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Too much traffic? Road networks are increasingly unable to cope with ever-expanding requirements. Already severe in densely populated areas, the problem is becoming even more so as road traffic grows substantially.
Since road congestion can jeopardise vital economic interests, some specialists are advocating a process of user selection, essentially by means of a price mechanism. This Round Table examines the introduction of "road pricing" or a similar method in the form of tolls and compares approaches adopted in a number of countries.
Complexity is a core feature of most policy issues today and in this context traditional analytical tools and problem-solving methods no longer work. This report, produced by the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation, explores how systems approaches can be used in the public sector to solve complex or “wicked” problems . Consisting of three parts, the report discusses the need for systems thinking in the public sector; identifies tactics that can be employed by government agencies to work towards systems change; and provides an in-depth examination of how systems approaches have been applied in practice. Four cases of applied systems approaches are presented and analysed: preventing domestic violence (Iceland), protecting children (the Netherlands), regulating the sharing economy (Canada) and designing a policy framework to conduct experiments in government (Finland). The report highlights the need for a new approach to policy making that accounts for complexity and allows for new responses and more systemic change that deliver greater value, effectiveness and public satisfaction.
We live in a period of profound systemic change, and as in similar periods in the past, there is bound to be considerable instability and uncertainty before the new society and economy take shape. We have to identify actions that will shape change for the better, and help to build resilience to the inevitable shocks inherent in, and generated by, the complex system of systems constituted by the economy, society and the environment. These challenges require updating the way policies are devised and implemented, and developing more realistic tools and techniques to design those policies on the basis of appropriate data. In Systemic Thinking for Policy Making world experts from the OECD and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) pool their expertise and experience to propose new approaches to analysing the interconnected trends and issues shaping today’s and tomorrow’s world. The authors argue that to tackle planetary emergencies linked to the environment, the economy and socio-political systems, we have to understand their systemic properties, such as tipping points, interconnectedness and resilience. They give the reader a precise introduction to the tools and techniques needed to do so, and offer hope that we can overcome the challenges the world is facing.
This report analyses the results of simulations using an agent based model of financial markets to show how excessive levels of leverage in financial markets can lead to a systemic crash. Investors overload on risky assets betting more than they have to gamble creating a tremendous level of vulnerability in the system as a whole. Plummeting asset prices render banks unable or unwilling to provide credit as they fear they might be unable to cover their own liabilities due to potential loan defaults. Whether an overleveraged borrower is a sovereign nation or major financial institution, recent history illustrates how defaults carry the risk of contagion in a globally interconnected economy. The resulting slowdown of investment in the real economy impacts actors at all levels, from small businesses to homebuyers. Bankruptcies lead to job losses and a drop in aggregate demand, leading to more businesses and individuals being unable to repay their loans, reinforcing a downward spiral that can trigger a recession, depression or bring about stagflation in the real economy. This can have a devastating impact not only on economic prosperity across the board, but also consumer sentiment and trust in the ability of the system to generate long-term wealth and growth.
The System of National Accounts, 1993 (SNA) was a joint publication by the United Nations Statistical Division, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Eurostat and the OECD. It provides a detailed framework for producing national accounts statistics and is intended for worldwide use. However, Because of the detailed nature of the SNA, it is often difficult to identify precise definitions of the terms commonly used in national accounting. As a result, the OECD has now produced this glossary which provides a quick reference to terms commonly found in the national accounts.
Ecosystem accounting is a relatively new and emerging field dealing with integrating complex biophysical data, tracking changes in ecosystems and linking those changes to economic and other human activity. Considering the increasing demand for statistics on ecosystems within analytical and policy frameworks on environmental sustainability, human well-being and economic growth and development, there has been an increasing urgency to advance this emerging field of statistics.
Although considerable experience exists in related areas of statistics such as land cover and land use statistics, the integration of these and other information into an ecosystem accounting framework is new. Also, there is considerable existing expertise in the ecosystem sciences and economics fields that is relevant, and again it is the focussing of these different areas of expertise on the proposed ecosystem accounting approach that is new.
SEEA-Experimental Ecosystem Accounting provides a synthesis of the current knowledge in this area and provides a starting point for the development of ecosystem accounting at national and sub-national levels. It represents an important step forward on ecosystem accounting, providing a common set of terms, concepts, accounting principles and classifications; an integrated accounting structure of ecosystem services and ecosystem condition in both physical and monetary terms; and the recognition of spatial areas as forming the basic focus for measurement.
