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AI can bring significant benefits to the workplace. In the OECD AI surveys of employers and workers, four in five workers say that AI improved their performance at work and three in five say that it increased their enjoyment of work. But the benefits of AI depend on addressing the associated risks. Taking the effect of AI into account, occupations at highest risk of automation account for about 27% of employment in OECD countries. Workers also express concerns around increased work intensity, the collection and use of data, and increasing inequality. To support the adoption of trustworthy AI in the workplace, this policy paper identifies the main risks that need to be addressed when using AI in the workplace. It identifies the main policy gaps and offers possible policy avenues specific to labour markets.
The paper presents the understanding of and attitudes towards climate change and climate policies in Ukraine, using a survey on a representative sample of more than 1 500 Ukrainians. The survey was carried out between October 2021 and February 2022 and presents the situation before Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. The survey tests support for three main climate policies in detail: a green infrastructure programme, a carbon tax with cash transfers and a ban on combustion-engine cars. It shows that support for climate policies depends on three key factors: how people perceive the effectiveness of the policies in reducing emissions, how they perceive distributional impacts on lower-income households (inequality concerns), and if they think their household will gain or lose from the policy. The survey also shows that when citizens receive information that specifically addresses these concerns, they exhibit stronger support for the policy. How the policy is designed also matters: Ukrainians widely accept a carbon tax when its revenues finance green investments and/or compensate lower-income households. The paper highlights seven considerations for Ukraine policymakers to design measures that are effective and supported by citizens. Following Russia’s war of aggression and once conditions are right, Ukrainian policymakers can also use the survey results to guide the reform of the environmental tax system- one of the goals in Ukraine’s recovery and reform agenda.
The survey in Ukraine that the paper describes was conducted as part of a large-scale OECD international survey of attitudes toward climate policies carried out on over 40 000 respondents in twenty countries.
More than 1.3 million people die each year in road crashes, with millions more suffering life-altering injuries. The Safe System approach aims to eliminate deadly crashes through a comprehensive, shared-responsibility framework. This report offers guidelines for establishing Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs) to assess the effectiveness of Safe System policies in reducing road fatalities and serious injuries. It identifies international best practices for constructing and deploying SPIs, focusing on the case of Korea.
In the context of the green transition, universities have much to offer in joint green innovation projects with business, government and citizens. As hubs of diverse expertise, universities are uniquely placed to build interdisciplinary teams and bridge gaps between society and industry. Their regional ties also enable them to engage with the local ecosystem. This paper draws from ten international case studies of university partnerships with industry and society in green mobility, green energy and green products, services and processes. The comparative evidence gathered from interviews with representatives from these initiatives examines universities’ practices for green co-creation. Additionally, the paper outlines policy recommendations crucial to supporting these initiatives, essential for the global success of sustainable development efforts.
People with disability face persisting difficulties in the labour market. There are concerns that AI, if managed poorly, could further exacerbate these challenges. Yet, AI also has the potential to create more inclusive and accommodating environments and might help remove some of the barriers faced by people with disability in the labour market. Building on interviews with more than 70 stakeholders, this report explores the potential of AI to foster employment for people with disability, accounting for both the transformative possibilities of AI-powered solutions and the risks attached to the increased use of AI for people with disability. It also identifies obstacles hindering the use of AI and discusses what governments could do to avoid the risks and seize the opportunities of using AI to support people with disability in the labour market.
With many countries struggling to boost the attractiveness of the teaching profession, it is important to understand the sources of teacher stress better. This brief explores data on lower secondary teachers from TALIS 2018 to investigate whether stressors vary according to students’ socio-economic background. In addition, it looks at which stressors are more likely to be associated with teachers’ job satisfaction and plans to continue in the role.
Assessing health system performance over time or across countries often means comparing populations with very different characteristics, including age structure. The share of the population aged 65 years and over ranges from less than 1 in 10 in some of the Latin American countries of the OECD to almost 3 in 10 in Japan. At the same time, populations are aging rapidly - on average across the OECD, there are 20% more people over 65 since 2015. Since risk of illness and ill-health generally increases with age, a population with an older demographic structure can expect higher mortality rates, greater incidence and prevalence of certain diseases, and thus higher demands for healthcare and, by consequence, higher spending on health. This working paper argues that the level of health spending depends not only on the size of the population (among other factors), but also on the demographic structure of the population. The paper reviews the international literature on age-adjusting health spending, and examines three methods of age-adjustment to report and compare health expenditure data between OECD countries and over time.
