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The reader will learn about the effectiveness of boards in fulfilling their obligation to align executive and board remuneration with the longer term interests of their companies.
This report presents the best current evidence about what can make teacher-oriented reforms effective and points to examples of reforms that have produced specific results, show promise or illustrate imaginative ways of implementing change. Its four chapters cover recruitment and initial preparation of teachers; teacher development, support, careers and employment conditions; teacher evaluation and compensation; and teacher engagement in education reform.
This set of common principles for all development actors was adopted by representatives of government, multilateral organisations, civil society, private sector, foundations and other actors in 2011. It centres on: Ownership of development priorities by developing counties; A focus on results; Partnerships for development; Transparency and shared responsibility.
This study is concerned with trends in and key features of policies and programmes used by governments to support innovation in the business sector. In addition to identifying good practices across a range of programme types, it compares business innovation policies across several countries, with a particular focus on Canada.
In recognition of fundamental changes in the way governments approach energy-related environmental issues, the IEA has prepared this publication on CO2 emissions from fuel combustion. This annual publication was first published in 1997 and has become an essential tool for analysts and policy makers in many international fora such as the Conference of the Parties.
The seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 17), in conjunction with the seventh meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 7), will be meeting in Durban, South Africa from 28 November to 9 December 2011.
The data in this book are designed to assist in understanding the evolution of the emissions of CO2 from 1971 to 2009 for more than 140 countries and regions by sector and by fuel. Emissions were calculated using IEA energy databases and the default methods and emission factors from the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
This study assesses the competitiveness of nuclear power against coal- and gas-fired power generation in liberalised electricity markets with either CO2 trading or carbon taxes. It uses daily price data for electricity, gas, coal and carbon from 2005 to 2010, which encompasses the first years of the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the world’s foremost carbon trading framework. The study shows that even with modest carbon pricing, competition for new investment in electricity markets will take place between nuclear energy and gas-fired power generation, with coal-fired power struggling to be profitable. The outcome of the competition between nuclear and gas-fired generation hinges, in addition to carbon pricing, on the capital costs for new nuclear power plant construction, gas prices and the profit margins applied. Strong competition in electricity markets reinforces the attractiveness of nuclear energy, as does carbon pricing, in particular when the latter ranges between USD 40 and USD 70 per tonne of CO2. The data and analyses contained in this study provide a robust framework for assessing cost and investment issues in liberalised electricity markets with carbon pricing.
As the world has changed during the past 50 years, so has agriculture. And so has agricultural research, which continues to confront new challenges, from food security to ecological concerns to land use issues. Indeed, as Guy Paillotin, the former president of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) has noted, agricultural research “has reached new heights in biology and is exploring other disciplines. It is forever changing, as are the needs of the society”.
The changing challenges faced by agricultural research were examined in depth at a conference organised by the OECD’s Co-operative Research Programme on Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, together with the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Agriculture. Participants came from all agricultural sectors and included farmers, industry, scientists and decision makers, as well as other stake holders.
This publication presents the twenty papers delivered at the conference. They highlight recent major progress in agricultural research outcomes and address the challenges that lie ahead.
Undertaken jointly with United Nations Environment Programme, the report analyses policies and issues related to climate change adaptation and mitigation in the tourism sector. It provides policy recommendations, with the objective to identify priority areas to be included in a framework for action in the area of climate change and tourism. A review of the state of policy-making on this important issue clearly indicates that greater efforts could be made by countries to understand the likely impacts of climate change on tourism; there is a low awareness of the tourism sector's climate change mitigation and adaptation needs; and that current policy, with few exceptions, is inadequate to the scale of the challenge, both on mitigation and adaptation.
Electricity use is growing worldwide, providing a range of energy services: lighting, heating and cooling, specific industrial uses, entertainment, information technologies, and mobility. Because its generation remains largely based on fossil fuels, electricity is also the largest and the fastest-growing source of energy-related CO2 emissions, the primary cause of human-induced climate change. Forecasts from the IEA and others show that “decarbonising” electricity and enhancing end-use efficiency can make major contributions to the fight against climate change.
Global and regional trends on electricity supply and demand indicate the magnitude of the decarbonisation challenge ahead. As climate concerns become an essential component of energy policy-making, the generation and use of electricity will be subject to increasingly strong policy actions by governments to reduce their associated CO2 emissions. Despite these actions, and despite very rapid growth in renewable energy generation, significant technology and policy challenges remain if this unprecedented essential transition is to be achieved.
The IEA Climate and Electricity Annual 2011 provides an authoritative resource on progress to date in this area, with statistics related to CO2 and the electricity sector across ten regions of the world. It also presents topical analyses on meeting the challenge of rapidly curbing CO2 emissions from electricity, from both a policy and technology perspective.
Coal Information provides a comprehensive review of historical and current market trends in the world coal sector, including 2010 preliminary data.
