Browse by: "2018"

This review examines the external systems in place to assure the quality of higher education in Brazil. It highlights the relative success of the Brazilian quality assurance model in regulating market entry for private operators in Brazil, which cater to over 70% of students. But it also calls into question the effectiveness of existing systems to monitor the quality of undergraduate programmes and institutions and the ability of public authorities to act decisively to protect students from bad quality education.

The report analyses the systems that regulate the launch of new higher education institutions and programmes and evaluates quality assessment mechanisms for existing programmes and institutions. It also looks at the structures allowing public authorities to intervene to end or improve poor quality provision.

The review offers policy recommendations. It proposes a more differentiated system of quality assurance. It also recommends significant modifications to the design and purpose of the National Examination of Student Performance (ENADE).

This work was requested by the National Commission for Evaluation of Higher Education (CONAES) and CAPES, the federal body responsible for quality assurance and funding of postgraduate education.

Portugal’s services markets are among the most heavily regulated in the OECD. As vital inputs into the business sector, services provided by professionals, such as lawyers and engineers, generate up to 1.8 times their value in outputs by firms that use them. However, structural flaws in the regulation make professional services highly expensive for firms, diminishing their ability to compete effectively. Regulatory restrictions also hamper innovation and efficiency within the professions. Against this backdrop, this report examines regulations for 13 self-regulated professions (lawyers, solicitors, notaries, bailiffs, architects, engineers, technical engineers, certified accountants, auditors, economists, customs brokers, nutritionists and pharmacists). From 923 pieces of legislation analysed, the report makes 348 individual recommendations for amending or removing provisions to improve competition, and makes a detailed inventory of the analysis underlying the work. Analysis of Portuguese legislation and professions was complemented by research into international experiences and wide consultations with stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The OECD recommendations aim to remove or modify overly restrictive provisions in order to facilitate the access or exercise of the professions, to benefit businesses and consumers alike. This report identifies the sources of those benefits and gives estimates of their impact. Provided all recommendations are fully implemented, the benefit to the economy from lifting the barriers in the 13 liberal professions is estimated at around EUR 130 million a year.

Portugal’s services markets remain among the most heavily regulated in the OECD. Inland and maritime transports in Portugal are a vital part of the business environment, ensuring the movement of goods and passengers and inputs for the business sector. Regulatory restrictions limit the ability of firms to effectively compete in the markets, whether as providers or customers, while hampering innovation, efficiency and productivity. Against this backdrop, this report analyses Portuguese regulations for road, railway and maritime transport, and many ancillary services (such as vehicle inspection centres), as well as Portugal’s ports. The report examines 1 064 pieces of legislation and makes 417 individual recommendations for amending or removing restrictive provisions to improve competition, and makes a detailed inventory of the analysis underlying the work. Analysis of Portuguese legislation was complemented by research into international experiences and wide consultations with public and private sector stakeholders. The OECD recommendations aim to remove or modify the provisions to benefit businesses and consumers alike. This report identifies the sources of those benefits and gives estimates of their impact. Provided all recommendations are fully implemented, the benefit to the economy from lifting the barriers in the land and maritime transport sectors is estimated to be around EUR 250 million a year.

This report presents policy options for extending the life of road assets by mitigating deterioration caused by trucks. Beyond traditional engineering responses, it considers the role of trucks in road asset deterioration from a broader, demand-oriented perspective.

Вода – ресурс, крайне необходимый для экономического роста,  окружающей среды и здоровья человека.  Тем не менее, эффективное и результативное управление водными ресурсами является вызовом для  правительств многих стран мира. Проблема сложная и многогранная: миллиарды людей не имеют пока доступа к безопасной воде и надлежащему водоотведению; конкуренция за воду между разными видами водопользования  и водопользователями растет; и требуются значительные капвложения для поддержания и улучшения водохозяйственных систем, как в странах-членах ОЭСР, так и в других странах. Данная серия исследований ОЭСР по воде содержит анализ водной политики и руководства по экономическому, финансовому и организационному аспектам управления водными ресурсами. Эти аспекты обычно находятся в центре водных проблем и в них содержится ключ к решению сложных задач водной политики.
В мире имеется более 8000 крупных систем  многоцелевой водохозяйственной  инфраструктуры (МЦВИ), которая вносит вклад в экономическое развитие, а также водную, продовольственную и энергетическую безопасность. МЦВИ включают в себя все рукотворные водохозяйственные системы: дамбы, плотины,  водохранилища и связанные с ними оросительные каналы и системы водоснабжения. На примере Шардаринской МЦВИ, которая находится в бассейне нижней Сыр-Дарьи в Южно-Казахстанской и Кзыл-ординской областях Казахстана, данный отчет рассматривает варианты и наполнение стратегий инвестирования в МЦВИ, которые обеспечат высокую экономическую отдачу и потенциальную финансовую окупаемость проектов, причем делает это с помощью применения специальной компьютерной модели и на основе изучения опыта 15 различных МЦВИ, расположенных в разных странах мира.

