The Review of Corporate Governance in Israel was prepared as part of the process of Israel’s accession to OECD Membership. The report describes the corporate governance setting including the structure and ownership concentration of listed companies and the structure and operation of the state-owned sector. The Review 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.

Around the OECD countries and beyond, there is a proliferation of initiatives in the life sciences to bring together disperse elements of global research and establish an effective virtual infrastructure for open innovation. Their common goal is to leverage innovative capacity by creating interconnected webs of knowledge and exploiting external expertise.
Some such initiatives have as their goal the monetisation and trading of knowledge in the form of intellectual assets. Others seek to create networks for pooling and exchange of knowledge. Together, these initiatives can be referred to as “knowledge networks and markets” (KNMs). This report considers the development of such KNMs and examines the impact of current initiatives and the possible options for governments, working with the private sector, to improve innovation efficiency and effectiveness.
Improving the interoperability of knowledge resources is fundamental to the creation of a necessary shared infrastructure for efficient KNM to emerge, as is related sustainable funding and policy clarity. Governments can play a vital catalytic role in improving the productivity of KNMs through such infrastructure development and encouragement of associated social networking. the report makes suggestions for some priority actions based on existing case studies.

This publication reviews progress made since the 2008 OECD Seoul Declaration for the Future of the Internet Economy and identifies areas for future work. Seven themes are addressed in the work as follows: High-speed infrastructure Digital content and green ICTs The development of smarter applications Cybersecurity and privacy Consumer empowerment and protection An open Internet economy Global participation for development.

Overall, the review shows that the Internet economy has now reached a point where it has become a new source of growth, with the potential to boost the whole economy, to foster innovation, competitiveness and user participation, and to contribute effectively to the prosperity of society as a whole.

OECD Factbook 2005 is the first edition of a comprehensive and dynamic new statistical annual from the OECD. More than 100 indicators cover such areas as the economy, agriculture, education, energy, environment, foreign aid, health and quality of life, industry, information and communications, population/labour force, trade and investment, taxation, public expenditure and debt, and R&D. Data are provided for all OECD member countries, and in some cases, for selected non-member countries as well. Time series provided are variable according to the nature of the indicator, but in most cases provide coverage from 1990 onwards and in many cases have data for selected years going back as far as 1960.

For each indicator, there is a two-page spread. The page on the left is textual and includes a short introductory text followed by a detailed definition of the indicator, comments on comparability of the data, an assessment of long-term trends related to the indicator, and a listing of documentation available that provides further information on the indicator. The page on the right contains the data table with a StatLink along with a graphic which provides – at a glance –  the key message provided by the data.  For some indicators, there are supplementary tables.

Portugal's development co-operation programme is characterised by concentration bilaterally on the Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa, reflecting close links of history, language and culture. Those countries are now among the least developed countries.

Recently, Portugal has emphasized two new areas of development co-operation. First, private sector development, based on economic policy reforms supported by the international institutions, and on instruments which encourage the involvement of the Portuguese private sector. The second new area of emphasis is the strengthening of the governance systems in the PALOPs, the Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa, focusing particularly on legal systems and the judiciary, but also extending to parliamentary institutions, electoral systems, local governments and constitutional advice.

In its review of Portugal's programme the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) noted that Portugal has the potential to play a larger role, particularly in Mozambique and Angola, where critical post-conflict development needs have to be met. It noted that a new Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (the CPLP), including Brazil, has recently been formed to enhance dialogue and mutual development efforts.

How’s life? The answer can depend on the region in which you live. Many factors that influence people’s well-being are local issues, such as employment, access to health services, pollution and security. Policies that take into account regional differences beyond national averages can therefore have a greater impact on improving well-being for the country as a whole.

This report presents the OECD analytical framework for measuring well-being at the regional level, as well as internationally comparable indicators on 9 well-being dimensions for 362 regions across 34 OECD countries. It also sets out guidance for all levels of government in using well-being measures to better target policies at the specific needs of different communities. Drawing on a variety of practical experiences from OECD regions and cities, the report discusses methodological and political solutions for selecting regional well-being outcome indicators, monitoring the progress of regional well-being performance over time, and implementing a process of multi-stakeholder engagement to promote social change.

