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The aim of this study is to assess the effects of information and communications technologies (ICTs) on firms’ capabilities to innovate in a selection of OECD countries. Our findings support the hypothesis that ICTs act as an enabler of innovation, particularly for product and marketing innovation, in both manufacturing and services. However, we did not find any evidence that ICT use increases the capability of a firm to co-operate, to develop innovation in-house or to introduce products new to the market. These results suggest that ICTs enable firms to adopt innovation but they do not increase their “inventive” capabilities.
There is growing interest in the role of independent fiscal institutions, or fiscal councils, in helping to improve fiscal performance. This article provides some guidance on the scope for improving fiscal performance through fiscal councils based on the available literature and the range of fiscal institutions in the OECD countries. The effectiveness of fiscal councils hinges on several factors, including having full autonomy within the scope of their mandates, active and unfettered dissemination of their analysis, and their credibility. Experience and empirical evidence suggest that delegating macroeconomic forecasting to an independent fiscal council can indeed reduce forecasting bias. There is some empirical evidence that independent fiscal institutions can buttress a government’s capacity to comply with a numerical rule. Good fiscal institutions are a necessary condition for achieving disciplined fiscal performance. Experience demonstrates, however, that their existence is not sufficient. Without strong and sustained political commitment to a medium-term fiscal goal and, where relevant, to the mandate of a fiscal council, durable improvements in fiscal performance will remain elusive.
La Partie I présente également des indicateurs de dépenses sociales tenant compte des effets du système fiscal et ainsi que des indicateurs sur les dépenses sociales privées. La prise en compte de ces deux effets modifie le classement des pays selon le niveau de dépenses sociales et conduit à une convergence des ratios entre les niveaux des dépenses sociales et le PIB entre les pays. Basées sur cette mesure plus large, les dépenses sociales totales nettes en pourcentage du PIB aux coûts des facteurs atteignent 30% du PIB en 2007 pour les plus élevées, en France et en Belgique, et varient entre 22 et 28% du PIB en Autriche, au Canada, au Danemark, en Finlande, en Italie, au Japon, aux Pays-Bas, au Portugal, au Royaume-Uni et aux États-Unis.
La Partie II de ce document présente le manuel SOCX de l'OCDE, avec tout d’abord une discussion sur des questions méthodologiques, sur la classification des dépenses brutes telles que présentées dans SOCX. Les aspects méthodologiques de la mesure de dépenses sociales nettes sont ensuite présentés, notamment avec des informations sur la façon dont les estimations ont été dérivées. La prise en compte des prestations sociales privées et de l’impact de la fiscalité sur les dépenses sociales a pour effet d’égaliser les ratios entre les niveaux des dépenses sociales et le PIB. Après la prise en compte des prestations sociales privées et de l’impact de la fiscalité, les dépenses sociales atteignent plus de 30% du PIB aux coûts des facteurs en Belgique et en France ; enfin les écarts entre les dépenses sociales en Autriche, Canada, Danemark, Finlande, Italie, Japon, Pays-Bas, Portugal, Royaume-Uni et aux États-Unis ne sont que de quelques points de pourcentage.
This is a step change from the existing reporting and review system – particularly for developing countries, since information from these countries is currently reported on an infrequent basis and is not reviewed. Establishing a system that combines improved reporting with some form of international verification could improve the quality of information available internationally and increase confidence in the integrity of the information reported. This would help to build trust between countries and potentially also increase the level of ambition of mitigation actions.
Further decisions need to be made by Parties in order to determine the scope, inputs, process, outputs and frequency of IAR and ICA, as the decisions agreed at COP 16 (known as the “Cancun Agreements”) provide limited guidance on these items. This paper outlines key questions to help guide such decisions and provides suggestions for the possible design and function of IAR and ICA. It outlines how they could build on existing review processes under the UNFCCC and draw on lessons from other multilateral review processes. The challenge for the international community will be to ensure that IAR and ICA are useful processes, both nationally and internationally, while minimising the resource requirements needed to implement them.