An Introduction, notes, definitions and auxiliary information are provided in Part I. Part II of the publication provides a review of the world coal market in 2009, while Part III provides a statistical overview of developments, which covers world coal production and coal reserves, coal demand by type (hard, steam, coking), hard coal trade and hard coal prices. Part IV provides, in tabular and graphic form, a more detailed and comprehensive statistical picture of historical and current coal developments in the 34 OECD member countries, by region and individually. Part V provides for selected non-OECD countries summary statistics on hard coal supply and end-use statistics for about 40 countries and regions worldwide. Complete coal balances and coal trade data for selected years are presented on 16 major non-OECD coal-producing and -consuming countries.
The Review of Competition Law and Policy in Chile was prepared as part of the process of Chile’s accession to OECD Membership. The report describes the policy foundations, substantive competition law and enforcement experience, institutional structure as well as treatment of competition issues in regulatory and legislative processes. The review then examines these findings under three assessment themes: the current situation of competition policy and enforcement; the magnitude and direction of change in competition policy over the last 5-10 years; the extent of conformity with the particular OECD competition recommendations.
The Review of Competition Law and Policy in Israel was prepared as part of the process of Israel's accession to OECD Membership. The report describes the policy foundations, substantive competition law and enforcement experience, institutional structure as well as treatment of competition issues in regulatory and legislative processes. The review then examines these findings under three assessment themes: the current situation of competition policy and enforcement; the magnitude and direction of change in competition policy over the last 5-10 years; the extent of conformity with the particular OECD competition recommendations.
With a total population of 92 million people, near universal literacy and abundant energy resources, Central Asia is an attractive destination for investment and trade. The region is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and surrounded by some of the world’s fastest-growing economies such as Russia, India and China, who are increasingly investing in the region. From 2000 to2009, foreign direct investment flows into Central Asia increased almost ninefold, while the region’s gross domestic product grew on average by 8.2% annually.
While Central Asia is endowed with many natural and human resources that could drive its economies to even higher levels of competitiveness, the poor quality of the region’s business environment remains a major obstacle. Key areas for improvement include reinforcing legal and economic institutions; prioritizing the development of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector; and building the capacity of business intermediary organisations.
This Central Asia Competitiveness Outlook examines the key policies that would increase competitiveness in Central Asia and reduce dependence on the natural resource sector, namely through developing human capital, improving access to finance, and capturing more and better investment opportunities. It was carried out in collaboration with the World Economic Forum under the aegis of the OECD Central Asia Initiative, a regional programme that contributes to economic growth and competitiveness in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Initiative is part of the wider OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme.
With a total population of over 75 million people and a strategic location between wealthy trading partners, with Russia to the east and a vast market of EU citizens to the west, the Eastern Europe and South Caucasus (EESC) region is attractive as a destination for investment and trade. It is endowed with significant human and resources ranging from the black soil in Ukraine that produces some of the best wheat in the world, to energy reserves in Azerbaijan and unexplored water resources in several countries. However, in spite of recent growth – an average of almost 8% of GDP during 1998-2008 – the region’s productivity levels remain 77% below the world average. The OECD Eastern Europe and South Caucasus Competitiveness Outlook examines the key policies that would increase competitiveness in the countries of the region through developing human capital, improving access to finance for SMEs and creating more and better investment opportunities.
Since 2000, the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been growing at an annual rate of between 8%-9%, making it one of the ten highest performing economies in the world. Kazakhstan alone attracts more foreign direct investment than all other Central Asian countries together. To date, the country’s strong economic performance has been driven largely by its natural resources sector. The oil and gas sectors alone attract three quarters of foreign investment inflows. However, Kazakhstan’s non-energy sectors also have competitive advantages that could be potential new sources for growth.
In 2009 Kazakhstan launched a far-reaching programme to diversify its sources of foreign direct investment. To support this effort, it asked the OECD to undertake a three-year Sector Competitiveness Review. This report represents the first phase of this Review, which is an assessment and strategy to help Kazakhstan enhance the competitiveness of non-energy sectors including agribusiness, fertilizers, logistics, business services and information technology. While it acknowledges that the government has successfully implemented a first generation of business climate reforms, the report recommends that sector-specific policy barriers be further addressed. For example, policy makers could stimulate quality improvements and modernise production in some sectors by facilitating access to finance, attracting modern retailers and addressing skills gaps in the workforce.
This report reviews the micro, small and medium-sized business sector in the Republic of Moldova, as well as governmental policies related to small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly regarding financing and innovation.
This publication provides information on value added taxes, taxes on goods and services and excise duty rates in OECD member countries. It provides information about indirect tax topics such as international aspects of VAT/GST developments in OECD member countries as well as in selected non-OECD economies. It also describes a range of taxation provisions in OECD countries, such as the taxation of motor vehicles, tobacco and alcoholic beverages.
In 2003, the Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance produced recommendations to improve corporate governance in Asia, based on the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. This report summarises the results of a stocktaking exercise to determine progress made to date and the challenges remaining in the implementation of these recommendations. Included in this book are valuable insights into corporate governance rules and practices of listed companies in Asia, notably: shareholder rights, the protection of non-controlling owners, transparency and disclosure, as well as the role of company boards.
This review of corporate governance in Chile describes the corporate governance setting including the structure and ownership concentration of listed companies and the structure and operation of the state-owned sector. It then examines the legal and regulatory framework and company practices to assess the degree to which the recommendations of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises have been implemented.