This report identifies policy options and makes recommendations on market-oriented actions to promote the purchase of the most environmentally friendly vehicles. It assesses the impact of a wider use of low-emission vehicles, drawing on experience to date, research results and the responses to a survey from 18 OECD countries. The main section – Policy Options – presents in non-technical language, the current and expected performance of conventional and innovative technologies. It is for policy makers worldwide, economists and the casual reader.

Hard-core cartels are the most egregious violations of competition law. What are the most appropriate tools to fight them?

In this book, the OECD identifies an increasingly successful "carrot-and-stick" approach – applying stiffer punishment for cartel operators and enhancing programmes aimed at rewarding cartel members who decide to defect and co-operate with the authorities. This book contributes to the existing knowledge about the extent of cartels' overcharges and other harm to businesses and consumers worldwide, and sheds light on new and effective "leniency programmes", as well as on optimal sanctions in cartel cases.

Genetic tests are being developed at an impressive rate and a significant number has already reached the market. Substantial involvement of the private sector has led to unprecedented growth in commercial genetic testing services and in trade of such services. This trend is expected to increase as knowledge gained from the mapping of the human genome and of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is applied to the identification of disease-causing genes and of inherited differences in drug response. The potential socio-economic and ethical impacts are staggering. This report provides a state-of-the art review of advances in genetic testing and of main international policy concerns drawing from the OECD workshop on "Genetic Testing: Policy Issues for the New Millennium", held in Vienna on 23-25 February 2000.

China’s food processing sector has arrived at a decisive stage. While primary agriculture has continued to expand at an astounding pace and final consumers have experienced an extended period of rapid income growth, progress at the intermediary stage, the agro-processing sector, has remained limited. Today, a growing need to catch up with these developments has become manifest, but a number of challenges have emerged simultaneously. They include the need to adjust to increasingly diversified consumer demands, to improve the quality and nutritional content of foods, to introduce new food products, to shift to more sophisticated processing methods, to adopt innovative packaging methods, and to comply with new labelling requirements. These developments give rise to a number of questions. What do these changes mean for China’s food processors? Is China’s agriculture adequately prepared for these changes? How can farmers take advantage of these changes? What structural adjustments are needed to meet the challenges arising from the changes in domestic and international food markets? The papers in this Proceedings document try to answer these and many other important questions revolving around changes in, and challenges for, China’s agro-processing sector.

Nanotechnology has its origin in the converging abilities of physics, chemistry and materials science. Its purpose is the manipulation of atoms and molecules in order to create new properties of materials and systems for a wide variety of applications in a very broad range of sectors. Nanotechnology is forecast to create large markets and many new jobs and may be the springboard for industrial renewal and long-term growth. Governments around the world have targeted this emerging technology in their R&D investments and are strategising about the best ways to promote the responsible development and use of nanotechnology given the absence of any in-depth analysis of its commercialisation.

What are the potential economic impacts of nanotechnology, how are companies using nanotechnology for innovation, and what are the key challenges in its commercialisation? These are some of the issues that this book addresses, based on a large number of company case studies in several countries.

OECD's Economic Survey of Mexico for 2013 examines recent economic developments, policies and prospects and includes a special chapter covering improving fiscal federal relations.

In the search for a rapid, sustainable and lasting recovery from the economic crisis, science, technology and innovation are expected to play a driving role. But what are the implications for science and innovation policy? What steps are countries taking to boost their capabilities in these areas? What place are emerging economies likely to occupy in the science, technology and innovation landscape?

The OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2010 reviews key trends in science, technology and innovation in OECD countries and a number of major emerging economies including Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa. Using the latest available data and indicators, it examines topics high on the agenda of economic policy makers, including performance in science and innovation, trends in national science, technology and innovation policies and the design and assessment of innovation policy, including policy interactions and the “policy mix”. It provides individual profiles of the science and innovation performance of each country and relates these to their national context and current policy challenges.

"a comprehensive, up-to-date and authoritative source for graduate students, researchers, and the general public. Recommended." -Choice

How can governments reduce workforce costs while ensuring civil servants remain engaged and productive? This report addresses this question, using evidence from the 2014 OECD Survey on Managing Budgeting Constraints: Implications for HRM and Employment in Central Public Administration. The results clearly illustrate the complex challenges facing civil services, such as how to reduce size and cost while still attracting and retaining high-calibre professional talent. The first part of this report shows that the pressure on central public administrations to reduce costs has required many OECD countries to make cuts that have likely resulted in negative impacts on the workforce regarding trust, motivation and commitment. Overall, 67% of countries surveyed have implemented a pay freeze since 2008. The second part explores how a number of OECD countries are using employee surveys as a leadership tool to better manage employee engagement, which is linked to better job performance, organisational commitment, productivity and public sector innovation. Employee engagement can be a powerful counter balance to austerity-driven measures.

Agriculture can have significant impacts on the environment as it uses on average over 40% of water and land resources in OECD countries. The impacts occur on and off farm, including both pollution and degradation of soil, water and air. But agriculture also supplies ecosystem services, such as biodiversity, provides a sink for greenhouse gases, and contributes to flood control and the aesthetic value of landscapes.

This compendium updates the data issued in Environmental Performance of Agriculture at a Glance and provides comprehensive data and analysis on the environmental performance of agriculture in OECD countries since 1990, covering soil, water, air and biodiversity and looking at recent policy developments in all 34 OECD countries.

How can we measure the performance of different health systems, and how can we use such information to support on-going health systems improvement? Those are the central questions addressed in this volume. Health policy makers have a growing interest in finding ways of encouraging health systems to improve their performance, where performance is measured against quality, efficiency or equity goals. Improving performance has the potential to reduce the tensions between rising demands and limited resources. There is also a growing demand for accountability among funders and providers of health services.

This book highlights the core elements of a possible performance measurement framework to assess health systems at the international and national levels. It also addresses further challenges which remain: how do we overcome the lack of health outcome measures? How do we better align performance information and incentives with policy objectives? And how do we reconcile the traditional professional self-regulation approach with greater public accountability for health care quality?

This report looks at effective e-service provision by tax administrations, summarising eight critical areas, and explores big data management and portals, as well as natural systems, in detail. It highlights key opportunities in these areas, looking at how these emerging technologies can be best used by tax administrations. It also provides practical examples of how tax administrations have begun to utilise these technologies and delivers a maturity matrix for the two areas to assist strategic and operational decision making by tax administrations. Finally, it sets out conclusions, recommendations and next steps.

This report has been prepared by the Forum on Tax Administration’s E-services and Digital Delivery Programme. The work was initiated by the FTA Bureau as part of its 2015/16 work programme and was led by the Federal Tax Service of Russia (FTS). With tax administrations clear that e-service options can improve taxpayer compliance levels and participation while at the same time lowering their cost of operation; but with available options many and varied, and with the cost of implementation high, the FTA has over the last five years provided a wide range of guidance in the deployment of effective e-services.

Corruption and other governance problems result primarily from processes generated within the domestic political economy. There are major international factors, however, that interact with domestic processes: international drivers of corruption. This report introduces an analytical tool to help readers understand how these international drivers of corruption affect governance and corruption at the country level. It provides a means for identifying those drivers that matter most for domestic governance, as well as opportunities for international actors to work more effectively to improve governance in specific country contexts.

Chinese decision-makers are grappling with policy choices that will optimise the gains from China’s integration into the international trading system in harmony with social, regional and sustainable development goals. Trade liberalisation can significantly enhance the reform process underway and bring great benefits to China. But the agricultural sector faces the greatest challenges and potential hardships of any economic sector from this process. Significant domestic policy reform and structural adjustment will be critical to enable China to realise its comparative advantage in agriculture and to redeploy an estimated 150 million redundant farmers. To sharpen understanding of the policy options, the OECD invited Chinese and international experts to reflect together upon the likely impacts of freer trade on China’s agricultural sector. Based on the results of China’s WTO negotiations with key trading partners, they assessed the compatibility of China’s WTO commitments with domestic policies and the need for specific changes. They analysed the effects of likely policy changes on cereal, oilseeds and livestock markets in China and OECD countries. And they examined the implications of China’s WTO accession on rural enterprises, regional development and the domestic and international political economy. These proceedings offer the reader the fruits of timely analytical and strategic thinking and joint reflection on some of the most important agricultural policy issues for China and the world.

In light of the elimination of quantitative import restrictions under the WTO at the end of 2004, A New World Map in Textiles and Clothing identifies the most recent market developments throughout the entire supply chain, from natural fibres to retail distribution. It outlines the policy and regulatory challenges in the fields of trade, labour adjustment, technology and innovation, and suggests a policy framework to help deal effectively with such changes as well as to capitalise on the trade opportunities that are being created through improved market access.

“A highly useful contribution to the debate on policy challenges in textiles and clothing, the book stands out from the others in recognising the influence that trade policy measures continue to exert on investment and production decisions, and in providing a synthesis of key market developments and policy issues.”

Munir Ahmad, Executive Director, International Textiles and Clothing Bureau

“Policy makers in all textile and clothing trading countries would be wise to heed the sound advice proffered in this comprehensive and thorough, fact-based assessment."

Laura Baughman, President, Trade Partnership Worldwide, LLC.

“A must read for anybody interested in the future of textiles and clothing around the world. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the expected adjustment process in usefully underscoring the role of technology and innovation and the growing importance of the business facilitation agenda.”

Carlos A. Primo Braga, Senior Adviser, International Trade Department, The World Bank

Transcontinental Infrastructure Needs to 2030/50 explores the long-term opportunities and challenges facing major gateway and transport hub infrastructures -- ports, airports and major rail corridors – in the coming decades. The report uses projections and scenarios to assess the broader economic outlook and future infrastructure requirements, and examines the options for financing these, not least against the backdrop of the economic recession and financial crisis which have significantly modified the risks and potential rewards associated with major infrastructure projects. Building on numerous in-depth case studies from Europe, North America and Asia, the report offers insights into the economic prospects for these key facilities and identifies policy options for improved gateway and corridor infrastructure in the future.

The socio-economic development of rural areas has become an important issue for agricultural policy design in many OECD countries. Yet there is still a lack of comprehensive analysis of the inter-linkages between the agro-food sector and the rural economy. What consequences have on-going structural changes in agriculture for rural areas? What is the role of agricultural policies? The report, comprising a main report and case studies on Canada, France, Greece, Japan, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland, addresses these important questions.

A key conclusion of the report is that traditional agricultural support policies are increasingly ineffective in accomplishing rural development objectives. Agricultural policy reform can enhance agro-food's contribution to the viable development of rural economies, although the benefits are not immediate. A coherent, well co-ordinated and targeted policy approach aimed at diversification, promotion of high-quality regional products, provision of information, direct payments and public goods would improve the competitiveness of rural areas. How to strike the right balance between the need for greater economic efficiency, and social and environmental concerns in rural areas is a key challenge facing policy makers.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes is the multilateral framework within which work in the area of tax transparency and exchange of information is carried out by over 90 jurisdictions which participate in the work of the Global Forum on an equal footing.

The Global Forum is charged with in-depth monitoring and peer review of the implementation of the standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes. These standards are primarily reflected in the 2002 OECD Model Agreement on Exchange of Information on Tax Matters and its commentary, and in Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and its commentary as updated in 2004, which has been incorporated in the UN Model Tax Convention.

The standards provide for international exchange on request of foreseeably relevant information for the administration or enforcement of the domestic tax laws of a requesting party. “Fishing expeditions” are not authorised, but all foreseeably relevant information must be provided, including bank information and information held by fiduciaries, regardless of the existence of a domestic tax interest or the application of a dual criminality standard.

All members of the Global Forum, as well as jurisdictions identified by the Global Forum as relevant to its work, are being reviewed. This process is undertaken in two phases. Phase 1 reviews assess the quality of a jurisdiction’s legal and regulatory framework for the exchange of information, while Phase 2 reviews look at the practical implementation of that framework. Some Global Forum members are undergoing combined – Phase 1 plus Phase 2 – reviews. The ultimate goal is to help jurisdictions to effectively implement the international standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.

All review reports are published once approved by the Global Forum and they thus represent agreed Global Forum reports.

For more information on the work of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, and for copies of the published review reports, please visit www.oecd.org/tax/transparency

This book investigates policy considerations in the taxation of capital gains of individuals and design features of capital gains tax systems. Perspectives on these are reported for 20 OECD countries. Descriptive information on aspects of capital tax rules for gains on domestic assets of resident investors are presented in summary tables covering all OECD countries.

Export restrictions on raw materials are applied to achieve a number of policy objectives. However, they can have a significant and negative impact on the efficient allocation of resources, international trade, and the competitiveness and development of industries in both exporting and importing countries.