In the north-western corner of Germany, the Ems-Achse, a rural region, has witnessed a decade of economic growth. This growth has exacerbated labour shortages, primarily due to an aging population and the outmigration of youth. Acknowledging the potential of teleworking, regional stakeholders aim to explore its capacity to address labour gaps and attract a broader talent pool. This paper delves into three main dimensions for harnessing teleworking's potential: activating individuals who are not currently seeking employment, expanding the talent pool to include surrounding areas, and attracting workers from congested urban areas or overseas. To facilitate successful teleworking, the region can bolster its high-speed internet infrastructure, promote a culture of flexibility in management and nurture digital skills. Additionally, increasing opportunities for higher education, improving public transportation and enhancing international accessibility could help profile the Ems-Achse as an attractive hub for teleworkers.
This paper presents an update to the Economic Impact Assessment of Amount A of Pillar One of the Two Pillar Solution to Address the Tax Challenges Arising from the Digitalisation of the Economy. The revised assessment is based on Amount A as detailed in the text of the Multilateral Convention to Implement Amount A of Pillar One. With results extending from 2017 to 2021, the paper details the changes in the design of Amount A as well as updates to the data and methodology of the impact assessment. The paper outlines the impact of Amount A on the allocation of taxing rights and the resulting revenue impacts.
New empirical evidence and analysis of provisions in regional trade agreements help bring clarity to debates on the potential scope, definition and impact of the WTO e-commerce Moratorium. OECD analysis demonstrates that the potential fiscal revenue implications of the Moratorium are small, amounting to, on average, 0.68% of total customs revenue or 0.1% of total government revenue. Well-designed value added or goods and services taxes (VAT/GST) can help offset potential foregone revenue in most countries. Failure to renew the Moratorium would result in greater policy uncertainty and less trade, and tariffs on electronic transmissions would reduce domestic competitiveness. Adverse effects would be most pronounced for low-income countries and smaller firms. Overall, evidence demonstrates that there is a strong case for the Moratorium to be renewed.
This manual is a guide to using the ITF transport life-cycle assessment tool. The tool aims to provide a holistic assessment of different modes of transport, accounting for energy use and greenhouse gas emissions that occur in different phases of the life of the vehicles.
Viet Nam has been quick to recover from the downturns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it faces long-term economic challenges. Boosting labour productivity will be crucial to sustained high economic growth. Attracting further foreign investment and reaping the benefit of advanced technologies will require additional improvements to the business environment through simplifying administrative procedures. Levelling the playing field of competition between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises will also help to maintain Viet Nam’s attraction for international investors. The country is already among the leaders of digitalisation in Southeast Asia, with strong adoption of e-commerce, telemedicine and telework. Further investment in digital skills will be key to maintain this momentum. The authorities have committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and are expanding renewable energy generation capacity. A comprehensive decarbonisation plan would facilitate the transition to greener growth.
This paper analyses the impact of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) extensions on jobseeker households in selected US states and examines how these extensions compare to the pre-pandemic policies. The analysis finds that PUA extensions increase benefit duration for all jobseekers, but due to interactions between other government benefits, this translates to significant increases in benefit generosity only for jobseekers without children. This has an impact on the financial incentives to take up employment, although incentives are still above the OECD average. PUA extensions have little impact for people who have been unemployed for a very long time, and jobseekers with no recent contribution history. PUA extensions also have minimal impact on jobless families with children who continue to receive less support compared to other OECD countries.
Resource banks support learning in classrooms by improving the quality of teacher instruction and assessment. They are typically online platforms that include examples of curriculum-aligned assessment tasks and complementary instruction, assessment and learning materials. These can be used by teachers, students and parents to improve learning in schools. While resource banks have become an important curriculum and assessment tool in many OECD countries, information about them remains scarce. This policy perspective provides a framework to help educators plan, design and use resource banks. First, policymakers should have a thorough concept of the resource bank and carefully plan its governance and resourcing structure. Second, the definition and development of its content and the platform’s underlying technology should be guided by quality, security and privacy principles that place users at the centre. Thirdly, once released, it is important to promote awareness of the resource bank to key stakeholders and maintain content and IT-support. This will ensure resource banks have a long-lasting and positive impact on educational practices.
