina, Brookings Institution

“Funcionários públicos, académicos e outros públicos interessados na América Latina poderão encontrar aqui uma contribuição séria e relevante para avançar em seu trabalho”. Santiago Levy, Vice-Presidente de Setores e Conhecimento, Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento