Browse by: "2011"

Space applications have become an important part of everyday life. Weather forecasting, air traffic control, global communications and broadcasting, disaster management -- these and many other key activities would be almost unthinkable today without satellite technology. The space industry itself is relatively small compared to other manufacturing sectors, but its technological dynamism and strategic significance mean that it plays an ever more critical role in modern society. 

This book assembles information on the space economy from a wide range of official and non-official sources. Together these paint a richly detailed picture of the space industry, its downstream services activities, and its wider economic and social impacts. Who are the main space-faring nations? How large are revenues and how much employment is there in the sector? How much R&D goes on, and where? What is the value of spin-offs from space spending? Answers to these and other questions are provided in this second OECD statistical overview of the emerging space economy.

A dynamic link (StatLink) is provided for graphs, which directs the user to a web page where the corresponding data are available in Excel® format.

Since the 1960s the family in the OECD area has undergone significant transformation. In many countries, the extended family has all but disappeared, and the traditional two-parent family has become much less widespread as divorce rates, re-marriages, cohabitation, single parenthood and same-sex partnerships have all increased.  With rising migration, cultures and values have become more diverse, with some ethnic minorities evolving as parallel family cultures while others intermingle with mainstream cultures through mixed-race marriages. Families have seen more mothers take up work in the labour market, their adolescents spend longer and longer in education and training, and the elderly members of the family live longer and, increasingly, alone.  The repercussions of these changes on housing, pensions, health and long-term care, on labour markets, education and public finances, have been remarkable. Recent demographic projections perfromed by many OECD countries suggest that the next 20 years are likely to see a continuation and even acceleration of changes in household and family structures.  In particular, the numbers and shares of single-adult and single-parent households are expected to increase significantly, as is the number of couples without children.

This report explores likely future changes in family and household structures in OECD countries; identifies what appear to be the main forces shaping the family landscape between now and 2030; discusses the longer-term challenges for policy arising from those expected changes; and on the basis of the three subsequent thematic chapters, suggests policy options for managing the challenges on a sustainable basis.  

What is the state of world economy as we enter 2011? How has the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes affected the future? What must be done to build a stronger, cleaner and fairer world?  

As the OECD marks its 50^th anniversary, world leaders and top representatives from business, labour and civil society join OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría and OECD experts to examine today’s pressing issues in this inaugural OECD Yearbook 2011: 

• How should global governance adapt to shifting wealth?
• How can we restore public finances and achieve sustainable growth?
• What must be done to improve skills and cut unemployment?
• How can we rebuild public trust in our economies and institutions?
• What sources of growth can best build a cleaner, more prosperous future?
• How can development be better promoted in the new global context?  

In our special Leaders’ Forum, France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pay tribute to the OECD’s achievements over the past 50 years and lay out their vision for the organisation’s expanding role in addressing global challenges.  

The OECD’s original mission, to develop the best public policies to improve people’s lives the world over, is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. As a fragile recovery gets under way, the anniversary OECD Yearbook 2011 offers a timely opportunity to examine where we stand and assess solutions for the way ahead.

This OECD Guide to Measuring the Information Society is a compilation of concepts, definitions, classifications and methods for information society measurement and analysis.

OECD Factbook 2011/12 is a comprehensive and dynamic statistical annual publication from the OECD. More than 100 indicators cover a wide range of areas: agriculture, economic production, education, energy, environment, foreign aid, health, industry, information and communications, international trade, labour force, population, taxation, public expenditure, and R&D. This year, to commemorate the OECD 50th anniversary, the OECD Factbook features a focus chapter on 50 years of OECD statistics.

Data are provided for all OECD member countries including area totals, and in some cases for selected non-member economies (including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia & South Africa). For each indicator, there is a two-page spread: a text page includes a short introduction followed by a detailed definition of the indicator, comments on comparability of the data, an assessment of long-term trends related to the indicator and a list of references for further information on the indicator; the opposite page contains a table and a graph providing - at a glance - the key message conveyed by the data. A dynamic link (StatLink) is provided for each table where readers can download the corresponding data.

The OECD Factbook is also available as a smart phone app!