Assurance schemes (certifications and labels) are widespread in the agri-food sector. This paper reviews the landscape of existing schemes, and the evidence on whether labels change consumer behaviour, and whether assurance schemes achieve positive change on the farm. The impact of existing labels on shopping behaviours appears limited: even for well-established schemes, market shares remain low, as factors such as taste, health, or price appear to dominate consumer decisions. Regarding farm-level effects, not all crops, standards, and geographies have been equally well studied, and many studies find no effect; but when an effect is found, it is usually positive. The paper identifies actions to improve the effectiveness and inclusiveness of existing and new assurance schemes, and also highlights the new trend of labels which communicate environmental impacts, rather than conformity with process or production requirements.
Increasingly more emphasis is placed on damages and risks that people, companies and governments face in the way they affect their well-being as well as material conditions or financial fundamentals. There is, however, still quite a bit of heterogeneity in how countries and companies frame and implement their endeavours, sometimes with no harmonised or unified goals as well as a lack of consistent metrics for assessing their impacts on the environment and society. Common semantics on just transition concepts and a solid understanding of just transition activities by governments and businesses would help assess the scale of the problem.
This Policy Insights provides a glimpse at some of the positive practices to encourage others to make the shift and provide a benchmark against which future action could be measured.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant shift in the way people work, with an increasing number of individuals opting to work from home. Fewer commutes allow people to live further away from the city centre, where jobs typically concentrate. Against this background, this paper tests the hypothesis of a shift in housing demand away from the city centre towards the suburbs using a novel granular house price data set covering 16 OECD countries. The results indicate a flattening of the house price gradients in most large urban areas with profound consequences for housing policies and the city of the future.
Lithuania is digitalising its economy with visible success, but much scope remains for the integration of advanced technologies. The COVID-19 crisis confirmed the importance of digitalisation to sustain activity. Increased private investment in innovation is essential to speed up digitalisation. The take-up of R&D tax incentives is low, however, despite relatively generous provisions, and many smaller firms have not been inclined to innovate. More effective public support for business R&D and stronger research-business collaboration on innovation are important. There is also a need to promote digital uptake, especially among smaller firms that lag behind. Improving access to equity finance for young innovative firms, reducing remaining gaps in digital infrastructure, along with better information on digital tools and how to use them, can help smaller firms digitalise. The public sector too has to become more digitalised. Addressing weaknesses in foundational skills through education reforms and responding more effectively to labour market needs for digital skills would enable a wider adoption of advanced technologies and higher productivity growth, while ensuring that the digitalisation dividends are distributed fairly. Increased participation in adult learning, especially among the less educated, is the way forward to adapt to increased job automation in the digital era.
The 2021 OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions provides a cross-country assessment of what influences people’s trust in government and public institutions, understanding people’s perception of the functioning of democratic institutions. Most of the drivers in the Trust Survey refer to government competences and values that help countries take concrete steps to rebuild trust. Both at the individual and country-level trust may vary due to cultural, economic and social factors. This paper analyses the open-ended survey responses in 16 OECD countries to understand two questions. First can the answers provide insights into cultural differences and extreme attitudes of distrust? Second, what dimensions influence trust that are not considered in the theoretical OECD Trust Framework underpinning the Trust Survey? The results of the topic model resemble closely the drivers in the Trust Framework, but respondents name not just government inputs, outputs, and processes, but also socioeconomic vulnerabilities, intergenerational and global challenges. While many respondents write that ''corruption'', ''money'' and ''power'' drives their trust in public institutions, these feelings are not associated with government transparency and accountability. These findings show the advantage of qualitative measurements (open-ended survey questions) to understand the complex relationship between trust and public governance.
This Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) describes the linkage between uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and growth inhibition via decreased cell proliferation. The mitochondrial OXPHOS machinery is a key physiological process responsible for producing the primary cellular energy, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Uncoupling of OXPHOS is a well-known mechanism of action of many chemicals and can affect many ATP-dependent biological functions. Cell proliferation in particular, as a major process to achieve organismal growth, is positively correlated with the cellular ATP level and highly susceptible to energy depletion. This AOP causally links uncoupling of OXPHOS to growth inhibition, through ATP depletion and reduced cell proliferation with strong weight of evidence support. This AOP is of high regulatory relevance, as it is considered applicable to both human health and ecological risk assessments. The AOP also forms the core of a larger AOP network addressing uncoupling of OXPHOS mediated growth inhibition. This AOP is referred to as AOP 263 in the Collaborative Adverse Outcome Pathway Wiki (AOP-Wiki).