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House prices have increased significantly in Canada over the past decade, driving household debt and residential construction activity to historical highs. Although macro-prudential tightening has slowed the pace of household borrowing in the last few years, house prices have continued to trend higher, and affordability remains a major challenge in urban centres. First-time home buyers must therefore spend more of their incomes to purchase a house and are vulnerable to future interest rate hikes. Overbuilding in the condominium sectors of some cities appears to be a source of risk, especially if a major price correction in these segments spills over into other markets. The country benefits from a sound and effective housing finance system, which performed well throughout the global financial crisis thanks to strong regulatory oversight and explicit government backing of the mortgage market. Nonetheless, the dominance of the crown corporation CMHC in the mortgage insurance market concentrates a significant amount of risk in public finances. Improving competitive conditions in the mortgage insurance market could help diversify these risks and reduce taxpayer contingent liabilities, while introducing coverage limits on loan losses would better align private and social interests. There may be a shortage of rental housing in several cities, especially in the range that low-income households can afford. Urban planning policies have resulted in low-density residential development which contributes to relatively high transport-related carbon emissions. Addressing these externalities requires stronger pricing signals for land development, road use, congestion and parking, combined with better integration of public transit planning. To prevent the marginalisation of low-income households, planning policies should support social mix and increase incentives for private-sector development of affordable housing. This Working Paper relates to the 2014 OECD Economic Review of Canada (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/Canada).
French

Despite an improvement in overall macroeconomic performance in Costa Rica, income inequality has risen and is currently at its maximum historical value. This is in stark contrast with other Latin American countries, which have recently made significant progress in reducing inequality. This study analyses the drivers of inequality in Costa Rica by decomposing the Gini coefficient by income source, finding that the main contributor to inequality in Costa Rica is labour income. In the period 2010-2014, public sector wages made the largest contribution to inequality, in particular wages of qualified workers. Within the public sector, wages of those working in public agencies outside central government contributed the most. Inequality has also been driven by a large and increasing skills premium in the private sector. Workers holding a tertiary degree earn, on average, nearly four times as much as those with only primary education. Social programmes, such as non-contributory pensions, do contribute to reduce inequality but their impact is limited given its small share in households’ total income. The analysis also quantifies the marginal effect on inequality of the different income sources, finding that an increase in wages of low qualified workers in the private sector would have the largest marginal impact to reduce inequality. Conversely, increases in wages of qualified workers in public and private sector would result in the highest increases in inequality.

Over the past two decades, aggregate labour productivity growth in most OECD countries has decoupled from real median compensation growth, implying that raising productivity is no longer sufficient to raise real wages for the typical worker. This paper provides a quantitative description of decoupling in OECD countries over the past two decades, with the results suggesting that it is explained by declines in both labour shares and the ratio of median to average wages (a partial measure of wage inequality). Labour shares have declined in about two thirds of the OECD countries covered by the analysis. However, the contribution of labour shares to decoupling is smaller if sectors are excluded for which labour shares are driven by changes in commodity and asset prices or for which labour shares are driven by imputation choices (primary, housing and non-market sectors). The ratio of median to average wages has declined in all but two of the OECD countries covered by the analysis and appears to reflect disproportionate wage growth at the very top of the wage distribution rather than stagnating median wages. The causes for these developments will be analysed in follow-up research.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion of decoupling with a view to improving understanding among economists, policy makers and agricultural trade negotiators, all of whom use the term in their deliberations but often with quite different meanings. The approach taken is conceptual or theoretical - designed to improve understanding of the different ways in which agricultural policies affect production and trade.

This paper is intended to clarify and facilitate discussion on areas that are an important part of the decoupling debate. This has been done using standard economic techniques and some illustrative examples.

The conclusions and policy implications presented in this report build on i) the estimates of relative price effects of different kinds of stylised policy measures, first developed using the Policy Evaluation Model PEMl1 (OECD, 2001b), ii) a conceptual framework on decoupling (OECD, 2002a) which drew attention to the potential for risk-related and dynamic effects which theory suggests are likely to occur in addition to the relative price effects, and iii) a series of studies aimed at explaining, analysing and, where possible,
quantifying some of the potentially important static, risk and dynamic effects and their implication on the degree of decoupling of different measures. Annexes 1 and 2 give some details of the issues investigated in each of the background studies.

This article presents the text of the Italian Decree setting out rules for the siting, construction and operation of nuclear installations of 23 July 2009.
 