By diverting exports to domestic markets, export restrictions raise prices for foreign consumers and importers. At the same time, by reducing domestic prices in the applying countries and increasing global uncertainty concerning future prices, export restrictions negatively affect investment, thus potentially reducing the overall supply of raw materials in the long term. In view of existing alternative policy tools that have a different impact on trade, the effectiveness of export restrictions to achieve stated policy objectives should be carefully reviewed.

This publication presents a selection of papers discussed at the OECD Workshop on Raw Materials, held in Paris in October 2009. This workshop was organised in response to the growing concern on the use of export restrictions on raw materials, particularly by emerging economies.

Developing growth strategies that promote greener lifestyles requires a good understanding of what factors affect people’s behaviour towards the environment. Recent OECD work based on periodic surveys of more than 10 000 households across a number of countries and areas represents a breakthrough by providing a common framework to collect unique empirical evidence for better policy design.

This publication presents responses from the most recent round of the OECD survey implemented in 2011 in 5 areas (energy, food, transport, waste and water) and 11 countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Analysis comparing the data across countries, policy conditions and households’ characteristics reveals which measures most effectively change behaviour. Each round of the survey also allows to track changes over time and to explore new emerging issues.

The new survey confirms the importance of providing the right economic incentives for influencing our decisions. The findings indicate that “soft” measures such as labelling and public information campaigns also have a significant complementary role to play. Spurring desirable behaviour change requires a mix of these instruments.

This book is a milestone for all those interested by the challenging question of ways to promote greener behaviour, from policy makers to individual citizens.

This comprehensive review of urban policy in Poland looks at the urban system and the challenges it faces, national policies for urban development in Poland, and adapting governance for a national urban policy agenda.

L'édition 2001 des Comptes nationaux des pays de l'OCDE : Tableaux détaillés, Volume II fournit, en plus des principaux agrégats, des comptes nationaux détaillés pour la plupart des pays de l'OCDE. Il comprend une ventilation détaillée par genre d'activité de la valeur ajoutée brute (prix courants et prix constants de 1995), des composantes de la valeur ajoutée, de la formation brute de capital fixe et de l'emploi. Il inclut aussi les dépenses de consommation finale des ménages par fonction et les comptes simplifiés des administrations publiques. Les comptes détaillés par secteurs institutionnels sont disponibles sur le CD-ROM uniquement, ou en ligne via OECD iLibrary. Les données sont montrées pour 30 pays de l'OCDE depuis 1988 dans la plupart des cas, exprimées en monnaie nationale. Ces statistiques sont basées sur le Système de Comptabilité Nationale 1993 (SCN 1993) pour une majorité de pays, mais pas tous. Dans cette édition, les comptes nationaux de trois pays de l'OCDE (Nouvelle-Zélande, Suisse et Turquie) sont toujours présentés sur la base du SCN 1968. Cette publication inclut aussi des données provisoires pour 2000.

Mesoamerica is a region characterised by high poverty levels, large urban-rural disparities, and a large informal economy, but also having a strategic location, rich natural and cultural resources, and light manufacturing. This pioneering study of the OECD examines how Mesoamerica could better exploit its economic potential. It shows how the region could improve its competitiveness and social cohesion and strengthen governance through a comprehensive development agenda.

This Glossary explains the key elements required to classify corruption as a criminal act, according to three major international conventions: (1) the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions; (2) the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption; and (3) the United Nation’s Convention against Corruption.

The Glossary examines and elaborates on the requirements of the conventions and explains how they can be effectively introduced into the national legislation. The Glossary is also a practical tool for monitoring country compliance with the international anti-corruption conventions, as well as raising awareness of these conventions.

Human resources, training, qualifications and skills play an essential part in the development of regional economies. The notion of "learning" regions which has now become self-evident has yet to be translated into practice: but under which conditions and what are the priorities? This publication gives a comprehensive picture of current practices and future issues.

Regional policies are increasingly focusing on human resources and their orientation towards market demand and improvement of partnerships. The great diversity of regional approaches to human resource development in industrialised countries shows that an efficient regional governance, coupled with concern for equity, can reinforce and consolidate national policies. This volume casts a new light on these issues, providing a useful source of information and inspiration for regional actors and their national partners.