Currently, Japan has the highest old-age dependency ratio of all OECD countries, with a ratio in 2017 of over 50 persons aged 65 and above for every 100 persons aged 20 to 64. This ratio is projected to rise to 79 per hundred in 2050. The rapid population ageing in Japan is a major challenge for achieving further increases in living standards and ensuring the financial sustainability of public social expenditure. However, with the right policies in place, there is an opportunity to cope with this challenge by extending working lives and making better use of older workers' knowledge and skills. This report investigates policy issues and discusses actions to retain and incentivise the elderly to work more by further reforming retirement policies and seniority-wages, investing in skills to improve productivity and keeping up with labour market changes through training policy, and ensuring good working conditions for better health with tackling long-hours working culture.

This report synthesises key findings on biodiversity and ecosystem services from the Environmental Performance Reviews completed for Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru between 2013 and 2017. The report aims to provide a sense of the common challenges facing these Latin American countries, the strategies being used to tackle them, the gaps that remain and how these can be addressed. Focusing on Latin America is particularly pertinent given the great wealth of biodiversity in the region and the growing pressures on its conservation and sustainable use.

Cette édition 2018 de la publication Statistiques de l'OCDE sur les dépenses en recherche et développement dans l'industrie présente les dépenses de R-D ventilés par secteur secondaire et tertiaire. Les statistiques sont libellées en dollars des É-U courants et constants et portent sur 31 pays de l’OCDE et quatre économies non membres. La couverture d'ANBERD inclut plusieurs secteurs, couvrant notamment de nombreux secteurs de services. Les données sont déclarées selon la classification CITI révision 4. Cette publication est une source unique de données détaillées sur la R-D industrielle comparables au niveau international, ce qui en fait un outil irremplaçable pour l'analyse et la recherche économiques.

This 2018 edition of OECD Research and Development Expenditure in Industry provides statistical data on R&D expenditure broken down by industrial and service sectors. Data are presented in current and constant USD PPP values. Coverage is provided for 31 OECD countries and four non-member economies. The coverage of ANBERD includes multiple sectors, with extended coverage of service sectors according to ISIC Revision 4 classification. This publication is a unique source of detailed internationally-comparable business R&D data, making it an invaluable tool for economic research and analysis.

The world of work is changing. Digitalisation, deepening globalisation and population ageing are having a profound impact on the type and quality of jobs that are available and the skills required to perform them. To what extent individuals, firms and economies can harness the benefits of these changes critically depends on the readiness of adult learning systems to help people develop relevant skills for this changing world of work. In Brazil, the speed of population ageing is projected to be significantly faster than what has been experienced by most developed economies. At the same time, increasing integration into the global economy will create new opportunities and propel growth. But it will also affect the content of exports and the stage at which Brazil contributes for Global Value Chains (GVCs). Profound changes in the economy are to be expected in the coming decades. As these changes have not yet fully materialised, Brazilian policy makers have a window of opportunity to prepare for the transformations ahead. This report aims at providing policy recommendations, based on best practices internationally, to prepare the Brazilian adult learning system so that it is ready to support people in acquiring the relevant skills for the future.

Ces dernières années, la Tunisie connait des transformations économiques, sociales et politiques. Compte tenu de l’émigration importante de la population tunisienne et de la reconnaissance des apports de la diaspora, les autorités tunisiennes cherchent à mieux connaître ce vivier de talents installé à l’étranger, enclin à s’impliquer dans le développement économique et social de leur pays d’origine. Cette revue fournit la première cartographie de la diaspora tunisienne dans les pays de l’OCDE. En dressant un portrait des émigrés tunisiens dans les pays de l’OCDE, cette revue vise à renforcer les connaissances sur cette communauté, et ainsi contribuer à consolider la pertinence des politiques déployées par l’État tunisien envers ses émigrés.

Over the past two decades, Austria has become one of the most R&D intensive economies among OECD countries and in the world, dedicating 3.1% of its GDP on R&D in 2016, the second highest figure in the European Union. To fully harness this R&D capacity, Austrian innovation policy needs to put a stronger emphasis on efficiency in transforming R&D inputs into impacts. To achieve higher impacts, Austria also needs to steer its research and innovation system towards leadership excellence in global markets. This requires enhanced international attractiveness for top-level researchers and talent, and a conducive environment for highly innovative enterprises. Austria could also benefit from strengthening R&D and innovation to support key transitions, such as digitalisation and Industry 4.0, and to tackle key societal challenges. The STI policy mix and governance arrangements should be adapted accordingly.

On 20 February 2019, OECD Council adopted the Recommendation on Countering the Illegal Trade of Pesticides to strengthen cooperation between countries and inspectors. A Best Practice Guidance was developed to provide guidance for inspectors and regulatory authorities on best practices for identifying and tackling illegal pesticides throughout the complete lifecycle of a pesticide, from manufacture, through formulation, trade and use to destruction.