French
This paper reviews the potential benefits from separating cars and trucks onto different lanes or roads while treating road infrastructure as given. U.S. studies of mixed traffic operations, lane restrictions and differential speed limits do not provide consistent evidence whether separating cars and trucks either facilitates traffic flows or reduces accident rates. Analysis with an economic model reveals that the potential benefits depend on the relative volumes of cars and trucks, capacity indivisibilities and the impedance and safety hazard that each vehicle type imposes. Differentiated tolls can support efficient allocations of cars and trucks between lanes. Lane access restrictions are much more limited in effectiveness. Toll lanes that are dedicated to either cars or trucks are a potentially attractive hybrid policy. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology can help to improve safety and travel time reliability, and help drivers select between tolled and untolled routes.
Over the past decade, an increasing number of economies have resorted to regional trade agreements (RTAs) as a means to further the market-opening and rule-making agenda. In this context, this paper addresses the question as to whether and how selected elements of RTAs could be used as ‘stepping stones’ for multilateralisation in the future. The report synthesizes the OECD work on RTAs by examining regional provisions that deepen (WTO-plus) and expand (WTO-beyond) multilateral commitments across a broad range of policy areas. It finds that WTO-plus measures are becoming more widespread and similar over time, suggesting that there may be growing receptivity and preparedness to endorse higher levels of commitments. The report distils a set of attributes that may be able to render WTO-plus provisions more amenable to multilateralisation, either through a bottom-up (RTA-driven) or top-down (WTO-driven) approach. It considers the degree of convergence, homogeneity, discrimination, enforceability and economic impact of selected measures in RTAs, with a view to moving towards a shared understanding of multilateral-friendly practices that can be promoted in regional negotiations.

Deepening regional integration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will raise potential growth for all member countries. Integrated economies will increase market size, trade opportunities and improve resource allocation across member countries. Key pillars of functioning regional integration are the free circulation of goods and services, mobility of workers and interconnected infrastructure. To boost regional integration, remaining tariff barriers and non-tariffs barriers should be removed. Ensuring greater compliance to agreements by SADC members will also facilitate intra-regional trade and cross-investments. More co-operation between competition authorities should facilitate harmonisation of competition rules in particular in services and transport-related services which would ease circulation of good and services. The other key pillars of regional integration (industrial policy, infrastructure, investment, financial integration and tax) are also reviewed.

Defence procurement is the process through which authorities in the field of defence and security acquire various goods, services or works they need in order to perform their duties and missions. Defence procurement constitutes a noticeable segment of public procurement in the European Union. SIGMA Brief 23 gives a short overview of the particular characteristics of defence procurement and how defence procurement is organised in the European Union. It also gives an overview of the regulatory framework of the European Union with special attention to the Defence and Security Directive (2009/81/EC). The Brief also covers some other linking issues such as offsets and parallel regimes (defence procurement between the European Union and third countries).

As all safety systems in the majority of existing nuclear power plants use the preferred power supply, any voltage surges in these systems could lead to common-cause failures. In the event of an unusual electrical system transient, it is essential that safety-related equipment be isolated or protected from the fault in order to ensure its ability to safely shut down the reactor and remove decay heat.

Based on the analysis of the voltage surges observed at Forsmark-1 in 2006 and Olkiluoto-1 in 2008, this technical opinion paper summarises the current state of knowledge of in-plant and external grid-related challenges to nuclear power plant safety-related electrical equipment. It will be of particular interest to nuclear safety regulators, nuclear power plant operators and grid system regulators and operators.

This paper provides a comparative analysis of defined contribution (DC) pension systems in Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. There are considerable similarities in the systems which have evolved out of employer sponsored trust-based defined benefit (DB) systems and have expanded at different rates as DB has declined. The plans predominantly offer individual accounts with a choice of funds, with virtually no guarantees of performance and few regulatory restrictions on investment. Most funds are heavily invested in equities, although there is a move in some of the countries to life-styling investments in the run-up to retirement. The paper finds notable contrasts between fiduciary requirements, the regulation of transparency and charges and the approach to the pay-out phase, which raise some important public policy questions.
This paper sets out definitions of the entrepreneur, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activity for the purpose of supporting the development of related indicators. The paper recognises the long history in this area and the contention and differences that have existed, and that continue to exist, between academics who have confronted this issue over the last two centuries. It deliberately adopts a more pragmatic approach based on two principles ? relevance and measurability - resulting in definitions that are developed from both a bottom-up and top-down approach. Importantly, the definitions emphasise the dynamic nature of entrepreneurial activity and focus attention on action rather than intentions or supply/demand conditions. The paper concludes with an overview of policy implications arising from the definitions.
This paper was developed at the request of the OECD Working Party of the Investment Committee to document efforts to date to define and measure green FDI and to investigate the practicability of various possible definitions, as well as to identify investment policy restrictions to green FDI. It does so by reviewing the literature and existing work on the contributions of FDI to the environment; by providing a two-part definition of green FDI; and by discussing various assumptions necessary to estimate the magnitude of 'green' FDI.
This definitional, stocktaking paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the concepts and definitions related to “green” investments that are currently used in the market place. The purpose of this research is not to take a position on a specific definition but rather to explore what is being generally used, whether there are commonalties and inconsistencies, and what lessons can be drawn from this analysis.