The OECD Environmental Performance Review Programme provides independent assessments of countries’ progress in achieving their domestic and international environmental policy commitments, together with policy relevant recommendations. They are conducted to promote peer learning, to enhance countries’ accountability to each other and to the public, and to improve governments’ environmental performance, individually and collectively. The Reviews are supported by a broad range of economic and environmental data. Each cycle of the Environmental Performance Reviews covers all OECD member countries and selected partner countries. The most recent reviews include: Mexico (2013), Germany (2012) and Slovenia (2012).

This report is the third OECD review of Italy’s environmental performance. It evaluates progress towards sustainable development and green growth, with a focus on policies that promote more effective and efficient water management and provide better incentives to tackle climate change.

This is the first report to look across the OECD membership at how regulatory impact analysis is actually designed and carried out. Concrete "best practices" are identified in areas such as improving the capacity of government to produce high-quality analysis, applying analytical methods including benefit-cost analysis, collecting data, and consulting with the public to ensure that estimates are realistic.

This publication is the eighth edition of the full version of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital. This full version contains the full text of the Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital as it read on 22 July 2010, including the Articles, Commentaries, non-member economies positions, the Recommendation of the OECD Council, the historical notes (now expanded to go back to 1963), the detailed list of conventions between OECD member countries and the background reports. This edition of the full version is the first to be published in book form. The previous loose-leaf edition has been discontinued.

The condensed version 2010, previously published and also available, includes only the articles, commentaries, non-member economies positions and the Recommendation of the OECD Council.

Whatever the level of qualification, first experiences on the labour market have a profound influence on later working life. Getting off to a good start facilitates integration and lays the foundation for a good career, while a failure can be difficult to make up.

This report contains - for Australia - a survey of the main barriers to employment for young people, an assessment of the adequacy and effectiveness of existing measures to improve the transition from school-to-work, as well as a set of policy recommendations for further action.

A lack of finance for water resources management is a primary concern for most OECD countries. This is exacerbated in the current fiscal environment of tight budgets and strong fiscal consolidation, as public funding provides the lion’s share of financial resources for water management.

The report provides a framework for policy discussions around financing water resources management that are taking place at local, basin, national, or transboundary levels. The report goes beyond the traditional focus on financing water supply and sanitation to examine the full range of water management tasks that governments have to fulfill; when appropriate, a distinction is made on distinctive water issues.

The report identifies four principles (Polluter Pays, Beneficiary Pays, Equity, Policy Coherence), which have to be combined. In addition, it identifies five empirical issues, which have to be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Finally, it sketches a staged approach that governments might wish to consider, to assess the financial status of their water policies and to design robust financial strategies for water management. Case studies provide illustrations of selected instruments and how they can be used to finance water resources management.

Mobile communications is one of the tremendous success stories of the telecommunications industry. By June 1999, there were 293 million mobile subscribers in the OECD area, or around one mobile phone for every four inhabitants. Current growth continues to exceed most past projections. The benefits wrought by mobility in communications are increasingly evident in terms of both economic and social development.

If there is a caveat, amidst such a tremendous success story, it is that the very rapid growth of mobile communications has tended to conceal large performance differences across the OECD area. There is an ongoing need to examine performance against fast moving international benchmarks. Without such analysis the challenges to mobile communications meeting wider policy goals, in relation to electronic commerce and local infrastructure competition, will remain impervious to critical review. In addition, high growth rates have tended to mask some problem areas where there has been insufficient price competition.

In many countries, the mobile communications sector has been successfully used to pioneer liberalisation. Nevertheless, it is incumbent on policy makers to continually review regulatory frameworks. This book highlights a number of areas for policy review and decision.

Cette édition revue et augmentée du Glossaire de l’économie anglais-français publié en 1992, contient quelque 30 000 termes et expressions et couvre une très large variété de domaines : science économique proprement dite, statistiques, finance et banque, échanges, gestion, comptabilité, assurances, emploi et main-d’oeuvre, développement, fiscalité. L’ouvrage explore également de nouveaux secteurs, comme le blanchiment de capitaux ou l’ingénierie financière. Il comprend des encadrés qui décrivent succinctement quatre domaines spécialisés (analyse financière, blanchiment de capitaux, dérivés de crédit et prix de transfert) et donne les équivalents en anglais des concepts fondamentaux.

This review examines the functioning, structure and organisation of the central government and line ministries in Kazakhstan, as well as their capacities to implement national objectives and priorities, outlined in the Kazakhstan’s Vision 2050. It also focuses on tools, strategic management and accountability frameworks in the Government of Kazakhstan, in line with the strategic management principles outlined in the General Approaches to Modernization of Public Administration of Kazakhstan by 2020.

