Browse by: "2011"

A System of Health Accounts 2011 provides a systematic description of the financial flows related to the consumption of health care goods and services. As demands for information increase and more countries implement and institutionalise health accounts according to the system, the data produced are expected to be more comparable, more detailed and more policy relevant.

This new edition builds on the original OECD Manual, published in 2000, and the Guide to Producing National Health Accounts to create a single global framework for producing health expenditure accounts that can help track resource flows from sources to uses. The Manual is the result of a four-year collaborative effort between the OECD, WHO and the European Commission, and sets out in more detail the boundaries, the definitions and the concepts – responding to health care systems around the globe – from the simplest to the more complicated.

Now more than ever, administrative simplification is a priority in countries seeking to improve public governance and regulatory quality in order to boost competition and growth. To date, Poland has adopted a complex administrative simplification programme, based on methods successfully used in other OECD countries. It has two main streams: one focused on simplifying licences and permits, the other on measuring and reducing regulatory burdens. This report reviews the programme with the aim of helping Poland to make it and its implementation more efficient. 

The report shows that although many important elements of regulatory policy are now formally in place in Poland, in practice, there is still an implementation gap. The OECD recommends that Poland re-launches its programme by:  

·         Setting new, realistic targets and timelines

·         Developing action plans for individual ministries

·         Creating efficient co-ordination structures and reporting mechanisms

·         Improving continuous stakeholders involvement 

Poland should also strengthen its regulatory impact assessment system by improving quality control, strengthening capacities, and possibilities for public control. Consultations throughout the whole process of making legislation should also be improved.

Administrative simplification in Viet Nam has reached a defining moment. In 2007, the government launched  “Project 30”, the goal of which was to reduce administrative procedures by 30% as part of ambitious reforms to modernise the public service and simplify the regulatory environment for businesses. These reforms support the development of infrastructure, increased productivity, greater foreign direct investment and a high rate of growth. Administrative simplification efforts, once fully implemented, will enhance regulatory quality and stimulate competitiveness and equitable growth. It was within this context that Viet Nam invited OECD to evaluate achievements so far and suggest future directions, including options for a ten-year programme for regulatory reform grounded in international best practice.  

This report details Project 30 and related initiatives. Using international comparisons and incorporating experience from similar reforms in other countries, it explores how Viet Nam can rapidly bring about the full potential of Project 30 and introduce a complete range of regulatory reform instruments in the near future. The lessons learnt from the management of a major administrative simplification initiative in Viet Nam will be useful to other countries seeking to improve their regulatory framework and to reduce administrative burdens, especially in the developing world and in transition countries. 

This report is published in English; a French translation of the executive summary has been included in this volume.

This publication provides comprehensive and consistent information on African central government debt statistics for the period 2003-2009. Detailed quantitative information on central government debt instruments is provided for 17 countries to meet the requirements of debt managers, other financial policy makers, and market analysts. Country policy notes provide background information on debt issuance as well as on the institutional and regulatory framework governing debt management policy.

Countries covered: Angola, Cameroon, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.

This tenth edition of the African Economic Outlook finds the continent on the rebound and expects it growth performance in the next years to resume at pre-crisis levels. The focus of the 2010 AEO is Africa's Emerging Economic Partnerships, presenting a comprehensive review of Africa's expanding economic relations with outside the continent that until very recently did not belong to the club of traditional “donors”, the OECD Development Assistance Committee. Africa benefits not only from the visible direct interactions with large emerging countries – investment, trade, aid – but also from the macroeconomic, political and strategic advantages that their rise has produced. As always, country chapters provide detailed information on a country-by-country basis and the statistical annex provides a wide variety of indicators for the countries covered.  This year, the AEA covers all African countries except Eritriea and Somalia.

Full-length country notes and report are available on www.africaneconomicoutlook.org

Many socio-economically disadvantaged students excel in PISA. Students who succeed at school despite a disadvantaged background -- resilient students -- are the focus of Against the Odds. The report shows that overcoming barriers to achievement is possible, and provides students, parents, policy makers and other education stakeholders insights into what enables socio-economically disadvantaged students to fulfil their potential. Resilient students are characterised by positive approaches to learning, for example, having more interest in science or having more self-confidence. The evidence in PISA shows that positive approaches to learning tend to boost the performance of advantaged students more than that of disadvantaged ones. From an equity perspective, therefore, policies aimed at fostering positive approaches to learning ought to target disadvantaged students more than others.

For the first time, the Monitoring and Evaluation report of agricultural policies covers OECD member countries (including the new members who joined during 2010 – Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia) and selected key emerging economies: Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine.

This edition shows that, after an increase in 2009, producer support in the OECD area declined in 2010, confirming the downward trend in support to farmers. The trend in emerging economies shows some increase in the level of support, although it stays well below the OECD average.

This report is a unique source of up-to-date estimates of support to agriculture and is complemented by individual chapters on agricultural policy developments in all countries covered in the report.

This joint OECD-WTO publication provides a comprehensive analysis of trends and developments in aid that aims to help developing countries integrate into the global economy and benefit from trade opportunities. Over 260 case stories and 140 self-assessments by partner countries, bilateral and multilateral donor agencies, providers of South-South co-operation, and regional economic communities provide the basis for this analysis, coupled with OECD aid data and findings from evaluations and econometric studies.