The paper examines how “green” investments are defined across different asset classes (equities, bonds and alternative investments), as well as providing some estimates of the size of these markets. The paper concludes that, given the lack of consensus on the usage and definition of the term “green”, the most productive approach could be to take an open and dynamic stance towards definitions and standards, with international institutions and governments adopting a “governance approach to green investment”.

This work seeks to quantify investment in Organisational Capital (OC) by looking at the task content of occupations. It relies on the literature suggesting OC to be embodied in a firm’s workforce and defines OC as those tasks performed by employees – irrespective of their occupational titles – likely to affect a firm’s medium to long-term functioning. Using US Occupational Information Network (O*NET) data, it operationalises the task-based definition and identifies 84 occupations, including 22 managerial occupations, performing OC related tasks. Employment and earnings data from the US are used to calculate investment in OC at macro and 2-digit sectoral levels. Estimates suggest that previous measures seemingly underestimated investment in OC at the macro level, and that large sectoral differences exist. Manufacturing shows significant own-account investment in OC relative to the value added it generates. Services appear as larger purchasers of OC from external sources, relative to own-account investment. Building on the insights of the labour mobility literature about the disruptive effect of (voluntary) job separations, this work uses employee tenure and turnover data for the US to obtain sector specific depreciation rates. Estimates mainly range between 10% and 25% and suggest that OC depreciates more slowly than previously assumed.

This document serves both as a conceptual and practical guide for defining and classifying AI, in order to help stakeholders analyse and understand its impact on the workplace. It first discusses how AI can be defined and provides a selection of AI use cases to help stakeholders identify AI and distinguish it from other advanced technologies. The document then provides a framework for classifying AI according to its impact on the workplace, consisting of a set of questions intended to help stakeholders evaluate any AI application from a workplace perspective (either a priori or ex post) and to promote informed discussion so that AI is implemented in a way that empowers and complements workers and improves job quality, and that no one is left behind.

This paper aims to support better-targeted and more homogeneous data collection and comparative analysis of regulatory oversight bodies (ROBs). To do so, it builds on relevant academic literature and available data to sharpen the definition of ROB used in OECD analytical work and policy discussions. It also discusses ROBs’ role within the regulatory governance cycle as well as various aspects related to regulatory oversight and co-ordination, with special attention to the overall institutional setting (including the relationships between various ROBs), context and objectives of regulatory reform, tasks and responsibilities, and associated accountability arrangements.

Historically, the definition and measurement of academic standards in British higher education have been the exclusive prerogative of the academic community. The calibration of standards across institutions was the responsibility and purpose of the external-examiner system. But the mechanisms in place to achieve these ends have broken down under the weight of the massification of UK higher education, the need to recruit international students to sustain revenue streams, and the league-table or rankings culture that has resulted in academic standards being sacrificed in order to maintain or improve institutional image. In 2008 the House of Commons inaugurated a wide-ranging inquiry into these matters. Its August 2009 report proposes radical solutions, the adoption of which will represent a definitive break with the traditions of the past.

Définition des critères de qualité et évaluation des performances universitaires : Une perspective britannique

Traditionnellement, la définition des critères de qualité et l’évaluation des performances universitaires dans l’enseignement supérieur britannique étaient la prérogative exclusive de la communauté universitaire. L’étalonnage des critères de qualité dans l’ensemble des établissements relevait de la responsabilité du système d’examinateurs externes dont c’était l’objectif.

Cependant, les mécanismes mis en place à cette fin se sont effondrés sous le poids de la massification de l’enseignement supérieur britannique, la nécessité de recruter des étudiants internationaux pour maintenir les flux de revenus, et la culture des classements qui a conduit au sacrifice de la qualité afin de préserver ou d’améliorer une image institutionnelle. En 2008, la Chambre des Communes a inauguré une vaste enquête sur ces questions. Son rapport d’août 2009 propose des solutions radicales, dont l’adoption constituera une rupture définitive avec les traditions du passé.

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