This review of Portugal's environmental conditions and policies evaluates progress in reducing the pollution burden, improving natural resource management, integrating environmental and economic policies, and strengthening international co-operation. The analyses presented are supported by a broad range of economic and environmental data.

Do teachers innovate? Do they try different pedagogical approaches? Are practices within classrooms and educational organisations changing? And to what extent can change be linked to improvements? A measurement agenda is essential to an innovation and improvement strategy in education. Measuring Innovation in Educationoffers new perspectives on addressing the need for such measurement.

This book’s first objective is informative: it gives readers new international comparative information about innovation in education compared to other sectors. And it documents change in a variety of dimensions of school practices between 1999 and 2011. Its second objective is methodological: it assesses two approaches to capturing the extent and type of innovation occurring within and across education systems. The third objective is exploratory: this book showcases a large-scale pilot that presents over 200 measures of innovation in education using existing international data. Last but not least, the fourth objective is prospective: this report proposes new approaches to measuring innovation in education in the future.

This book is the beginning of a new journey: it calls for innovations in the field of measurement – and not just of education.

This report analyses policy agricultural developments during 2006-08 in seven economies: Brazil, Chile, China, India, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine. This period was marked by a significant increase in world prices for most, but not all, agricultural commodities. Policy responses to rising food prices included tariff reductions, export restrictions, increased minimum prices and price controls, input subsidies, sales of stocks and direct transfers to the most disadvantaged. Other major common policy developments included: expanded government-supported credit facilities and/or debt rescheduling, endeavours to improve the delivery and performance of agricultural policies, extended coverage of insurance programmes and further efforts in land reform. A comprehensive statistical annex containing a wide range of contextual information for these economies is also included in this report.

Estimates of support to agriculture in six economies (India is not yet covered) from 1995 to 2007 are provided, in conformance with recent changes to the OECD measurement methodology. This allows a consistent comparison across emerging economies and with OECD countries in terms of changes in the level and composition of support to producers and the sector as a whole.

This Test Guideline describes a method to determine the fat solubility of solid and liquid substances. The fat solubility of a substance is one of the data for evaluating the storage of lipid soluble materials in biological tissue.

This test method can only be applied to pure substances, non-reactive with triglyceride, which are stable at 50°C for at least 24 hours and which also are not appreciably volatile under the same conditions. The substance is dissolved in a liquid "standard fat" by stirring, and the saturation mass fraction of the substance is achieved by continued addition until a constant value for the mass fraction dependent variable is achieved as determined by a suitable analytical method.The methods use eight samples; each should be twice the quantity necessary for saturation as determined in the preliminary test. After adding a weighed amount of approximately 25 g of liquified and mixed standard fat, four flasks are stirred at 30°C (group I) and the other four at approximately 50°C (group II), each for at least one hour. All the flasks are stirred at 37°C, for liquids during 3 hours for two flasks of each group and for at least 24 hours for the last two flasks. At the end a sample is taken, weighed and the mass fraction is determined with different methods (photometric methods, gas chromatography, and extraction).

Private investment by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)1 is a key generator of economic growth and social change in OECD member country economies. In most countries world-wide over 90% of all enterprises are SMEs. It is now widely accepted that the contribution of SMEs to new jobs, exports, innovation, competitiveness and regional development is vital to national development. How to benefit from and maximise this contribution is a continuous challenge for all countries. It is a particular challenge for countries undertaking the transition to full market economies. This Enterprise Policy Performance Assessment seeks to help address that question for Montenegro and highlights issues that require attention and priority action.

OECD Factbook 2014 is a comprehensive annual statistical publication. More than 100 indicators cover a wide range of topics including new indicators on trade in value added and climate change.

Data are provided for all OECD member countries (including area totals), and for Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Russian Federation and South Africa. For each indicator, there is a two-page spread: a text page includes a short introduction followed by a detailed definition of the indicator, comments on comparability of the data, an assessment of long-term trends related to the indicator and a list of references for further information on the indicator; the second page contains a table and a graph providing, at a glance, the key message conveyed by the data. Each indicator includes "StatLinks" which allow readers to download the corresponding data.

OECD Countries covered include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile,Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Non-OECD countries covered include Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and South Africa.