This roadmap starts with an overview of the prevailing institutional framework related to the renewables and electricity sectors respectively, and the related policy landscape. The wider context of both the renewables and electricity sectors in Moldova is then outlined. This is followed by the body of the roadmap, which focuses on: Removing barriers to the deployment of renewables; Establishing flexible electricity markets with enhanced regional co-ordination; Enhancing technical flexibility of the power system. In these three focus areas, a substantial amount of knowledge, experience and expertise has already been accrued by other countries and regions in their own energy transitions.
This roadmap therefore provides relevant examples from international experiences with a view to providing an idea of the possibilities for Moldova.
The roadmap outlines specific policies and actionable items in order to apply these international best practice examples, taking into account the particular characteristics of the Moldovan electricity system. Finally, these recommended actions are put in a co ordinated package of measures to be implemented for a vision of a secure, clean and modern electricity supply generated from domestic VRE sources. This includes a timeline of measures to be targeted over three distinct periods in the short-, medium- and long-term to deliver this modern electricity system, and in turn provide the social, economic and environmental benefits from Moldova’s clean energy transition.
This report uses systems thinking tools to address pervasive problems in Slovenia's procurement system that the government has struggled to remedy through traditional regulatory means. The report outlines how room for innovation can be created within highly regulated policy domains and how governments can systematically benefit from it. Systems thinking allows for a new understanding of the role of procurement. The report explores potential reforms that could be designed from the bottom-up, to address specific behavioural and structural barriers – such as public perception, risk aversion, accountability and control functions – that cannot be addressed using only a legalistic approach.
How can assessment and evaluation policies work together more effectively to improve student outcomes in primary and secondary schools? Countries increasingly use a range of techniques for student assessment, teacher appraisal, school evaluation, school leader appraisal and education system evaluation. However, they often face difficulties in implementing evaluation and assessment policies. This may arise as a result of poor policy design, lack of analysis of unintended consequences, little capacity for school agents to put evaluation procedures into practice, lack of an evaluation culture, or deficient use of evaluation results.
This report provides an international comparative analysis and policy advice to countries on how evaluation and assessment arrangements can be embedded within a consistent framework to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education. It builds upon a major 3-year review of evaluation and assessment policies in 28 countries, the OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes. As well as analysing strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, the report provides recommendations for improvement including how results should be incorporated into policy and practice.
Emerging Field of Synthetic Biology” was held in July 2009 in Washington, DC
under the auspices of the United States National Academies, the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Royal Society.
This profile provides a concise and policy-focused overview of the state of health and the healthcare system in Sweden, as a part of the broader series of Country Health Profiles from the State of Health in the EU initiative. It presents a succinct analysis encompassing the following key aspects: the current health status in Sweden; the determinants of health, focusing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the Swedish healthcare system; and an evaluation of the health system's effectiveness, accessibility, and resilience. Moreover, the 2023 edition presents a thematic section on the state of mental health and associated services in Sweden.
This profile is the collaborative effort of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, carried out in cooperation with the European Commission.
This profile provides a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and the health system in Sweden as part of the broader series of the State of Health in the EU country profiles. It provides a short synthesis of: the health status in the country; the determinants of health, focussing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the health system; and the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of the health system. This edition has a special focus on the impact of COVID‑19.
This profile is the joint work of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, in co-operation with the European Commission.
This profile provides a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and the health system in Sweden as part of the broader series of the State of Health in the EU country profiles. It provides a short synthesis of: the health status in the country; the determinants of health, focussing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the health system; and the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of the health system.
This profile is the joint work of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, in co-operation with the European Commission.
- Substantial progress has been made in improving the sustainability of transport in Europe in a number of areas and is reported in this paper. Nevertheless there remain important problems and challenges: - unsustainable rates of traffic growth, locally and in some cases at regional or international scales; - sometimes severe noise, severance and intimidation nuisances from traffic in built up areas; - persistent growth in emissions of greenhouse gases from road and air transport; - poor air quality in specific locations despite major improvements in vehicle emissions controls; - destruction and fragmentation of protected landscapes and habitats. - The European Conference of Ministers of Transport is working to improve policies and move towards solutions in many of these areas. This free brochure sets out a common approach to working towards sustainable transport systems endorsed by Ministers from ECMT’s Member and Associate countries at their Council meeting in Prague in May 2000. It is a summary of a number of detailed reports which are currently being prepared for publication.