The picture is positive: aid for trade is bettering the lives of many men and women in developing countries. The case stories paint an encouraging picture of the wide variety of trade-related activities in a large number of developing countries that are being supported by a range of donors. Increasingly, aid for trade is being integrated in broader development strategies, with objectives focusing on competitiveness, economic growth and poverty reduction. Donors are harmonising their procedures and aligning their support around these strategies. Aid-for-trade flows continue to grow and reached USD 40 billion in 2009 – an increase of 60% since 2005.
 
Developing countries and donors must continue their efforts to improve the effectiveness and the results of aid for trade. Although progress has been made in joint monitoring and evaluation, strengthening mutual accountability and managing aid to achieve trade results remain challenging. A joint, streamlined approach to measuring progress towards developing countries’ trade related targets will reinforce country ownership – a critical factor in ensuring that aid for trade enhances trade capacity and promotes economic growth and development.

Many countries around the world have introduced systems of asset declarations for public officials in order to prevent corruption. These systems vary greatly from country to country. The impact of such systems on the actual level of corruption is not well known.

This study provides a systematic analysis of the existing practice in the area of asset declarations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and in some OECD member states in Western Europe and North America. It examines the key elements of asset declaration systems, such as policy objectives, legal frameworks and the institutional arrangements; the categories of public officials who are required to submit declarations, and types of required information; procedures for verifying declared information, sanctions for violations, and public disclosure. The study also discusses the cost-effectiveness and overall usefulness of declaration systems. It includes four case studies covering Lithuania, Romania, Spain and Ukraine, and many additional country examples and references.

The study presents policy recommendations on the key elements of asset declaration systems. These recommendations will be useful for national governments and international organisations engaged in development, reform and assessment of asset declarations systems on a country level.

Attractiveness for investment in innovation is high on the policy agenda in many countries as innovation is a key factor of growth and competitiveness in OECD countries. Virtually all governments are keen to attract international investment by multinational enterprises (MNEs) as a means to promote growth and employment, create new jobs and bring in new technologies.

While all countries and regions have some policy measures in place that are aimed at increasing their attractiveness for innovation, it is less clear if these policies are effective.

This report analyses the current trends in international investment in innovation and the attractiveness policies already implemented. These are often based on the more traditional instruments for attracting international investment. The book also explores in more detail the role of investment incentives that governments tend to give to international investors: their rationale, their impact and their usefulness.

The evidence presented in this report raises clear policy issues and questions existing policies. A number of policy principles are formulated to guide policy makers.

The provision of water supply, sanitation and wastewater services generates substantial benefits for public health, the economy and the environment. Benefit-to-cost ratios can be as high as 7 to 1 for basic water and sanitation services in developing countries.

Wastewater treatment interventions, for example, generate significant benefits for public health, the environment and for certain economic sectors such as fisheries, tourism and property markets.

The full magnitude of the benefits of water services is seldom considered for a number of reasons, including the difficulty in quantifying important non-economic benefits such as non-use values, dignity, social status, cleanliness and overall well-being. Also, information about the benefits of water services is usually hidden in the technical literature, where it remains invisible to key decision-makers in ministries.

This report draws together and summarises existing information on the benefits of water and sanitation.

Efficient provision of transport infrastructure is critical to economic growth. The long asset lives of much transport infrastructure indicates governance through regulation, rather than through contract or public ownership. This can ensure predictability in long-term relationships whilst preserving some flexibility to deal with changes in external circumstances.

The transparency created by a fully independent regulator is invaluable for ensuring sufficient investment  is forthcoming, while maintaining reasonable conditions for user access. Discussion at the Roundtable focussed on how to achieve effective independent regulation and how to reconcile independence with the legitimate control of policy by the executive part of government.

Independent regulation is not seen as a universal default governance arrangement. Much of the discussion focused on when to regulate and when to rely on competition, even if imperfect, to drive efficiency. The discussions underscored that there are opportunities to improve performance significantly in the aviation, rail and road sectors, by learning from successful experience in improving governance structures in a range of countries.

This report examines the ways in which wider policies can be use to support our common development objectives. It focuses on areas requiring collective action by the entire international community, and complements the OECD’s continuing work on aid effectiveness and monitoring aid flows.

It starts from two premises. First, policies ranging from trade and investment to tax and fiscal transparency, corporate governance, climate change, resource security and social policy have a profound impact on the prospects for achieving sustainable development. Second, whilst these require action by national governments and regional organisations in both developed and developing countries, in today’s interconnected world they also require collective action by the entire international community.

The report covers 18 development policy topics divided into four broad categories: sustainable economic growth, economic governance, the environment and natural resource security, and society. Together these reflect the OECD’s mission to promote better policies for better lives.

Eco-innovation is more important than ever on the public policy agenda. It is a major driver for green growth and contributes to the environmental performance and economic development of OECD and developing countries alike.

This report takes a pragmatic approach to policies that support the development and diffusion of eco-innovation. Building on the OECD Innovation Strategy, it argues that eco-innovation is not merely about technological developments: non-technical innovations matter as well. It acknowledges that policies do not operate in a vacuum and that they must take account of the contexts that influence the development and diffusion of eco-innovation, such as market structures. It explores links between eco-innovation policies and related fields such as industry, competition, and international cooperation.

This work builds on an OECD inventory of eco-innovation policies in OECD countries and in China. It also draws on studies of select environment-friendly innovations, highlighting different patterns of development across countries. It also incorporates extensive international consultation on the topics of eco-innovation and green growth.

The results from this publication will contribute to the Green Growth Strategy being developed by the OECD as a practical policy package for governments to harness the potential of greener growth.

For more information on OECD work on eco-innovation, visit: www.oecd.org/greengrowth
www.oecd.org/environment/innovation
www.oecd.org/sti/innovation/green