Topics covered include population and migration; production and productivity; household income, wealth and debt; globalisation, trade and foreign direct investment (FDI); prices, interest rates and exchange rates; energy and transportation; labour, employment and unemployment; science and technology including research and development (R&D) and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector; environment including natural resoures, water,and air and climate; education resources and outcomes; government expenditures, debt, revenues, taxes, agricultural support and foreign aid; and health status, risk and resources.

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Though only three years old, electronic commerce over the Internet has the potential to transform the marketplace. E-commerce will change the way business is conducted. Traditional intermediary functions will be replaced, new products and markets will be developed, and new relationships will be created between business and consumers. It will alter the way work is organised and open new channels of knowledge diffusion and human interactivity in the workplace. Workers will need to be more flexible as their functions and skills are redefined. The changes e-commerce will bring are far-reaching. They require new frameworks for doing business and a re-examination of government policies relating to commerce and skills. What is electronic commerce? What is the current state and likely future direction of e-commerce? What are the drivers and what are the inhibitors? What is its impact on costs, prices, and ultimately on economic efficiency? How is it affecting intermediaries? How do firms compete in the electronic environment? What market structure is likely to emerge? What is the impact on jobs? What types of skills will be needed? What major societal transformations will it entail? The full impact of e-commerce remains to be seen. This book begins to address these questions and provides a ground-breaking assessment of the economic and social impacts of electronic commerce and its effects on jobs by drawing on existing qualitative and quantitative evidence. This early analysis of an extremely dynamic activity identifies a number of areas where research is urgently needed and serves as the basis for an informed policy debate.

The purpose of this handbook is to raise the awareness level of tax examiners and auditors on money laundering. It provides guidance in identifying money laundering during the conduct of normal tax audits. It also describes the resources and tools that are available for effective detection and deterrence. While the handbook does not detail criminal investigation methods, it does describe the nature and context of money laundering activities so that tax examiners and auditors can better understand how their contribution can assist criminal investigators in countering money laundering. Tax administrations can adapt the handbook to suit their particular circumstances and to take into account the varying roles that tax administrations have in relation to reporting unusual or suspicious transactions, receiving suspicious transaction reports and investigating money laundering offences.

To aid this adaptation key areas of the handbook have been highlighted for “Country Specific Insertions”. While the aim of this handbook is to raise the awareness of tax examiners and tax auditors about the possible implications of transactions or activities related to money laundering and tax crimes, the handbook is not meant to replace domestic policies and procedures.

Few topics in the life sciences today provoke as much debate as the availability of patent protection on "genetic inventions". Some hold that protection is essential to encourage innovation and development of new products. Others argue that patents restrict access to the very innovations they are intended to promote. Yet others object to property rights at all for our genetic blueprint. This report presents the findings of an OECD Workshop held in Berlin to establish the impact of patents and licensing on development and access to genetic technology. The workshop drew on empirical studies and concluded that despite sometimes controversial licensing practices the patent system has broadly achieved what is intended. The report provides recommendations to policy makers for improving the functioning of the licensing system.

Please note that this title is only available on line, in pdf format.

This Test Guideline describes the determining of the ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) absorption spectrum of a chemical compound to have some indication of the wavelengths at which the compounds may be susceptible to photochemical degradation. Degradation will depend upon the total energy absorbed in specific wavelength regions. The absence of measurable absorption does not preclude the possibility of photodegradation. This method utilises a double-beam spectrophotometer which records only the absorption differences between the blank (the solvent and all present chemical species other than the test chemical) and test solutions to give the spectrum of the chemical being tested. The test should be carried out at 25°C. The test solutions should be made up in a concentration which will result in at least one absorbance maximum in the range 0.5 to 1.5 units.

The OECD Measuring Productivity Manual is the first comprehensive guide to the various productivity measures aimed at statisticians, researchers and analysts involved in constructing industry-level productivity indicators.

This Manual presents the theoretical foundations to productivity measurement, and discusses implementation and measurement issues. The text is accompanied by empirical examples from OECD countries and by numerical examples to enhance its readability. The Manual also offers a brief discussion of the interpretation and use of productivity measures.

The second ‘green skills’ forum organised by Cedefop and the OECD-LEED in February 2014 provided an open space for discussion between researchers, policy-makers, social partners and international organisations on skills development and training needs for a greener economy. The focus of this ...