Governments and providers of development co-operation increasingly use Sustainable Development Goal indicators to guide their policies and practices. The close examination of three large recipients of development co-operation: Ethiopia, Kenya and Myanmar across the sectors of Education, Sanitation and Energy reveals four inter-related challenges in using SDG indicators at country level. First, the cost of using specific SDG indicators varies in relation to indicator complexity – complementary investments in country statistical systems may be necessary. Second, providers synchronising their country-level results planning with partner countries find it easier to align to and measure SDG indicators together with the partner country and other providers. Third, reliance on joint monitoring approaches is helping providers reduce the cost of SDG monitoring. Finally, while disaggregating SDG data by gender and by urban-rural dimensions is common, other data disaggregation relevant to ensure that no one is left behind are rare.
For many OECD countries, how to ensure the safe and dignified return to their origin countries of migrants who do not have grounds to remain is a key question. Alongside removal, return and reintegration assistance have become an integral part of the response. Development cooperation is expanding its activity to support the capacity of countries of origin to reintegrate all returning migrants.
Sustainable Reintegration of Returning Migrants: A Better Homecoming reports the results of a multi-country peer review project carried out by the OECD, with support from the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It examines factors that can help improve the sustainability of reintegration at the individual level and at the programme level in countries of destination and origin. The report examines how casework and community-based programmes can increase uptake and improve outcomes. It identifies key elements of an effective individual reintegration programme, including outreach and counselling, case management and referral, and partnerships. The report makes proposals about how to improve programme design, evaluation, and monitoring, indicating areas where countries could co-operate more in implementation of programmes and in coordination with origin countries.
Two-thirds of the world's poor live in Asia. The major objective for the region, therefore, must be to reduce poverty. It has become clear in the wake of the crisis that the public sector can no longer shoulder the burden of financing pro-poor growth alone. At the same time, it is also clear that official aid flows throughout the world, and particularly in Asia, have been declining since the middle of the 1990s. Therefore, the private sector must be encouraged to provide at least part of the financing. This is the major message of the book. Two ways of achieving this are proposed. One is to attract more foreign direct investment and portfolio investment, rather than to rely on borrowing, to reduce financial vulnerability. The other is to promote partnerships between the state and the private sector, rather than simply to privatise the more lucrative branches of publicly owned and operated services. This book, co-edited by the OECD Development Centre and the Asian Development Bank, presents an original and comprehensive approach to the problem of obtaining support for maintaining development projects in the wake of the global financial crisis. The book brings together varied and complementary opinions from participants -- from the worlds of business, finance, government, academia and the media -- in the sixth annual International Forum on Asian Perspectives, held in Paris in July 2000. Sustainable Recovery in Asia: Mobilising Resources for Development constitutes a reference work on Asia and provides an excellent basis for policy advice for governments and policy makers.
Since the scale of the economic crisis began to emerge, the IEA has been leading the calls for governments to make the recovery as sustainable and resilient as possible. This means immediately addressing the core issues of global recession and soaring unemployment – and doing so in a way that also takes into account the key challenge of building cleaner and more secure energy systems.
As they design economic recovery plans, policy makers are having to make enormously consequential decisions in a very short space of time. These decisions will shape economic and energy infrastructure for decades to come and will almost certainly determine whether the world has a chance of meeting its long-term energy and climate goals.
The Sustainable Recovery Plan set out in this report shows governments have a unique opportunity today to boost economic growth, create millions of new jobs and put global greenhouse gas emissions into structural decline. This work was done in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund.
Adopting more sustainable ways of managing the ocean is a global priority: protecting its health will bring benefits to all. Developing countries face specific challenges, as many depend heavily on ocean-based industries and are overly exposed to the consequences of ocean degradation. Enhancing their access to science, policy advice and financing would allow them to tap better into the opportunities of a more sustainable ocean economy, including more decent jobs, cleaner energy, improved food security and enhanced resilience, while contributing to the protection of the world’s ocean.
This report provides policy makers in developing countries, as well as their development co-operation partners with a wealth of fresh evidence on (i) the latest trends in selected ocean-based industries; (ii) policy instruments, including economic incentives, to promote ocean sustainability in various contexts; (iii) the first review of development finance and development co-operation practices in support of more sustainable ocean economies, including a discussion of how development co-operation can help re-orient private finance towards sustainability.