Publications

The effects of globalisation have been at the forefront of public debate in recent years, fuelled on the one hand by the large benefits of integrated markets, and on the other hand, by the detrimental adjustment effects often experienced by many economies as a result.  Knowing how trade has been evolving over time and the role policy has played in this evolution are critical to understanding the globalisation debate and grasping the lessons for future policy development. The comparative advantage hypothesis has been suggested as one of the principal explanations of international trade and of the benefits associated with openness. It has also provided the intellectual underpinnings for most trade policy in the past 50 years. This book collects OECD work that builds on recent contributions to the theory and empirics of comparative advantage, putting particular emphasis on the role policy can play in shaping trade.

On the occasion of its 35th Anniversary in 2009, the International Energy Agency published the first edition of the Scoreboard focusing on 35 Key Energy Trends over 35 Years. In parallel, the IEA published Implementing Energy Efficiency Policies: Are IEA Member Countries on Track?. Both publications found that although IEA member countries were making progress in implementing energy efficiency, more work was needed.
       
In the 2011 edition of the Scoreboard, the IEA has decided to focus on energy efficiency. The publication combines analysis of energy efficiency policy implementation and recent indicator development. The resulting Scoreboard 2011 provides a fuller picture of the progress as well as the challenges with implementing energy efficiency policy in IEA member countries.

Drawing on the OECD’s expertise in comparing country experiences and identifying best practices, the Better Policies series tailors the OECD’s policy advice to the specific and timely priorities of member and partner countries, focusing on how governments can make reform happen.

This publication examines the effects of taxation on employment, highlights the resulting policy challenges, and discusses the ways governments endeavour to address these challenges.  Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of the effects of taxation on employment, examining how taxes on labour income can affect both the size of the labour force and the level of unemployment, and highlighting key areas of concern for tax policy makers.  This analysis is then augmented in chapters 2-4 by the more detailed analysis of the effects of taxation on the employment of three groups where empirical research suggests that responses of labour supply to taxation may be relatively large: low-income workers, mobile highly-skilled workers, and older workers.  As well as highlighting key areas of concern for tax policy makers, the report places a particular focus on the different measures that have been adopted by countries to attempt to overcome these problems, discussing, where possible, the main design features, and the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches that have been adopted.

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.

Au moment où l’espérance de vie approche des 80 ans pour les hommes et dépasse nettement cet âge pour les femmes, la population est de plus en plus nombreuse à vouloir vivre pleinement aussi longtemps que possible. Comment l’évolution démographique et les tendances du marché du travail vont-elles peser sur l’offre familiale, amicale et des travailleurs susceptibles d’assumer une prise en charge ? Les finances publiques seront-elles menacées par le coût de la prise en charge future de la dépendance ? Quel équilibre doit-on rechercher entre implication privée et soutien public de cette prise en charge des soins liés à la dépendance ? Ce livre traite de ces enjeux et autres questions importantes.

Ce rapport présente la structure et les principales caractéristiques de la Politique agricole commune (PAC) en cours et fait le point des réformes successives de ces 25 dernières années, dans un environnement en constante évolution à l’intérieur comme à l’extérieur de l’Union européenne. Il analyse les conséquences des changements de politiques sur la production, les échanges, l’utilisation des terres, la structure des exploitations, l’environnement et certains aspects du développement rural. Il recommande en outre d’améliorer l’orientation vers le marché, la compétitivité et la gestion des risques tout au long de la chaîne alimentaire, de mieux définir les liens entre mesures et objectifs en ciblant plus précisément les interventions, et de renforcer les informations sur lesquelles doivent reposer les politiques.

On the 50th anniversary of the OECD, we examine the unique work the organisation performs in regulating and rationalising governments’ use of export credits in support of exports, jobs, economic growth and national interests more broadly. This work is part of a global post war effort to emphasise multilateral co operation and sound economic policies to promote co operation, efficiency and prosperity rather than destructive competition, controversy and conflict.

OECD export credits work is one of the basic building blocks of the ever growing structure of global trade agreements that aim to maintain open and efficient markets. The objective is to eliminate subsidies and unfair practices in the economic competition that forms the foundation of a healthy and dynamic global economy. The elimination of official financing subsidies in global trade is only a part of the broader trade policy agenda, but it is a vital part, and has been delegated to the OECD by the WTO. Since financing is the life blood of trade flows, specialised OECD housed work allows trade to flow efficiently for aircraft and other capital goods while other trade policy work and litigation continue at the WTO.

The export credits work at the OECD is described in this collection of essays. However it is about much more than the series of agreements described herein. It is more fundamentally about the governments and their people - policy makers and experts - who gather at the OECD to build collectively a system of export credits disciplines that is fair, transparent, adaptable and effective. It is therefore as much about people and ideas as anything else. The export credit secretariat pictured above represents only the latest in a long line of OECD staff committed to facilitate and advise this work.

The OECD’s motto on its 50th anniversary is 'Better Policies for Better Lives.' This reminds us that in the end, it is policies that are at the centre of human well being. And export credits work is about promoting these better policies by developing 'smart rules' that open markets and maintain a level playing field and by bringing people and governments together to this end.

Conservative estimates indicate that at least 740 000 men, women, youth and children die each year as a result of armed violence, most of them in low- and medium-income settings. The majority of these deaths occur in situations other than war, though armed conflicts continue to generate a high incidence of casualties.   Approaches to preventing and reducing these deaths and related suffering are becoming increasingly important on the international agenda. In spite of the global preoccupation with the costs and consequences of armed violence, comparatively little evidence exists about how to stem its risks and effects. Virtually no information is available on Armed Violence Reduction and Prevention interventions, much less their effectiveness.This publication aims to fill this gap. It seeks to generate more understanding of what works and what does not, to stimulate further evaluation and to contribute to more effective and efficient policies and programmes.A large-scale mapping of Armed Violence Reduction and Prevention activities around the world form the basis of analysis, focusing primarily on programming trends in six countries – Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Liberia, South Africa and Timor-Leste. These countries represent the very different programming contexts – from high rates of urban criminal violence to protracted post-conflict insecurity – in which development practitioners are currently engaged. While offering new data and analysis, this assessment builds directly on the 2009 publication Armed Violence Reduction: Enabling Development.

Les Études économiques de l'OCDE : Inde 2011 examine les développements économiques récents, les politiques et les perspectives économiques, maintenir la croissance et améliorer le niveau de vie, reformes budgétaires, éliminer le subventions à l'énergie, le système financier, et consolider les progrès de l'éducation.